Plainville School Committee Appoints Conrad Garrity to Fill Albrecht's Seat After Charter-Driven Resignation

NORTH ATTLEBORO — July 20, 2026 — Plainville's School Committee lost its chair and gained a new one in a single evening. Stephen Albrecht resigned from the Plainville School Committee Monday, citing newly enacted Plainville Town Charter provisions approved by the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by the governor, and will remain on the Select Board. Before stepping down, Albrecht presided over a unanimous School Committee vote to transfer $310,023.52 from the Special Education Reserve Fund to cover legally mandated out-of-district special education tuition and transportation costs needed to close out the fiscal year 2026 budget, a figure a board member noted came in lower than initially feared. The joint Select Board and School Committee then unanimously appointed Kristen Conrad Garrity — a 27-year educator, former School Committee vice chair, and the sole candidate — to fill the vacancy through April 5, 2027. The School Committee reorganized immediately after, electing Shannon Kerrigan, the absent vice chair, as the new chair and Conrad Garrity as vice chair, both unanimously, with subcommittee reassignments deferred to the August 13 meeting.