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Sandy Skordalos elected vice chair of PSTEB in narrow 8–7 vote
Summary
The Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board elected Sandy Skordalos vice chair by an 8–7 vote after nominations and a brief discussion of voting procedures; two members abstained and MSDE counsel clarified that abstentions are excluded when calculating a majority under Robert's Rules.
The board held a contested vice‑chair election after Chair Melita Kitchen announced her upcoming departure from the role. Melissa Carpenter nominated Sandy Skordalos; Ebony Shockley was also nominated and both accepted. Members debated whether to use paper ballots or a roll‑call vote; counsel Sean Festero explained that under Robert's Rules a majority is calculated from votes cast excluding abstentions.
After collecting votes (including two abstentions), Festero announced the count: with 15 votes cast the result was 8 to 7 in favor of Sandy Skordalos. Festero said he double‑checked the count because it was a razor‑thin margin. Chair Kitchen congratulated Skordalos and thanked Dr. Shockley for her willingness to serve.
The board recorded the election result and proceeded with the remainder of the agenda. There was no challenge to the count recorded in the meeting.
