Story by Clarence Fanto, The Berkshire Eagle Photo by Ben Garver, The Berkshire Eagle
LENOX — With a school building project and union negotiations ahead for Lenox Public Schools, a former School Committee member has been appointed to fill a vacancy until May 23, 2025, and bring the board back to full strength.
The Lenox School Committee and the Select Board met in a joint session last week and appointed Robert Munch in an 8 to 2 vote. Munch had served on the School Committee for seven years until May 2023.
School Committee posts are filled at the annual town elections. But when there’s a midterm vacancy, the School Committee and Select Board evaluate and appoint applicants. This opening was created when Meghan Kirby resigned her post last month following a verbal dispute with another committee member.
Munch was one of four people who responded to the School Committee’s outreach. The term expires May 23, 2025, when voters will select candidates to fill four School Committee openings.
In his letter of interest to the School Committee, Munch wrote that it would be “my honor to serve the town and the students once again.”
He served on the School Committee’s bargaining unit during two previous contract negotiations with the Lenox Education Association.
The School Committee faces bargaining on a new union contract covering teachers, guidance and adjustment counselors, librarians and nurses. The current contract expires Aug. 31, 2025.
A proposed new Lenox Memorial Middle and High School building addition is also on the committee's radar. As envisioned, a 12,000- to 15,000-square-foot building would house eight classrooms, including four state-of-the-art science labs and spaces for other programs. The facility could cost up to $15 million and may be funded by the town, subject to taxpayer approval.
A feasibility study for the project is expected next month, in time for a special town meeting expected in November.
School Committee members supporting Munch cited his experience on the board as a major reason for appointing him to fill the vacancy.
The other three contenders were:
• August Danowski, a self-described off-and-on town resident who moved to Lenox full-time in 2012. He has been a long-term substitute teacher at the middle and high school.
• Benjamin Finley, who graduated from Lenox schools and runs Finley Technology Solutions, has been assistant director and technical director at several high school musicals, and was a substitute manager at the Duffin Theater.
• Jared Weber, who lives in Lenox and works for Danos Associates, a Boston firm. He ran for a Select Board last May and came in a close third.
School Committee member Kim Graham advocated for Munch as a voice of experience and a force for stability until the May election. She cited the upcoming union negotiations and pending issues involving curriculum and policies.
School Committee Chair Oren Cass noted that he returned to the board through an appointment following last May’s election, where he came in fourth in a race for three seats, but the third-place winner had already withdrawn prior to the vote.
Supporting Weber, committee Vice Chair Veronica Fenton advocated consideration of younger candidates like him instead of “always going to the same people to volunteer and participate.”
Cass supported Munch’s application, pointing to his expertise.
“I will be one of the people on the ballot [in May],” Cass said, saying the more candidates, the better. “I’ll encourage [other applicants] to run again.”