The Governor Wentworth Regional School District Board voted to accept the resignation of board member Mr. Pike and then completed a drawn-out reorganization that ended with the election of Brody Deshaies as board chair and Doctor Beth Sheckler as vice chair.

Board member Brody Pike announced his resignation at the meeting, saying logistical and financial constraints related to living 80 miles away and family circumstances made continuing impractical. The board immediately moved to accept the resignation; the motion, made by Doctor Beth Sheckler and seconded by Doctor Jim Manning, carried by roll call with all members voting in favor.

The board then conducted repeated rounds of nominations and roll-call votes for chair. Multiple motions were made and defeated: a nomination of Doctor Beth Sheckler resulted in a tie and failed; subsequent nominations for other candidates also failed in successive ballots. After several rounds of voting and discussion about historic precedent and board stability, Brody Deshaies was elected chair and Doctor Beth Sheckler was elected vice chair. The new chairs were announced aloud during the meeting and the board proceeded into the regular portion of its agenda.

Board members and several newer members used the reorganization discussion to debate whether chair terms should be one or two years. Some trustees and members of the public argued stability and continuity favored multi-year chairs, while others cited long-standing practice favoring a one-year rotation. Several members said the underlying goal was to support staff and maintain respectful board-administration relationships regardless of the chairperson.

The board also completed committee reassignments and noted the need to update committee rosters now that a vacancy will be filled. The superintendent said she would rework committee assignments and bring updates back to the board in the coming week.

Ending: The board’s reorganization took significantly longer than typical; trustees said they expect to finalize committee appointments and continue routine business at the next scheduled meetings.