A vacancy on the Amherst School Committee will be filled on Thursday October 13, 2016 at a joint meeting of the Select Board and the remaining members of the Amherst School Committee. Interested candidates must submit a Letter of Interest to the Select Board office by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 6, 2016.
Letters of Interest may be submitted by email to selectboard@amherstma.gov (preferred) or via hard copy to Select Board, Town Hall, 4 Boltwood Ave. Amherst MA 01002. Please include a summary of your reasons for wishing to serve on the Amherst School Committee and your qualifications and experience. All submissions will be distributed to Select Board and Amherst School Committee members as they are received, and will be available to the public on the Town web site in the Select Board’s packet materials for the October 13, 2016 meeting. Certain personal information will be redacted upon request. Please note that while candidates are welcome to make the public aware of their interest, members of the Select Board, Amherst School Committee, and staff will not release the number of candidates, or candidate names or other identifying information, until after the Letters of Interest appear in the Select Board packet materials for the October 13, 2016 meeting.
Candidates who have submitted a Letter of Interest will need to attend the Thursday October 13, 2016 joint meeting at 5:00 p.m. The joint meeting will be held in the Town Room on the second floor of Town Hall and will be broadcast live by Amherst Media on channel 17.
Vacancies in elected Town-wide office are governed by MGL Chapter 41 Section 11. A roll call vote of both bodies is required, and at least five positive votes must be made for the selected individual, regardless of how many members of the Select Board and Amherst School Committee are present.
The person elected on October 13, 2016 will serve until the next Annual Town Election, to be held on March 28, 2017, and has the option to seek election on the Town ballot through the standard nomination process. The Amherst School Committee term that ended with resignation on September 26, 2016 will be on the March 28, 2017 Town ballot as a two year term. The new Amherst School Committee member also serves on the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, and must be sworn in at the Amherst Town Clerk’s office prior to participating in meetings of either body. Visit http://www.arps.org/administration/school_committee to learn more about the committee.
If you have questions please contact Debra Puppel in the Select Board/Town Manager’s Office at 259-3001 or puppeld@amherstma.gov.