Member who backed ‘ladies’ choice quits
An Easthampton School Committee member who backed the superintendent candidate who wrote “ladies” in an email has resigned, becoming the second member to leave their post in recent weeks following the controversial search for a district leader.
School Committee member Laurie Garcia in a last ditch effort a week ago tried to get the school board to again re-enter contract negotiations with the top pick for superintendent — Vito Perrone, who lost his job offer when he used the term “ladies” in an email to the committee chair.
Garcia’s effort was unsuccessful yet again as the School Committee voted 2-5 for Perrone. A few days after that vote, Garcia submitted her resignation.
“After deep consideration, it is with utmost regret that I write this letter to inform you of my resignation, effective immediately,” Garcia wrote to the school board. “I can no longer work with a committee that has proven to act in ways that are detrimental to our school district and community at large.
“I am especially disheartened that I can no longer strive to model for our students the integrity and transparency that are needed in leadership, and I hope you consider the students more as you try to move forward,” she added. “I also hope that with time and healing, the committee can regain the community’s trust and return the focus to supporting our fabulous teachers and students.”
The superintendent search process has been a disaster. After the committee rescinded its offer for Perrone, the second pick for superintendent, Erica Faginski-Stark, withdrew herself from running the school system amid students reporting her past Facebook posts.
The Facebook posts that the students shared were from 2021. One of the posts included a link for a petition to “Defend Title IX,” which stated that “only girls should play girls’ sports!”
The news of Perrone losing his job offer after he called the committee chair and her assistant “ladies” in an email went viral. Residents ripped the School Committee for rescinding the offer and urged the board to give him another chance.
The School Committee voted last week to move toward having an interim superintendent for the next year.
Garcia is the second committee member to resign in recent weeks. Shannon Dunham, who along with Garcia voted to re-enter negotiations with Perrone, resigned from the School Committee — citing surgery that requires a lengthy recovery.
While announcing her resignation to the board in an email, Dunham addressed the members as “Ladies and Gentlemen.”