Fifth SAD 27 director resigns

ST. FRANCIS – Another board meeting, another SAD 27 director’s resignation.

On Saturday, Jack Norris became the fifth member of the SAD 27 board of directors since March to tender his resignation.

“This had nothing to do with any controversy with the board,” Norris said after his announcement at the meeting. “It will just look better and remove any doubt of conflict of interest.”

In September, Norris was appointed by Gov. Angus King to the state board of education to fill an unexpired term.

“There are ambiguities in the law,” Norris said in terms of serving at both the local and state level. He said his decision to resign was based solely on those questions.

Norris’ resignation brings to five the number of SAD 27 directors to leave the board in nine months and creates a second empty seat.

The Fort Kent Town Council is expected to appoint a successor to Leroy Martin, who resigned from the board three weeks ago, citing mounting frustrations with board members and a desire to devote more time to his business and other organizations to which he belongs.

The council must now also look to appoint Norris’ replacement.

Norris served on the board for eight years, representing Ward 9 in Wallagrass, and was up for re-election in March.

The exodus from the SAD 27 board began in March with former Chairwoman Candyce Plourde, who left claiming philosophical and ethical differences between herself and Superintendent Sandra Bernstein.

Plourde was followed two weeks later with the resignation of Joel Desjardins amid what he described as continuing controversy and an administration that had lost sight of what they were there for.

In August, Nancy Daigle resigned citing personal reasons.

With Norris’ resignation, SAD 27 residents will elect five school directors at the annual March elections. The district is composed of seven municipalities in the upper St. John Valley.

Over the last year, the board has found itself mired in several controversies, including a hotly debated vote on changing its cost-sharing formula and a pending withdrawal effort by member towns Eagle Lake and Winterville.

Paula Charette, current board chairwoman and two-year board member, now finds herself at the helm of a 12-member board in which elected directors outnumber those appointed by one.

“Looking around at [current] members, it’s hard to believe I am senior board member,” she said after Saturday’s meeting.