BREAKING: O’Brien resigns from Winchester Board of Ed

WINSTED — Winchester Board of Education Chairman Kathleen O’Brien has submitted her resignation from the board.

Her written resignation, dated Tuesday, Aug. 9, comes two days before a scheduled special meeting, which had been scheduled to discuss her removal as chairman.

“There comes a time when service to your community has too high a price,” O’Brien wrote in her resignation letter. “When politics outweighs good will, then it is time to stop. Open debate and conversation about issues is the cornerstone of our democratic process. The failure to have that debate in open session perverts this process and breaks down our system. It is not appropriate to make decisions that affect the future of our children behind closed doors. I apologize to the people of Winchester for failing to live up to the trust they put in me two years ago. The truth is I was simply outnumbered.”

The meeting scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 12, originally to discuss O’Brien’s removal as chairman, remained scheduled, with board Secretary Christine Royer serving as temporary acting chairman. It was expected that the board would vote to elect a new chairman at that meeting and formally announce the opening for a new member.

An extended version of this story will appear this Friday, Aug. 12, in The Winsted Journal and online at www.tricornernews.com.

— Shaw Israel Izikson

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