EASTHAMPTON — Shannon Dunham has resigned from the School Committee.

Dunham announced her decision with a photo of her official resignation letter via a post on her School Committee Facebook page Saturday night.

“I officially resigned from the Easthampton School Committee,” she wrote in the April 15 post. “This was a very tough decision to make.”

In her official resignation letter dated April 14, she indicates that she has a surgery scheduled for April 19 repairing a 25-year-old injury. As a result of the surgery, Dunham estimated she would be out for 10 to 12 weeks.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the Easthampton School Committee, it is with great sadness that I write this letter this morning,” the letter reads. “I must prioritize my health and well being at this time. I thank all of you for your support and prayers through my recovery this last year. I wish you all the best.”

Dunham was elected to the committee in 2017 and is currently in the middle of her third term, which expires at the end of the year.

She was previously involved in an Easthampton High School parents’ group that advocated for change and called for an investigation of bias-related incidents. She also participated in a sit-in in May of 2017 in an effort to create a “disruption of education in response to a student being allowed to wear a Confederate flag sweatshirt to class.

In a previous Gazette report, Dunham said she decided to run for a School Committee to make sure there is follow-through on then-superintendent Nancy Follansbee’s 10-point action plan to improve the culture and climate within the school district. The plan was created after then-attorney general Maura Healey investigated the high school following allegations of racial bias and reached a consent agreement that required the district to take steps to address complaints about inequitable school discipline practices.

More recently, Dunham voted to hire Vito Perrone in the committee’s controversial search for a new superintendent this spring. The committee later rescinded the offer to Perrone over his use of the word “Ladies” in an email to Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski and Suzanne Colby, executive assistant to the committee, and instead chose finalist Erica Faginski-Stark. Dunham voted against hiring Faginski-Stark, who has since withdrawn from consideration after students last week expressed concerns about her potential hiring. The committee is expected to discuss next steps at a meeting on Tuesday.

During her tenure on the committee, Dunham served on the policy subcommittee as well as the School Building Committee, which was responsible for the oversight, management, or administration of the construction of the new pre-K-8 Mountain View School building.

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>