A Warm Farewell to Mel Benson

The North Kingstown Town Council and School Committee bid farewell to outgoing members at its swearing in ceremony Monday night, but the biggest farewell went to Melvoid Benson. 

Benson received flowers and numerous citations and certificates from the school committee, North Kingstown's state delegation and Congressman James Langevin and Sen. Jack Reed.

Everyone thanked Benson for her years of service, including the past eight years during which she has served on the NK School Committee. Prior to that, Benson was a state representative at the State House during the 1990s. She was the first black woman to be elected to the Rhode Island legislature. From 1965 to 1990, she taught in several North Kingstown schools, including Hamilton Elementary, Quonset Elementary, Davisville Middle and Wickford Middle.

Though Benson did not run for re-election this year, she promises to remain active in the community. Benson told the crowd that, for the last two years, she has felt like a "spectator" on the school committee. The trouble began in December 2010, Benson resigned from the NK Town Democratic Committee after the committee moved to censure her during a meeting. The special meeting was called after the

"Now, I can participate with you and we can do some of these things in the way they should be done in North Kingstown," Benson said.