DOVER — After Brian Lewis was elected to Dover city council, the Capital school board voted Wednesday to hold a special election to fill his seat.

Mr. Lewis, who ran for city council unopposed, leaves the board once he takes the oath of office for his Second District council seat on May 11.

According to Delaware Code, the board can appoint someone else to fill his seat — but only until June 30. Since taking applications and approving a new member would take until June anyway, board members chose to set up a special election instead.

Brian Lewis

Superintendent Dr. Michael Thomas said he expected the special election would probably take place sometime in July.

At the meeting Wednesday, the board also continued to discuss how to recognize the district’s history.

At last month’s meeting, board member Matthew Lindell made a motion to form a committee to find a way to honor the school’s “past, present and future” working with the alumni association. It passed unopposed.

Mr. Lindell made the motion after a vote failed to rename the road leading to the new Dover High School “Pat Lynn Drive” after the former high school principal.

On Wednesday, board president Kay Dietz-Sass said that the board needs to have a solid plan and discuss the “nuts and bolts” of the move first. “There’s ideas that need to be worked out so that when this is put in place it’s a surefire plan,” she said.

Mr. Lindell agreed. “In my zeal to reach a middle ground and compromise, I put that out there and it was a little out of order. I apologize for that,” he said.

He added that he hoped to tell the story of the district rather than “just putting a sign up.”

The board also took steps Wednesday to remove an eyesore at William Henry Middle School: dilapidated lockers.

“The lockers have lived their life. That’s the issue,” Dr. Thomas said.

The lockers can be replaced through minor capital improvement funds, but once they are removed, the wall behind them needs to undergo asbestos abatement. The board voted to allow Dr. Thomas to move forward in the process.

Dr. Thomas said he is expecting abatement to cost $100,000, which would probably be taken from local funds.