Greenwich Board Of Education Chair Announces Resignation

GREENWICH, CT — Greenwich Board of Education Chair Karen Kowalski announced her resignation last Friday in an email to school and town officials.

Kowalski, a Republican who joined the board in 2019, said she will be moving out of town.

"While I have been asked by certain members of the Greenwich community to stay on the Board for as long as possible, I do not believe it is in the best interest of Greenwich Public School children for an impending non-resident to maintain a position on the Board of Education," Kowalski wrote. "Given that we have now reached the end of the school year, I hereby resign from the Board of Education, effective immediately. I encourage all current members of the Board to cooperate on seating my replacement as soon as possible. I know my caucus has several possible replacements in mind."

Greenwich's land records show Kowalski's home was sold in March.

According to school board bylaws, "When a member of a Board of Education shall cease to be a bona fide resident of the town membership in the Board shall immediately cease."

Additionally, any vacancy "shall be filled by a vote of the remaining members of the Board, as soon as feasible, until the next regular Town election," which would be November 2025.

Replacements must be of the same political party, and a vote has to be public.

Kowalski said it has been "an honor" to serve Greenwich and the students over the past five years.

"I wish all Greenwich residents—and especially the hard-working volunteers in Town Government—the best of luck in the future," she added.

Kowalski joined by the board in 2019 and was named chair earlier this year by the Board of Selectmen, who had to intervene after the school board could not come to a consensus after two votes.

The board currently sits Democrats Kathleen Stowe, Karen Hirsh, Laura Kostin and Sophie Koven, and Republicans Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony, Cody Kittle and Wendy Vizzo Walsh.