The West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education has added one non-routine item to the agenda for its meeting on Tuesday, November 13: A plan for finding a replacement for Ellen Walsh, who resigned on October 26.
The board member of eight years resigned when she closed the sale on her home, officially making her a non resident and ineligible to serve. The resignation is not a shock to the board, which was aware of Walsh’s intentions since she put the house on the market in early August. “She sent us an E-mail last week,” said Board president Hemant Marathe, the board president. “We knew she was looking to move so it’s not a complete surprise.”
Marathe said at the meeting they will outline the process of appointing someone to fill the remainder of Walsh’s term, which expires next April.
Ellen and her husband, Quentin, a frequent critic of the WW-P board’s budget policies, particularly the size of its surpluses, currently live in their Delaware home as they check out different real estate opportunities in the South before settling down. Walsh said they are considering relocating to Florida, South Carolina, or Georgia.
“It’s Ellen, Quentin, and Snickers, my puppy, off to find a warmer climate,” she said, before thanking the community for allowing her to serve.
Marathe said the West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Foundation will also give a presentation at the November 13 meeting to talk about its role in the district and the funds it helps to raise for the school system.
An external auditor will also appear to report on the district’s finances and accounting. “He comes every year to present his report to make sure there is no hocus pocus going on and that we are taking care of the taxpayers’ money,” said Marathe.
He added that the rest of the meeting, which will be held at Community Middle School on Grover’s Mill Road in Plainsboro at 7:30, would be “fairly routine.”
