Upper Darby School District board accepts Neil Desnoiers’s resignation, sets application deadline and interview dates

The Upper Darby School District board on May 23, 2025, voted to accept the resignation of board member Neil Desnoiers, effective May 29, 2025, and authorized the district to advertise the vacancy and solicit applications.

Board President (presiding officer) read a resolution that accepts Desnoiers’s letter of resignation and directs administration to publish an advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation within the district that requests applications, states the application deadline and notes the timeline for appointment. Under the motion the board set the application deadline as June 13, 2025, at 12:00 p.m., scheduled candidate interviews for June 17, 2025, at 5:00 p.m., and indicated the board anticipates filling the vacancy at the conclusion of a special voting meeting on June 17, 2025.

Vice President Murphy Morrissey offered the motion to approve the resolution and Director Worcevich seconded. After board members offered tributes and remarks about Desnoiers’s service, the president called for the voice vote and announced the motion carries.

"On behalf of the board, we appreciate all the work that you've put into your position over the years," Vice President Murphy Morrissey said, praising Desnoiers’s commitment to the community and policy work.

Several directors recalled working with Desnoiers on policy matters and presented informal tributes and small gifts. A letter from the office of Representative Gina H. Curry was read into the record, thanking Board President Veil Desnoyers for seven and a half years of service and praising advocacy on behalf of students and staff.

A volunteer who identified themself as Dr. Meadeer, who said they first worked with Desnoiers on the district’s comprehensive plan, thanked Desnoiers for his attention to policy detail and suggested the district consider an award in his name. "We should probably have an award dedicated in your honor moving forward on policy because you take it so seriously," Dr. Meadeer said.

The board then opened the public hearing portion of the meeting. A clerk read an emailed general comment from Josiah Riley of Clifton Heights proposing a set of curriculum changes for the 2025–26 school year, including a high-school civic engagement or debate course, early driver’s-education options, electives in technical trades and home economics, daily physical education alongside core subjects at all levels, and expanded elementary music and art offerings; the commenter said they would attend the next meeting but did not wish to speak.

Next steps: the district will advertise the vacancy, accept applications through June 13, 2025, interview candidates on June 17, 2025, and is expected to appoint an individual at the special voting meeting on June 17, 2025. The board did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript; the chair announced the motion carried following a voice vote.