Middleboro School Committee elects chair after deadlock

MIDDLEBORO — After evenly splitting on a choice for chair post-election — the School Committee broke the deadlock and elected Zeke Lewis to the position on Thursday, May 8.

Initially on Thursday members nominated Sue Pennini and Lewis for chair and split evenly three to three when voting — as they had last time. However when a second vote was called Pennini nominated Lewis and members agreed five to one, electing Lewis as chair. Newly elected member Shannon Breen dissented. The committee unanimously elected Pennini vice-chair.

Allin Frawley previously held the position of chair.

Once again the split vote led members to voice concerns about the equal number of School Committee members.

“You can run into this problem by having six people on the board, and we’ve talked about the need to take a look at our charter,” Pennini said.

Typically the charter is only changed every ten years, she said. But Pennini said she has reached out to Town Administrator Jay McGrail and he was open to the possibility of examining it sooner.

“That is something we can be looking forward to in the future and I think that’s that would be good for this board,” Pennini said.

Lewis, who is starting his fifth year on the committee, emphasized the need for communication and told the public he will be available at Coffee Milano between 8 and 10 a.m. on Tuesdays for anyone who wishes to chat or ask him questions.

“I will make myself available and we can sit down and have a conversation anytime,” he said.