Brookline School Committee Member Steps Down

BROOKLINE, MA — A Brookline School Committee member has stepped down, and now the committee is looking to fill his place.

Dimitry Anselme announced he was stepping down from the committee June 30.

"I wasn't expecting it," School Committee Chairperson Suzanne Federspiel said. "We will dearly miss him. He was a tremendous voice on the committee, we are sad to see him go."

Federspiel said Anselme is moving out of town, but those plans weren't in the works when he ran and won for school committee in May.

"The Brookline School Committee is seeking applicants to temporarily fill the seat on the School Committee vacated by the resignation of Dimitry Anselme," the district said in an announcement Thursday. "The interim appointment will begin in July 2021 and will continue until the May 2022 Town Election."

Candidates must be registered Brookline voters and submit a letter of interest and resume by noon on Thursday, July 22, according to the school committee.

Anselme, the only Black man on the school committee, was appointed in September 2020 to fill the seat after another school committee member stepped down unexpectedly. He filled the role in a temporary basis until the May election.

He was the executive program director at Facing History and Ourselves, a Brookline-based non-profit Facing History and Ourselves, which has a mission to mobilize students and teacher to confront hate and bigotry.

Anselme is a former teacher and parent of children who went through the Brookline school system, but told Patch he just can't afford to buy a home in town and is moving to North Attleboro. He said he is still working at Facing History and Ourselves in Brookline Village so he won't be far.

He resigned effective June 30, midnight. Federspiel said the committee hopes to receive applications from interested prospective committee members by July 22. They plan to meet to interview the applicants on July 26 with the select board, and then will either make an appointment that evening on in a special meeting.

"We hope we have a good pool, the last time we had a very good pool," Federspiel said.

Because of the summer, the school committee has fewer meetings. The next commitee meeting is July 26, and then they don't meet again until September.

Previously on Patch:

• Brookline School Committee Member Abruptly Resigns
• 5 Black Administrators Left Brookline Schools In The ...
• Brookline School Committee To Select Committee Member

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