Politics & Government

Town Meeting Votes to Reduce School Committee to Five

Those in favor said this is not a reaction to previous troubles with committee members.

On Monday night, the Norwood Town Meeting members voted to reduce the size of the School Committee from seven to five members in the next two elections.

During the discussion, those in favor noted that this motion was not in reaction to the recent issues and resignations among the committee - specifically the allegations against former members and

With the motion passing, there will be one seat available on the committee for the 2012 elections with two members' terms expiring, reducing the board to six. The same will be true of the 2013 elections, reducing the board to five for the 2013-2014 school year.

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Town Meeting member Gerri Slater said reducing the number of members in the  School Committee has been talked about by various groups and individuals for several years.

“It will foster more effective communication and responsiveness to us community members and less confusion," Slater said.

Find out what's happening in Norwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Courtney Rau and Dick Kief, both current members of the committee, were in favor of the change, but current School Committee Chairman Paul Samargedlis disagreed, saying he prefers to serve on a seven member board.


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