TURNERS FALLS — Marjorie Levenson, three-term Gill-Montague Regional School Committee member, resigned from the board this week. Levenson, a progressive, made one of the votes to change the Turners Falls High School mascot.
Levensen said Tuesday she resigned because her partner is dealing with a long-term illness and she did not have the time to dedicate to the board. She had taken a three-month leave from the board, but decided recently amid the continued prognosis of her partner, to resign.
“I can’t give my all to the School Committee,” Levenson said. “So I think someone should be able to give 100 percent to the committee and I just can’t right now.”
Superintendent Michael Sullivan included the resignation in his superintendent report on Tuesday. Sullivan thanked Levenson for her service to the district. The board will also discuss the next steps in replacing Levenson during their meeting tonight.
Sullivan said in an email that the position is appointed by the School Committee through letters of intent from the public. The committee will set and publicize dates to receive the letters and for the appointment, voted by the board, to fill the vacancy. That appointment will last until the next election.
Several weeks ago, Levenson received an email from Chris Pinardi, who runs a Facebook group dedicated to restoring the school’s former mascot, the Indians, which the committee voted to change in February.
Pinardi called for her to resign in the letter because she had not been in attendance at the meetings since the vote.
“I respectfully ask that if life has thrown you a curve and you cannot commit to the district that you resign and open the seat for a member of the community that can fulfill the commitment,” the email said, in part.
“Marge, while I am fairly certain that you will feel I have an agenda behind this request I can assure you that the logo is not at the top of the list. I do not need to replace any member of this board to effect change with the logo process.”
Levenson said her decision was purely a medical choice for her family, and was not in any way affected by Pinardi’s letter.
“I want to make it clear it was a medical decision and had nothing to do with Mr. Pinardi,” Levenson said.
She said that at a recent doctor’s appointment it become clear that she would have to continue on leave.
“I just felt it would be a disservice to the district,” she said.
Levenson was re-elected to a third three-year term in 2016. Her term was to end in 2019.
Originally from outside Boston, she owns a home in Lake Pleasant and has lived in Montague since the early 1980s. Levenson is the co-owner of Squash Inc., an independent produce and cheese company, specializing in local products.
Reach Miranda Davis at 413-772-0261, ext. 280
or mdavis@recorder.com.