BRATTLEBORO-Unofficial Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) March 4 election results say newcomer Jocelyn Fritts will take a seat at the table to represent Guilford instead of former Board Director Kelly Young, but a recount has been requested and is now being scheduled.
Running for a first time, Fritts, who has relocated here from Florida, received just 28 votes more than Young in the unofficial count of 1,128 to 1,100.
"I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the support and it is appreciated," Fritts said. "I am truly honored to have been entrusted with this responsibility and I will work to represent your voices and address the issues that matter most to our schools. I am excited to serve on the board, and can't wait to start. Thank you."
Young did not reply to The Commons by press time.
It is anticipated the recount for the Guilford three-year seat will take place in each of the district's four member towns - Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, and Putney - on Tuesday, March 11, with results available after press time at wsesu.org/wsesd-board.
In a press release, the WSESD explains that total vote tallies are reported in a "commingled" manner, as per state law.
"The articles of agreement as initially approved by the voters on or before July 1, 2019 explicitly provide that the board of civil authority of each town within the unified union school district shall count Australian ballots cast in that town and report that town's results to the district clerk, who shall calculate total votes cast within the unified union school district and report the result of the vote to the public."
As a unified union school district, the explanation continues, what counts is the total number of votes cast by voters from all four of the member towns.
The 10-person board includes four seats that must be filled by residents of Brattleboro and two seats that must be filled by residents of each of the other three towns.
Each director serves a three-year term and terms are staggered to prevent any one town from having to seat all its candidates at once.
Also elected on March 4 were:
• Matthew Schibley (representing Brattleboro through 2028), running unopposed, with 2,529 votes.
• Deborah Stanford (representing Dummerston through 2028), running unopposed, with 2,117 votes.
• Jessica Everlith (representing Dummerston through 2027), for the remaining one year of a three-year term, running unopposed, with 2,073 votes.
Other members of the WSESD board:
• Timothy Maciel (representing Brattleboro through 2027)
• Kimberly Price (representing Brattleboro through 2026)
• Colleen Savage (representing Brattleboro through 2027)
• Ruby McAdoo (representing Putney through 2026)
• Anne Beekman (representing Putney through 2027)
• Brian Remer (representing Guilford through 2027)
The organizational meeting for the WSESD board begins at 5 p.m. at the Cusick Conference Room of the Windham Regional Career Center (80 Atwood St.) and via Zoom. The meeting will determine board leadership and establish regular meeting routines for the upcoming year.
The school district's annual meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18 in the gymnasium of Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Rd.) and via Zoom.
District voters will be asked to approve a $67.7 million budget, which "if approved, will result in per pupil education spending of $15,851, which is 6.7% higher than per pupil education spending for the current year."
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.