County Council fills Board of Education vacancies

The Dorchester County Council has appointed two county residents to fill Board of Education vacancies created by the recent resignations of Board President Mike Diaz and Board Vice President Susan Morgan.

Both appointees will assume their new roles immediately.

The council appointed Brandy Dawson Cumberland to fill the District 1 vacancy left by Diaz.

Cumberland is a lifelong resident of Dorchester County and serves as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner for Corsica River Mental Health Services Inc. and Blackwater Wellness.

The council appointed Christine LaMonica to fill the District 3 vacancy left by Morgan.

LaMonica is a deputy first class with the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office. She is pursuing a master's degree in social work at Salisbury University.

"Given that their daily commitment and support of communities in Dorchester County is clear, the County Council believes that the Board of Education will benefit from their collective vision as to the most important issues facing the Board of Education today," the County Council said in a press release Friday morning.

"Both appointees stress that building a healthy and effective learning environment must have a strong foundation of safety, staff retention, evidence based learning practices, collaboration, transparency and accountability," the release said.

Both Diaz and Morgan resigned from the Board of Education in June.

Diaz, who was president of the board, resigned June 28, citing family and health concerns as the reason behind his resignation. In February, Diaz underwent a liver transplant. He said in an interview that resigning from the board was something he had been thinking of since becoming sick.

Morgan, who was vice president of the board, resigned June 14. She resigned one day after a contentious Board of Education vote to terminate the district's contract with Vision Quest, an alternative education program for district high schoolers that has been met with criticism from residents since it was approved in September.

In an interview, Morgan said the vote was not the only reason she decided to resign. “My decision,” she said, “(came) when I saw the direction the people appointed by the County Council — not elected by the people — have chosen to take."

This report may be updated.