With Brockton schools in turmoil, power struggle paralyzes school committee

BROCKTON — The Brockton School Committee voted Tuesday night to let the district's attorneys research if the committee can elect two co-vice chairpersons for 2024 on the third night of voting for the position.

After the election spilled over into a third weekly meeting due to six consecutive deadlock votes between incumbent Vice Chair Kathleen Ehlers and nominee Tony Rodrigues, district lawyers will check if two members can share the vice chair role.

The committee's attorney Sarah Spatafore will update the body at a special meeting on Jan. 23, and another election will presumably take place.

"Nothing's going to change," said committee member Joyce Asack. "We have such a busy year between the deficit, between the audit, between everything going on. There's a lot of work and it's a lot for just one vice chair."

The previous nights of voting - first at the board's organizational meeting on Jan. 3 and on Jan. 10 - both ended in multiple tie votes with each candidate receiving four votes. Seven members make up the committee and Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan chairs the board and also holds voting power.

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Ehlers has continued to serve as the vice chair during the interim while the committee selects a successor, per the committee's policy.

"We can't keep doing this week after week and I don't see votes changing. I don't see anyone flipping their vote," Asack said. "It's a lot of work and we can try to split it up."

The election is postponed for another week while lawyers check the legality of having two vice chairpersons. The committee would have to suspend the current policy regarding officer elections in order to implement an additional vice chair.

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"It's not an abnormal concept. There are some committees that have that arrangement," Spatafore said.

Asack urged the committee to consider changing the board's charter, which governs the processes the school committee must follow.

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"I think it's a good compromise if we can get there," Sullivan said. "The charter change, that's a long process, but in terms of the policy, I think that's what we're looking for."

"We got to go back to focusing on our students and getting our work done," Asack said.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Deadlocked Brockton School Committee might have 2 vice chairs