Two in Madawaska seek to rescind resignations from school committee

MADAWASKA – The school committee here is about to find out that legal maneuvering can sometimes get confusing, and in their case, the makeup of the five-person committee could either change drastically or remain just as it was 10 days ago.

Two members of the committee, Paul Cyr and Della Schlicher, who often found themselves on the short end of 3-2 votes on issues, resigned their seats 10 days ago. Three days later, they made written requests to the school board to rescind their resignations.

The school committee, instead, voted to recognize two vacancies created on the committee. Chairman Yves Dube said the positions had to be filled within 30 days, and possibly as quickly as Aug. 30.

The resignations, offered publicly in a press conference covered by two newspapers and a local television station, included written statements about their reasons. They cited alleged secret meetings of the school committee, and dictatorial actions by Dube and the two other members.

The requests for rescission of their resignations were done quietly at a school committee meeting last Thursday. The written requests were both one-sentence statements.

Cyr, newly elected in July, may have found a loophole, one that could get him and Schlicher back on the school committee. It could at least present a legal issue that would be heard by the courts, he said.

He believes his resignation and rescission requests should have gone to the town clerk instead of the school committee and superintendent. In regulations overseeing municipal elections, requests to withdraw resignations can be made at any time before they are voted upon.

“Della and I believe we are still committee members,” Cyr wrote in a short note left at the Bangor Daily News office Monday. “We are asserting our belief.

“I believe we fall under Chapter 30 [municipal election laws],” he said Tuesday. “We will find out.”

Christina Therrien, town manager and town clerk in Madawaska, said Cyr asked her about election laws and she gave him a memo from the town meeting and election manual. The book is produced by the Maine Municipal Association.

While elections are overseen by the town, this may be an issue for the school committee since it acts as its own entity, Therrien said Tuesday.

“I don’t think there is a requirement that the resignation come to the town clerk,” she said. “School units have their own rules.

Towns, she explained, are governed by Chapter 30 of the Maine Revised Statutes, while schools are governed by Chapter 20.

Carlton Dubois, interim superintendent at Madawaska, said Tuesday that action on filling the seats previously vacated by Cyr and Schlicher has been put on hold.

He said the school committee will be seeking legal advice before filling the positions.

Cyr, Dubois said, is citing municipal law, and the school committee operates under another title.

“As I see it, if they had submitted their resignations to the town clerk, she would have turned it over to the appropriate board, in this case the school committee,” he said.

“Vacancies on school committees are filled according to Chapter 20A,” he said. “When a member resigns the committee can declare a vacancy.”

He said there is nothing in the chapter saying the school committee needs to accept or deny a resignation.

“That’s where this sits,” he said. “Because we have two statutes, the school committee will need a legal opinion.

“There will be no action until that happens,” he said.

In the meantime, Dubois is being replaced as interim superintendent this week.

Raymond Freve of Plymouth starts his new duties today, and Dubois’ last day with the Madawaska School Department is Thursday.