Will 2nd Time Be The Charm in Electing a Greenwich Ed Board Chair?

The Greenwich Board of Education meets Tuesday night and at the top of the agenda is election of board officers.

When the eight-member board — comprised of four Republicans and four Democrats — meets at 7 p.m. Nov. 26 in the Cos Cob School, they will face the issue of whether there will be a simple majority consensus to elect a board chair, vice chair and secretary.

The board reportedly could not lay aside party politics at its Nov. 21 meeting to elect someone to lead the board for the next year. The failure to elect a chair — either Democrat Adriana Ospina, the current board secretary, or Republican Peter Sherr — has accelerated a 30-day time clock. If the school board cannot agree on its leadership for the coming year within 30 days of Election Day (Nov. 5), the selection of a chair will be made by the Republican-dominated Board of Selectmen.

In the interim, Republican Barbara O'Neill is handling board chairmanship duties. O'Neill inexplicably did not pursue a challenge to Sherr who won re-election after waging a petition candidacy. Sherr, who narrowly lost out on a Republican Town Committee endorsement, received the most votes in the Nov. 5 election. He received 6,615 votes.

Both First Selectman Peter Tesei and Selectman Dave Theis said Monday they would support Sherr.

"If it comes to us, Peter and I plan to support Peter Sherr only because he seems to reflect the will of the voters," Theis said. "He received the most number of votes. We have to heed that message."

Tesei said he "would be surprised" if the education board can come to a consensus "but I hope they do." He added, "If it does come to us, Dave and I have expressed support of Peter Sherr."

Meanwhile, Democratic Selectman Drew Marzullo said he will support Ospina. "To say politics didn't play a role in last weeks decision would simply be disingenuous. I was surprised that Barbara voted in favor of Peter because throughout the campaign she worked very hard for the other two candidates," Marzullo said.

Marzullo added, "Board members have a responsibility to elect a person who they think will best lead our schools. The average parent doesn't care one iota if the next BOE chair is Democratic or Republican. The only people who really care about that is the 40 plus individuals who make up town committees." 

Once the board of education addresses the chairmanship issue, it is to discuss Superintendent William McKersie's proposed $143,939,653 school budget for the 2014-15 school year.  The proposed 2014-2015 Operating Budget represents a 2.10% increase over the 2013-2014 operating budget.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 8:15 a.m. Nov. 26 to include Selectman Drew Marzullo's comments and to correct the date of the 30-day deadline for chairman selection.