OKEMOS - The Okemos school board is moving ahead with plans to replace one of its members, though the trustee said she did not intend to resign, according to a report in the Lansing State Journal.
Judith Barton-MacGuidwin spoke the words "I resign" near midnight on May 11, at the end of a lengthy, public board meeting on the topic of closing elementary schools, the Journal reported. Her statement is audible on video footage of the session, the report said.
Board President Jeffrey Theuer said the statement created an "automatic vacancy" under state election laws, according to the Journal, which the board expects to fill by appointment on June 1.
But Barton-MacGuidwin said in a letter to the board and the superintendent that, "I did not resign ... did not intend to resign, and when asked, told both the Superintendent and School Board President that I did not intend to resign," the Journal reported.
Barton-MacGuidwin said in the letter that she believes the board "concocted a plan" to replace her, pointing out that a letter regarding the matter was delivered to her home on May 15, but dated May 11, the same day that the meeting in question took place. School administrators said the letter's date was a typographical error.
The district has had several lengthy meetings on elementary school closure, the Journal reported.
SOURCE:
The Lansing State Journal, "School board says member quit her post," May 24, 2009
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Districts eye school closings," Dec. 20, 2008
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