The Delmar Board of Education deadlocks on a replacement member, leaving the board without a fifth member for at least another month.
The vacancy arose following the sudden resignation of board Vice-President Shane Bowden in early July. That triggered a process by which the remaining members of the board would appoint his replacement. That replacement would serve until next year’s election.
The vacancy leaves the board with four members, creating the possibility of tied votes without a tiebreaking fifth vote, and that is what happened when it came time to choose Bowden’s replacement.
Members had two choices, both with prior experience on the Delmar Board of Education. Farrah Morelli was a recent departure from the board; she initially filed for re-election to her seat earlier this year but later withdrew her candidacy. Shawn Brittingham is also a former member of the Delmar Board of Education who also served on the state Board of Education. He made a bid for Delmar’s school board earlier this year, but lost.
At a meeting last week, the four current board members interviewed Brittingham and Morelli, with questions about their accomplishments, strengths, and positions on balancing the district’s budget and a possible future referendum.
Morelli stressed that, since she just left the board a few months ago, she is ready to hit the ground running.
“I'm just up to date. I haven’t missed a thing,” she said. “I've got all the trainings, I've got all the certifications. My goodness, I'll bring my name tag back.”
Brittingham also touted his past experience on the board.
“I served 23 years here, a very successful 23 years, but I did have help,” he said. “I had great administrators and great board members.”
The two candidates agreed on the need for a capital referendum to fund a new school building, but they differed on the need for an operating expense referendum. Brittingham was strongly in favor of asking voters for a property tax hike, in part to pay the district’s teachers more.
“To keep the best and make sure you have the best - and this is with your teachers, your administrators, with your supplies -we have to stay current,” he said. “But you have to have money. Everything comes at a cost.”
Morelli seemed more skeptical about the need for an operating referendum.
“I need to see that we're going to be good stewards of that money and we're going to have good plans before I go out and ask the community,” she said. “And I know that the community doesn't want us just voting blindly on anything either. There's an expectation that we're going to make promises and we're going to use the money for what we said it was going to be.”
A potential referendum is likely to be a major issue in the coming months. Late last year, the Board of Education announced it would postpone a referendum planned for this year in favor of going to the voters in early 2027 instead. The district’s last referendum was in 2015 when voters approved both a capital and an operating referendum.
After the candidates had a chance to answer questions from the board, members voted on a replacement, but without success. A vote to appoint Morelli failed 2-2, and a vote to appoint Brittingham failed by the same margin. Board members Neil Baker and Jordan Johnson supported Morelli, while Russell Smart and board President Raymond Vincent supported Brittingham.
With no majority for either candidate, the district will advertise the vacancy again, opening up the possibility that more candidates will emerge. The Board of Education will try to fill the vacancy next month.
