Fourth school board resignation in 10 month raises concerns about stability

The Sparta school board on March 24 accepted the resignation of member Christa Sorensen.

Her resignation was effective March 18. No reasons were given.

School board president Craig Palleschi said candidates for Sorensen’s seat will be interviewed at the board’s April meeting.

Sorensen is the fourth school board member to resign in the past 10 months. Jennifer Grana and Kate Matterson resigned in late May, 2021, and Robert Zywicki resigned in October, 2021.

“That to us, as a community, should be a shocking statement,” Sparta resident Jennifer Hamilton said. “I don’t know why people are choosing not to stay on the board. I’m not sure why there are so many vacancies in this district, what it means about the processes that we’re going through.”

She said the board recently had a retreat and that she hopes it will lead to some stability.

Palleschi said the school board knows how important stability is. Extenuating circumstances, whether professional or personal, can come up.

“I’m not saying it’s those, but there are a lot of factors that have gone into the resignations over the last few months,” he said. “We are well aware that consistency is important, and we are striving to achieve that as a district, across the board.”

Sorensen was elected in 2022. Her replacement will fill the seat until someone is elected to fill the remainder of the term in November.