School Board Elects New Leadership

By Eliza Hallabeck

The Board of Education voted to have Republican Debbie Leidlein as its new chair, Republican Laura Roche as its new vice chair, and Republican Cody McCubbin as its new secretary during its meeting on Tuesday, December 7.

Tuesday’s meeting was the first official meeting for Ms Roche, Mr McCubbin, and Democrat John Vouros, who were sworn into their newly elected positions on November 27.

Before tackling agenda items, now former chair and Independent Party of Newtown member William Hart asked for nominations for his position, at the start of the meeting.

Ms Roche nominated Debbie Leidlein to be chair.

“I feel Debbie will be open, honest, and fair,” said Ms Roche, adding that she has heard from the public a need to restore trust and thinks Ms Leidlein is the right person for that.

The motion passed unanimously with Mr Hart voting last.

After Mr Hart and Ms Leidlein shook hands, nominations were heard for the vice chair position.

Independent Party of Newtown member Richard Gaines moved to have Republican Keith Alexander as the new vice chair, and Ms Leidlein nominated Ms Roche for the position.

The motion to have Mr Alexander as the new vice chair failed, with Mr Hart, Mr Gaines, and Mr Alexander supporting the motion.

The motion to have Ms Roche named as the vice chair passed, with Mr Vouros, Mr McCubbin, Ms Roche, and Ms Leidlein voting in favor.

Then Mr Hart moved to have Mr Gaines act as the board’s new secretary, saying Mr Gaines is now the most senior member of the school board. The vote failed with Mr McCubbin, Mr Vouros, Ms Roche, and Ms Leidlein voting against the motion.

Ms Roche then nominated Mr McCubbin for the secretary position, and the vote passed with Mr McCubbin, Mr Vouros, Ms Roche, and Ms Leidlein voting for the motion.

After the new officers were elected, the school board began going over agenda items. To read about the rest of the meeting, see the related story in this week’s Bee.