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Sudbury Select Board Chair Jennifer Roberts provided an update on the appointment process to fill a vacancy on the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee during the Tuesday, March 11 meeting of the Select Board.
The Select Board voted to proceed with the appointment process on February 25 (1:47:00). A week later, on March 3, the Select Board was taking heat from the SPS School Committee for their decision. SPS Vice Chair Meredith Gerson criticized the Select Board:
“It was really disappointing. It didn’t feel, watching that part of the meeting, it didn’t feel like a collaborative process. It felt like an authoritarian process to me. It’s being driven by one board and not a collaborative process.” (1:25:50)
SPS Chair Nicole Burnard also accused the Select Board of strong-arming the school committee during the discussion. (1:53:20)
To kick off the SPS discussion on March 3, Burnard reported on two phone calls she had with Roberts surrounding the February 25 meeting of the Select Board. (1:20:36) Burnard did not mention a February 13 phone call that Roberts brought up on Tuesday:
“I will add that upon reflection, I still very much support this approach to help ensure more school committee community representation. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but the idea of moving up the appointment as quickly as possible was brought up to me initially by the school committee chair. On February 13 she called me and let me know her concern that a second school committee member could resign, and that it might be wise to proceed with the appointment, and I agreed with her that it was worth considering. I then heard from a Select Board member and other individuals in the community advocating for an earlier appointment leading up to our Select Board meeting on February 25.”
Roberts did not expand on why Burnard thought a second committee member could resign. Roberts did indicate the call happened on February 13, which was just a few days after the February 10 school committee meeting during which the committee voted to file an Open Meeting Law complaint against itself.
Roberts went on to reaffirm the Select Board’s decision to proceed with the appointment.
“The last two school committee meetings I watched only three members were able to attend, and I think this makes it even more clear another member is needed as soon as possible. A review of the timeline we’re on: the School Committee resignation occurred on January 21, on January 24, the school committee chair notified the Select Board via email about it, as is required by MGL Chapter 41, Section 11. MGL then proceeds to say that the position will get posted for a week, and that the appointment will be made by the Select Board and the remaining members of the relevant committee. Each step of this process has been followed in line with the MGL. On February 25, when we voted to proceed with the process, I clearly stated that the goal was to hold a joint meeting and a joint selection with the school committee.”
Roberts reported to the board that she was working with Burnard to prepare for a March 17 joint meeting; including determining the questions that will be asked of the five applicants for appointment. The two bodies are expected to conduct interviews and vote to appoint someone at that meeting.
