WELLSVILLE — During a special meeting of the Wellsville Board of Education Monday morning, board members voted against the non-renewal of fourth-grade teacher Mitchell McDowell’s contract, meaning his contract will be renewed and he will continue to teach at Daw Elementary.

The special board meeting was called due to the motion being tabled during the May 18 meeting after a nearly four-hour executive session to discuss the matter without resolution.

Even with the special meeting taking place on Memorial Day parents, family and staff members attended to show their support for McDowell, who has been a teacher in the district for four years and prior to teaching was a para-professional with the district for five years.

Prior to the start of the special board meeting, Board President Gary Althiser told everyone in attendance that he knows it seemed strange to call a meeting like this one early in the day and on a holiday, but the board members wanted to make sure everybody could be in attendance at the meeting due a lot of things going on with the board, such as a death in one family, one member being sick and two attorneys on the board with crazy schedules, and it just happened that Monday was the one day everybody could be there.

He also said the board did not want McDowell waiting in limbo to find out what was going to happen with his contract, so they wanted to get this taken care of as quickly as possible. Having the meeting early in the day would allow everyone to enjoy the rest of the day without the issue hanging over their heads, he said.

After the meeting was called to order board member Chris Amato said he felt that at the last board meeting there was some confusion over the motion to non-renew McDowell’s contract and explained that if three people on the board vote yes then McDowell’s contract will not be renewed, but if three people on the board vote no, the contract is renewable.

All board members voted against going into an executive session for further discussion. There was no public discussion and the motion to non-renew McDowell’s contract went straight to a vote, with all five board members voting against the non-renewal, making McDowell’s contract eligible to be renewed.

McDowell’s supporters responded to the outcome of the vote with applause, and the meeting was adjourned.

John Geramita, president, Wellsville Teacher Association, said the board did the right thing and that it just took a while to get there. Geramita also noted that they were never really given a clear reason as to why McDowell’s contract was considered for non-renewal and that the board is in charge of the personnel for the district, they did the right thing and McDowell can get on with his teaching career.

“He has been really stressed out about this, and he is a real strong young man and the community showed up for him today,” Geramita said. “This tells you all you need to know.”

When asked his thoughts on the outcome of the meeting, McDowell said he was relieved.

“It has just been stress from the moment that I was given the letter saying the superintendent was recommending to non-renew me to the board last Monday where we were here until 9, 9:33 (p.m.) and then for this to be put on the back burner, but the biggest thing is relief and I’m thankful that I still have a job and opportunity to work in Wellsville Local School District,” McDowell said.

Former board member and Wellsville schools parent Shauna Scott said that the non-renewal recommendation came as a complete shock and complete disappointment to a lot of parents and staff in the district.

Scott noted that she had a child who had McDowell as teacher and the focus, growth and attention received from McDowell is beyond comparison and there should have never been any question on McDowell coming back to teach.

She also said she has another child in the district who is going into the fourth-grade next year, and she would have been disappointed and heartbroken for her to not have the same experience, dedication, growth and expertise that McDowell has provided.

“I think the decision to keep him for as long as we possibly can was a very smart idea for the kids,” Scott said.

The next regular meeting of the Wellsville Board of Education will is scheduled for June 29 at 5 p.m. in the media center at Wellsville Jr. Sr. High School, 1 Bengal Blvd.