Recall petition started on two School Com members

BELCHERTOWN – Two recall petition letters were submitted to the Belchertown Town Clerk’s office last Friday, starting the clock to collect 500 signatures for two School Committee in 21 days.

The letters, submitted by resident Stephan Corbin, seek to recall School Committee members Diane Brown and Mike Knapp. This comes after the School Committee had its first reading of a policy requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students wishing to participate in extracurricular activities.

Belchertown Town Clerk Terry Camerlin said the signatures must be from Belchertown residents who are registered voters.

The last day for the signatures to be turned in is Friday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m.

Once the recall petition is returned to the Town Clerk, the signatures will then be certified and the Selectboard will be notified, according to a 1997 act for recall elections in Belchertown.

Following notification to the Selectboard, the elected officials would then have five days to resign, or a removal election would need to occur “not less than 65 (days later) nor more than 90 days after the date of the town clerk’s certification.”

“At that point, people would have to pull papers as they would before an annual election,” said Camerlin. “Then you would vote whether to remove the person and if so, who to replace them with.”

Elected officials who were elected less than six months ago cannot be recalled. School Committee members Amy LaMothe and Ruby Bansal were recently elected at the annual election in May, so they would not be able to be recalled until Nov. 17.

Corbin said the submission is “an entire community effort and not just one person’s mission.”

“Certainly, I was the one who pulled the papers, but not without the amazing support from all facets of our community,” Corbin said. “Ultimately, we think they’re not speaking for their constituency at this point.”

He said he believes the schools are doing “a very good job controlling outbreaks with measures that are currently in place.”

He said if the process were to get to the point of an election, he would run for a position on the School Committee.

Knapp and Brown, who voted in favor of the policy, said they haven’t changed their minds.

“I commend the school district, teachers, and staff for ensuring that our students are safe and engaged during this pandemic,” Knapp said. “COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges, and our schools have done an outstanding job of overcoming them. Our school policies must consider what’s best for all students and staff, and they must be based on facts.”

Brown said she views the vaccine as a public health issue, “not a political or parents’ right issue.”

“The MIAA has unanimously voted to recommend vaccines for all high school athletes. The American Association of Pediatrics, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, CDC - all have recommended vaccines,” she said. “My responsibility is to protect the health and safety of all Belchertown students. I want to keep our schools open for in-person learning and to have extracurricular activities up and running.”

School Committee Chair Heidi Gutekenst said she is saddened to hear recall petition papers were pulled.

“I think we are all striving to do the best we can for the schools of Belchertown,” she said. “I am thankful to serve with dedicated individuals who take their oath of office so seriously and vote their convictions.”

Camerlin said the last time a recall came to an election, was in 2010 when three Selectboard members, Ken Elstein, Jim Barry and George Archible, were on the ballot for a recall in a special election. Elstein and Archible remained Selectboard members after the election, but Barry was defeated by former Selectboard member Brenda Aldrich.