ARUNDEL, Maine — The town of Arundel's select board will meet at 7 p.m. Monday to schedule a recall election date for RSU 21 school board member Kirstin Shapiro.
RSU 21 school district includes Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Arundel.
For months, there have been ongoing issues within the RSU 21 school district. Teachers and several people from the community have continuously expressed their dissatisfaction with the district's administration and members on the school board.
For many RSU 21 teachers, issues within the district escalated to new heights after Shapiro had an outburst during a school board meeting on Sept. 19.
"The tone and level of disrespect is something that I've never experienced," Kennebunk High special education teacher Paula Reetz said.
Teachers like Reetz and community members have been regularly attending public school board meetings, keeping their eyes glued to every decision the school board makes, especially since teacher contract negotiations have been ongoing for 10 months.
Reetz said no one was prepared to witness Shapiro break down in tears during the meeting, as she accused RSU 21 teachers of harassing and threatening her family.
The Maine Education Association (MEA) conducted an internal investigation and found no evidence to support Shapiro's claims, MEA UniServ director Rob Olson said.
In the weeks following Shapiro's outburst, Arundel community members garnered 249 recall petition signatures, putting Shapiro at risk of being removed from her elected position as a school board member.
Arundel Town Manager Keith Trefethen said there were only 231 petition signatures needed to petition for her recall from the school board.
Shapiro now has until Oct. 31 to submit a formal resignation. If she does not resign, the town of Arundel will hold a recall election.
As school board chair Leslie Stoeffler explained, Shapiro has held many leadership roles.
Until last week, Shapiro served as the school board's HR committee chair, and she doubled as the board's lead bargaining contract agreement negotiator. The school board has been negotiating teacher contracts with the Kennebunk Arundel Kennebunkport Education Association (KAKEA), which is the union that represents RSU 21 teachers, for the last 10 months.
The district announced that school board member Matt Stratford would replace Shapiro as chair of the HR committee and as lead negotiator.
Stoeffler said the shift was due to policy and has nothing to do with Shapiro's possible removal from the school board.
Five members from the school board make up the HR committee. New committee members are selected every year, and at their first meeting each September, the group votes for a new board chair who doubles as chief negotiator.
Reetz and others said they expect school board members to maintain a certain level of respect and professionalism during public school board meetings.
She and others like Kennebunk High Spanish teacher Laura Latinski said they are stunned by Shapiro's recent behavior.
"We have to model generosity," Latinski said.
The outburst didn't just shock teachers and community members. Reetz said students also witnessed Shapiro's behavior.
"It was the talk of advisories at the high school amongst students because they're watching and they're learning," Reetz said.
For school board leaders like Stoeffler, the incident was unfortunate, she explained, sharing that Shapiro's outburst is not exemplary of behavior she wants to see from her colleagues.
"I don't want that to happen," Stoeffler said.
Regardless of whether Shapiro resigns on her own, or whether her fate is determined by voters in Arundel, Kennebunk High English teacher Margaux Dupue said the incident has impacted the morale and the general climate in the school and throughout the district.
Dupue said she wants to see change from leadership.
"It feels strange to constantly be told be professional, be measured, be level, show patience, show grace and then to see none of that in return," Dupue said. "So, I would love to see a change, and I think this would become a much happier more peaceful place to come to work and for our students to come here and learn if that were the case."
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to Shapiro for comment, but did not hear back.