New Officers and Committee Assignments for Amherst and Union 26 School Committees

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst School Committee, followed by the Joint Meeting of the Amherst Regional School Committee and Union 26 School Committee, January 9, 2024.

The meeting was held in hybrid format, with all members but Irv Rhodes in the Amherst Regional High School Library and Rhodes participating remotely, and was simulcast and recorded on Amherst Media Channel 15. That recording can be viewed here. About 15 members of the public were in the library, though the number varied throughout the nearly four-hour meeting. Twenty people were viewing the simulcast at peak. The recording had been viewed 251 times as of January 10.

Representing Amherst were: Bridget Hynes, Debra Leonard, Sarah Marshall, Irv Rhodes (participating remotely), and Jennifer Shiao. Representing Pelham and Union 26: Sarahbess Kenney, William Sherr.. Representing Leverett: Tilman Wolf. Representing Shutesbury: Anna Heard. Margaret Stancer (Pelham, Union 26)) was absent.

Staff: Interim Superintendent Doug Slaughter

The Amherst School Committee meeting, which took place  just before the joint meeting,elected new officers and determined new committee assignments. The newly elected members had been inaugurated on January 2.

For an explanation of the composition and duties of the different school committees, look here and here. 

Amherst School Committee: Elections and Assignments
Sarah Marshall and Bridget Hynes were nominated for the position of chairperson, and Marshall was elected by a vote of 3-2 (Marshall, Rhodes and Leonard voting for Marshall).

For Vice Chair, Irv Rhodes and Hynes were nominated. Prior to the vote, Jennifer Shiao pointed out that candidates for the school committee had campaigned representing two different camps (the Amherst Forward PAC and Candidates for Change) and suggested that the officers should include representation from both sides.  Rhodes strongly disagreed with Shiao and said that speaking of there being two camps is “inappropriate” and that “such partisanship shouldn’t be injected into the discussion.” Rhodes was elected by a vote of 3-2 (Rhodes, Marshall, and Leonard voting for him).

Secretary Union 26: Debra Leonard and Bridget Hynes were nominated. Shiao again emphasized representation when she nominated Hynes, who was elected by a vote of 3-2, with Rhodes, who nominated Leonard, saying he was still distressed by Shiao’s comment, and that he was voting for Hynes to demonstrate that there are no “camps” within the school committee and to underscore the “inappropriateness” of raising that issue. Leonard, too, protested against Shiao’s opinion,  saying that she had not run as part of a camp. Rhodes, Shiao, Hynes, and Marshall voted for Hynes.

The Amherst School Committee officers (Marshall, Rhodes, and Hynes) will join three representatives from Pelham- (William Sherr, Sarahbess Kenney, and Margaret Stancer) to comprise the Union 26 School Committee. That committee governs the relationship of the Amherst and Pelham elementary schools with the superintendent (see also here). 

The Amherst School Committee then filled a number of its standing committees with Slaughter, Shiao, and Rhodes explaining what each of the committees do and members volunteering to fill the various slots.

Budget Coordinating Group: Rhodes, Hynes
Joint Capital Planning Committee: Marshall, Shiao

Elementary School Building Committee: Leonard
Amherst Schools Warrant Authority: Shiao, Leonard (backup)
Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC)  Liaison: Marshall
Multi-lingual Parent Advisory Council (MPAC): Shiao
Educational Collaborative Representative: Hynes
Professional Leave Subcommittee: Marshall
School Equity Advisory Committee: Hynes

Union 26 Committee: Elections
Union 26 governs the relationship between the Amherst and Pelham elementary schools with the superintendent, and is made up of the officers of the Amherst and Pelham school committees.  The Union 26 officers were elected as follows:

Irv Rhodes, the current chair, was re-elected unanimously.
William Sherr was elected as vice chair unanimously..

Amherst Regional School Committee: Elections and Assignments
For the chairpersonship, Kenney and Scherr were nominated and Kenney was elected 5-4 (Rhodes, Marshall, Leonard, Kenney, and Wolf voting for Kenney). 

For the vice chair position, Rhodes and Sherr were nominated.. Prior to the vote, Hynes commented on the importance of representation in light of recent failures in the district to address issues of discrimination. Sherr was elected 7–2 (Heard, Hynes, Kenney, Leonard, Sherr, Shiao, and  Wolf, voting for Sherr).

Committee assignments were made as follow:
Budget Audit Subcommittee: Kenney, Marshall, Wolf

Policy Subcommittee: Heard, Leonard, Sherr, Shiao
Superintendent Evaluation Committee: Heard, Rhodes, Sherr
Contract Negotiating Team for Amherst Pelham Education Association (APEA): Kenney

Contract Negotiating Team for American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME): Shiao
Contract Negotiating Team for Association of Professional Administrators (APA) Principals Union:

Regional Schools Warrant Authority:  Sherr

Clerical Merit Award: Shiao

MPAC: Shiao

New: Investigative Reports Subcommittee: Hynes, Rhodes, Sherr, Leonard