Five people are seeking appointment Tuesday to the Area 6 vacancy on the Manteca Unified School District board.

Submitting applications by Friday’s deadline were Steve Schluer, Ben Cantu, Jim Anderson, Francesco Torrice, and Jeremy Hannon.

The board has the appointment listed near the end of Tuesday’s agenda when they meet at 7 p. m. at the MUSD office on Louise Avenue.

Prior to the appointment the board will consider censuring trustee Sam Fant and decide how to respond to a Grand Jury report critical of how the board is conducting business with particularly hard slams of how Fant and fellow trustee Ashley Drain are conducting their duties.

The appointment will replace Alexander Bronson who resigned in May. Bronson, along with Drain, both had felony election fraud charges filed against them based on the alleged use of a address they did not live at so they could run for the board in November. Drain is also facing welfare fraud and grand theft charges.

Drain as well as Fant is facing a recall.

Another twist in the ongoing board controversy surfaced Friday with the announcement by Leo Bennett-Couchon — a special education teacher who just over two months ago was cleared of charges of inappropriately touching a student — is organizing a series of community meetings to discuss the board appointment and district budget.

Bennett-Couchon, along with several others, has formed a group dubbed Education Together for French Camp, Lathrop, Manteca, and Weston Ranch.

The group has scheduled three meetings to discuss the budget, community priorities and the trustee appointment.

They will take place:

• Monday, June 22, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the west shade structure by the Lathrop Senior Center, 15707 Fifth St., Lathrop.

• Monday, June 22, from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Weston Ranch Library, 1453 French Camp Road, Stockton.

• Tuesday, June 23, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Angelano’s Restaurant, 1020 N. Main St., Manteca.

Bennett-Cauchon said he has invited current board members as well as the board hopefuls to attend. He said as of 8 p.m. Friday that Drain has indicated she will attend the workshops in Weston Ranch and Lathrop. Famt has said he will be at the Weston Ranch gathering providing he is able to get there in time from a prior commitment. Board President Deborah Romero responded but said she already has commitments both days.

Bennett-Cauchon said community input will be organized and summarized and then published online as well as being shared with the board during Tuesday’s meeting.