UPDATED: 5 Apply For District 2 School Committee Seat; 1 Withdraws

Editor’s Note: First posted on February 6 at 9:37 a.m. Updated with announcement one candidate has withdrawn.

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FRAMINGHAM – City Clerk Lisa Ferguson said five individuals applied for the District 2 School Committee seat by the 11:59 p.m. deadline on Friday, February 5.

All wish to fill the seat vacated by the late Karen Foran Dempsey, who died unexpectedly on December 24, 2020.

 Per the City’s Charter, the notice of vacancy was posted for a minimum of 21 days but no longer than 30 days. 

A joint meeting of the City Council and the remaining School Committee members shall be held within 45 days from today (February 6, 2021), according to the Charter.

The City Council may schedule such joint meeting during a regularly scheduled Council meeting or call a meeting for this purpose. 

Upon the election by a majority of the combined membership of the Council and School Committee to fill the vacancy, such person shall be sworn to office and shall complete the remainder of the term of the vacant seat (December 31, 2021). 

The District 2 School Committee seat, along with the other District School Committee seats will be on the ballot in November 2021. All School Committee seats are for 2-year terms.

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The five individuals who submitted resumes are David DiGuardia, Richard Finlay, Kelly Garofalo, David Gordon, and Brandon Ward. 

UPDATE: DiGuardia has since withdrawn his name for consideration.

All are District 2 Framingham registered voters, said Ferguson.

Finlay held the seat prior to the election of Dempsey. He chose at that time not to seek re-election.

The 8-member School Committee discussed Wednesday night its process to fill the vacancy.

The School Committee will schedule a meeting on February 17 solely to interview the five candidates.

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The School Committee’s goal is to have a joint meeting between the School Committee and the 11-member elected City Council will be on March 2. The candidate with a majority of votes between the 8 School Committee members and the 11 Councilors will get the seat through December 31, 2021.

The goal is to have the new School Committee member ready to be sworn in for March 3, so he or she can participate in the budget process for Fiscal year 2022.