Another day and another School Committee resignation. Peter Demling notified the School Committee of his resignation this morning. In his note, he said:
“I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to serve our schools and to have served with you. Take care of yourself, and take care of each other, no matter what happens.
I wish you, the committees and our school districts nothing but the best as you face the road ahead.”
You may be wondering, who is left??
The answers are:
- Irv Rhodes and I are the remaining two members of the Amherst School Committee. With only two members of a five-member body, the School Committee does not have quorum and therefore can not meet or take any votes. I talked to staff in the central office today to make sure payments (including payroll) can still be made, without a committee meeting to approve warrants. After consulting with the school district’s attorney, it was established that either Rhodes or I can sign warrants, and they would need to be approved at the next meeting with quorum. So, payments and payroll will not be held up.
- There are now three vacancies to be filled. See my previous blog post about the process to fill School Committee vacancies. The Town Council will be holding a meeting on Monday August 28, which Rhodes and I will also attend, to discuss the process and timeline for filling the vacancies.
- With these three resignations (Herrington, McDonald, Demling), the Regional School Committee* is also down three members, how ever that nine-member body still has a quorum and is still operating. The Union 26 committee is down two members, but that body also still has a quorum and is still operating. In fact, the Regional and Union 26 committees (including Rhodes and me) are hard at work determining who will be our interim superintendent. More will be shared on that soon.
*See my blog post Amherst has two School Committees? for an explanation on the multiple School Committees.
Jennifer Shiao's School Committee Blog 