AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – The Amherst School Committee continues to look for candidates interested in serving the district.
This Monday night, questions were developed at a joint meeting of the Amherst Town Council, along with two of the remaining school committee members. The meeting included a discussion on a series of questions that may be asked at a September 26 meeting.
The Amherst Town Council President, Lynn Griesemer, separated the questions into the following groups:
- Reasons for applying
- Strength of areas for improvement in Amherst Public Schools
- Understanding the school committee’s role
- Current and upcoming issues facing the school committee
This comes ahead of the November 7 election. The need to appoint new members came after Ben Herrington, Allison McDonald and Peter Demling recently resigned from the committee.
There is a Title 9 investigation currently underway related to treatment of LGTBQ students at the middle school. “If we do anything about Title IX it should probably be what can the role of the school committee be to set up a fair non discrimantary proces or something like that,” said Cathy Schoen, District 1 Councilor of the Amherst Town Council.
More discussion is expected next week with talks of public comment being allowed in the interview process. Below is Griesemer memo from August 25 with the full proposed process:
Candidates have until Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. to submit statements of interest. In those statements, the candidate explains why he or she wants to finish out the term. Candidates should include their name, voter registration address, email, and at least one phone number in their statements.
Kayleigh Thomas is a digital reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2022. Follow Kayleigh on Twitter @kayleighcthomas and view her bio to see more of her work.
