Another Easthampton school committee member resigns in wake of chaotic superintendent search

As Easthampton’s tumultuous search for a new superintendent continues to play out, a second member of the city’s school committee has resigned. 

Laurie Garcia submitted her resignation Saturday, two weeks after Shannon Dunham resigned from the committee. Garcia wrote that she could “no longer work with a committee that has proven to act in ways that are detrimental to our school district and community at large,” according to her resignation letter, which was obtained by The Boston Globe. 

The superintendent search exploded onto national headlines earlier this year when Vito Perrone said he was offered the job only for it to be rescinded because he used the term “ladies” in a negotiation email. 

School Committee Chair Cynthia Kwiecinski later told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that the salutation did make her uncomfortable, but other “alarm bells” such as substantial vacation day requests factored into the decision to rescind Perrone’s offer. 

Garcia told the Globe that she grew frustrated by the committee’s decision to not reinstate Perrone’s offer, and that she felt her opinion was no longer valued in the committee. 

In her resignation letter, Dunham cited health concerns for her decision to step down. 

After moving on from Perrone, the School Committee voted to hire Erica Faginski-Stark, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Ludlow Public Schools. But a student emailed Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, a member of the committee, with “extreme concerns” about Faginski-Stark soon afterwards.

The student included two Facebook posts from user Erica Faginski that appeared to concern transgender women competing in sports. 

“With the recent anti trans picketing, many youth in the school are concerned and angry,” the student wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Boston.com. 

Faginski-Stark withdrew her candidacy for superintendent after Kwiecinski told her about the concerns.

As a result of the controversies, the committee decided last week to pause its search for a full-time school leader and instead appoint a one-year interim superintendent, the Globe reported.

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