Massapequa school board vacates seat of trustee
Massapequa school board trustees at their April 11 meeting. Trustee Brian Butler was absent. Credit: Daniel Goodrich
The Massapequa Board of Education has vacated the seat of one of its five trustees for poor attendance, the board's vice president said Monday.
The board voted unanimously last week to vacate the seat of trustee Brian Butler, said board Vice President Joseph LaBella. Butler was sworn in last July; his term was set to expire on June 30, 2020.
Butler and his lawyer, Douglas Spencer, could not be reached for comment Monday.
The other three trustees who joined LaBella in voting to vacate the seat were Timothy Taylor, Gary Baldinger and Maryanne Fisher, LaBella said. They could not be reached for comment Monday.
"If you miss three meetings in a row, we vacate the seat because we can't operate," LaBella said, pointing out the board needs a fifth trustee to break tie votes. "He missed three in a row and he has been out excessive amounts of time for the last year."
State education law states a school board can declare a vacancy if a board member misses three consecutive board meetings without a valid excuse, said Jay Worona, who is the deputy executive director and general counsel for the New York State School Boards Association. Meeting attendance is considered a qualification for office, such as living in the community, he said.
On the district website, Butler's attendance rate is listed as 63 percent. The attendance records for the others: Taylor, 93 percent; LaBella, 90 percent; Baldinger, 91 percent; and Fisher, 97 percent.
The board has 90 days to decide whether to appoint a successor or hold a special election, LaBella said.
