Conway School Board advertising for 2-week term

CONWAY — With school elections less than 50 days away, the Conway School Board will follow the letter of the law in handling the vacancy created when chair Amy Snow announced she had to step down for personal reasons. It plans to advertise the seat before April 8, and it may be filled for only two weeks.

Snow was finishing up the second of three years on her term. She wanted her resignation to take effect at the end of March to not leave the board shorthanded through the budget season. But she learned on Jan. 28 she couldn’t do that.

“Due to election law, in order to have the remainder of my term on the ballot, I have to bump my resignation to before the filing period,” Snow shared in an email. “Unfortunately, this means that my resignation takes effect immediately.”

At its Feb. 10 meeting, the first since Snow stepped down, the board discussed how to address the vacancy.

Board member Mike DiGregorio, who was later appointed vice chair while Ryan Wallace, the former vice, became chair, said there are only three more scheduled board meetings before the April 8 election.

“My personal feeling is that we advertise and we schedule interviews for March 24,” he said. “It seems kind of ridiculous to do that, but by statutory requirement, we have to keep moving forward.”

DiGregorio added: “If we appoint someone they’ll be there for two weeks until the election, and if nobody applies then we don’t have to do anything because the election will fix the problem.”

Randy Davison, the longest-serving member of the Conway School Board, believes the seat should be kept vacant. “I think it’s ridiculous to fill this with the elections around the corner,” he said.

The last time a vacancy opened on the board was two weeks after the April 2023 elections occurred. Cassie Capone, who had just completed her first year of a three-year term, emailed the board saying she needed to step down since she is moving out of the school district.

With the next election almost a year away at the time, the board advertised the open seat. Citizens were given 21 days to send a letter of interest for the seat to the SAU 9 office. The board conducted interviews with four candidates following that and offered the seat to Michaela Clement, who is now in the second year of a three-year term.

In the summer of 2022, the board had another vacancy open, but this time members were unable to come to a consensus of who should fill the seat. It ultimately led to the decision being taken out of its hands.

RSA 671:33 states that if the school board is unable to fill a vacancy by majority vote, the selectmen shall appoint a member.

Selectmen in September of 2022, interviewed six candidates for the seat and ultimately tapped Mike DiGregorio for the post.

Following that decision, the board’s policy committee met in September of 2022 and crafted policy BBBE, a two-page document — “Board Vacancies and Unexpired Term Fulfillment.” The policy established six steps to filling a vacancy on the board. One of those steps centered on a 21-day advertising of the opening with interviews to be conducted at the school board meeting after that period.

The board voted Feb. 10 to amend the policy moving up the time frame for the process from 21 days to a shorter period.

“I’m totally against this,” said Davison. “I don’t think the state or anyone is going to be coming down on us with this short amount of time (left on the term). I don’t believe we should be filling this position. We should wait until the elections.”

DiGregorio responded: “Randy, I totally agree with you, however statutorily (the RSA) says we must do something or shall, which means we have to, and we certainly don’t want headlines saying the school refuses to appoint.

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He added, “I definitely agree 100 percent with you.”

He added: “With all we’ve got going on, we are statutorily meeting the requirement. …I don’t think we’re going to have an opportunity to do this until March, and if someone applies, whether it be one person or 10 people, we will appoint on March 24. And, they would have two weeks of school board experience.”

Davison said in the past, with an election looming, the board has opted not to fill a vacancy.

“Now it seems like we have gotten into a quagmire over the fact of not filling the position,” he said.

“I don’t think the community is going to give us flack for holding out to the election. … I don’t think the community is going to be throwing daggers at us over this one,” Davison said.

Colleague Matt Stearns, who offered a second to DiGregorio’s motion, weighed in.

“It is a little bit of belt and suspenders,” he said, “but I think it’s the right way to go just to make sure that we’re tight on policy.”

Davison pointed out the board has the authority to wave policies, but DiGregorio countered that it “has zero authority to wave an RSA.”

The board voted 5-1 with Clement, DiGregorio, Melanie Lebel, Stearns and Wallace in the majority while Davison was in the minority.

Letters of interest in the vacancy on the Conway School Board can be sent to the SAU 9 office, 176A Main Street, Conway, NH 03818.

Snow sent the following letter announcing her resignation to her colleagues.

“It is with heavy heart that I submit my formal resignation from the school board effective Jan. 28. It has been a privilege and an honor to serve the community of Conway and to serve with you the past two years. I believe the board and district are on a good track and wish you the best in your continuing efforts in educating the children of Conway and the surrounding towns.”

The 10-day filing period for school and town offices opens on Wednesday and runs through 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28.

There are three seats on the board opening up — two three-year terms and a one-year spot.

Lebel and Wallace are the current incumbents on the board.

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