School Committee Member Submits Letter of Resignation

After several months of frequently traveling between Rhode Island where she serves as District 3 School Committee representative and Texas, where she cares for her ailing father and works as campaign manager for Robert Gonzalez's Primary Congressional campaign (TX 14), Lianne Russell has submitted her letter of resignation to Committee Chairperson Kathy Patenaude.

In her letter, Russell wrote:

"It is with great disappointment that I ask you to please accept this as my letter of resignation from the Coventry School Committee effective immediately...

In regards to resignation reasoning:

Due to the ongoing medical situation with my widowed father, I am unable to perform my duties as required. As he is elderly and alone in Texas, I feel that it is my duty to care for him.

Since his last stroke, he has become increasingly disoriented and unable to complete daily tasks.

It has always been my goal to live by the principle of God, Family and Country. While serving on the board has been an honor, it is time for me to serve my family."

Russell will continue working on Gonzalez's campaign, as well as those of Mary Huls (TX 129) and Heidi Thiess (TX 24).

"It's been an honor to serve the community," she wrote in an email after her resignation announcement. "I am proud of the monies saved with the new transportation bid and with going paperless within the School Committee."