By: Charles Stannard
REGION 4– Linda Hall, an eight-year member, has been selected as the new chairman of the Region 4 Board of Education. Hall, a Democrat, was selected on a unanimous vote of the board last week.
Hall replaces Terry Stewart, an Essex Republican who has led the board since 2005. Stewart did not seek a new six-year term in the town election this year. Mary Beth Harrigan, an Essex Republican who has served on the board since 2005, is the new vice-chairman. Richard Strauss, a Chester Republican, was picked as the board treasurer.
The panel left open the position of secretary because one newly elected member, Pamela Christman of Chester, was still awiting confirmation from an election recount when officers were selected on Nov. 5. The nine-member Region 4 Board of Education governs the operation of Valley Regional High School and John Winthrop Middle School.
Hall is the director of the CDE Cooperative Nursery School in Deep River. The mother of two grown children who graduated from Region 4 schools, Hall was elected to the Region 4 board in 2001 and re-elected for a second term in 2007. She previously served eight years on the Deep River Board of Education, including two years as chairwoman from 1999-2001.
Hall said a developing a proposal for a full regionalization of Region 4 schools is a top priority for 2010. While the Region 4 board runs the secondary schools, local school boards run the elementary schools in Chester, Deep River, and Essex.
In a complex arrangement that is unique in the state, a supervision district board of education comprised of 36 members of all four boards manages shared services, such as the central office, special education services, and transportation. The regionalization proposal, which must be approved by voters in referendums in all three towns, is expected to call for creation of a single elected Region 4 Board of Education to run all five schools in the district.
Hall said Friday “the timeline is fluid,” for holding referendums on a regionalization plan as school administrators and board members work to adress all details related to the proposed change. “We could hopefully vote by June but we’re not wedded to that,” she said.
Hall said developing a budget for 2010-2011 that can win voter approval at the annual three-town referendum in May is another priority. “The budget is something we’re going to have to do a real good job of looking at,” she said.
