NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton City Council and School Committee are seeking interested applicants to fill a vacancy for the Ward 2 School Committee seat.
This comes following the resignation of previous Ward 2 committee member Karen Foster Cannon who cited unforeseen personal circumstances that arose shortly after taking office for her reason to step away from the commitment.
“While I continued serving with the expectation that this would be temporary, it has become clear that my circumstances have changed for this foreseeable future. Stepping away from public service is the choice I need to make for my family and for myself at this time,” Foster Cannon wrote in her resignation letter.
While members of the School Committee are elected, vacancies between terms are filled through a joint appointment of the City Council and remaining School Committee members. The position will be held until the next city election in November.
Interested registered voters of Ward 2 can fill out an application form found on the city’s website. Applicants are encouraged to apply by Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, and applications will be accepted up until 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan 13, 2025.
City Council President Alex Jarrett told Reminder Publishing he hopes to see candidates who are up to date on the city’s recent budgeting cycles as well as someone who is going to listen to the constituents of Ward 2.
“I will be looking for someone who has a deep knowledge of the schools, a connection to the schools, a knowledge of the history of the budget year we’re in, which has been a difficult year,” Jarrett said. “[also] Having an understanding of where we’re at currently, an understanding of the budget constraints the city is under.”
Jarrett added that while he hopes whoever is appointed is also interested in running for the position full time when the term runs up next November, whoever is appointed to finish the term will be done immediately following a new candidate’s election to the seat in November, as opposed to finishing out the calendar year like an elected member does when losing to a new candidate.
The City Council and School Committee will host a joint meeting on Monday, Jan 13, 2025, at 6 p.m. at the JFK Community Room at 100 Bridge Rd. in Florence. Each candidate will have three minutes to give an introductory statement, followed by 10 minutes of questions per candidate by both bodies.
The winning candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast. Until a candidate receives a majority, which is 10 votes if 18 members are present, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated after each roll call vote.
For more information about the role of the School Committee is available on the district website.
“I encourage anyone who’s interested to reach out to city councilors and school committee members to ask them questions and that way we can have conversations with folks before the public process,” Jarrett said.
