For the second time this term, a trustee has resigned from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.
Stefano Presenza was elected as trustee for the Sudbury Catholic board in 2022 for the first time, representing Zone 4 (Wards 7 and 8 in Greater Sudbury, as well as the municipalities of St. Charles and Markstay-Warren).
However, he submitted a letter of resignation to Sudbury Catholic board chair Michael Bellmore Nov. 23, a little more than a year into his four-year term.
“Due to changes in personal and family circumstances, I feel I am no longer in a position to effectively fulfill the obligations of the role,” Presenza said in the letter.
“I am glad to provide any assistance I can during the transition. I wish to thank my constituents for having previously selected me in the role, as well as the entire Sudbury Catholic School Board for their continued commitment to Catholic education.
“I have enjoyed my time in the role and wish the Sudbury Catholic School Board the best for the future.”
Sudbury.com reached out to Presenza by email this week to ask him about his resignation, but we had not heard back from him as of this article’s publication.
Concerns about Presenza’s social media activity
Earlier this year, community members raised concerns about Presenza’s social media activity, which had included comments and reactions to jokes and critical comments on another person's Facebook page regarding trans women in athletics, youth and gender reassignment surgery and drag shows. The community members who raised the concerns found Presenza’s posts bigoted or offensive.
Other topics — which made it onto his own Facebook page — included anti-Semitic material and conspiracy theories, such as the 15-minute consipiracy theory.
Presenza has since appeared to deactivate his personal Facebook page.
Contacted about Presenza’s social media activity earlier in 2023, Bellmore said he would investigate the issue.
He later issued a brief emailed statement on behalf of the Sudbury Catholic board: “The board of trustees has carefully reviewed this matter and has taken appropriate action.”
During the Dec. 19 Sudbury Catholic board meeting, trustees voted to “receive and accept” Presenza’s resignation.
Sudbury.com spoke to Bellmore following the meeting regarding Presenza’s resignation.
Bellmore said Presenza’s reasons for resigning are “pretty self-contained in the letter. He recently had a child, and he travels for work. So I'm going to go based on what the letter said, that he’s leaving because it’s too much for him to do.”
Asked if Presenza’s online activity had been the subject of any further investigation by the board, Bellmore said “no, he had not been under investigation for any online activity. That came up earlier in the year, and that was resolved.”
Call for applications from the community
Now that Presenza has vacated his seat, Sudbury Catholic only has 90 days as of his resignation to replace him.
Trustees with the board have approved a motion to proceed with a call for applications from community members who are interested in filling the role.
Bellmore said information about the application process will be released today (Dec. 20), so keep an eye out on the Sudbury Catholic board’s website if you’d like to apply.
Applications close Jan. 8, which will be followed by interviews later that week. The board hopes to have the new trustee in place later that month.
The board could have opted to go with a byelection to replace Presenza, but it would have been cost prohibitive, with Bellmore saying the City of Greater Sudbury gave a quote of “upwards of $500,000,” and that doesn’t include the additional involved municipalities.
Sudbury Catholic could have also simply appointed someone to fill the position. But it went with the expression of interest route.
“So the trustees felt that that's a much fairer way,” Bellmore said. “It gives people who might be interested in joining the board the opportunity to submit that expression, and the trustees will conduct an interview process, and then select a replacement for the outgoing trustee.”
Two resignations from Sudbury Catholic so far this term
In November 2022, another Sudbury Catholic trustee, Alex Cimino, also resigned from the board, in his case just weeks into his second term as trustee.
As of last year, Cimino was a student teacher, with his LinkedIn page saying he’d accepted an offer of admission at Nipissing University. However, provincial rules state that the employees of any school board are not allowed to hold offices as a school board trustee.
These rules would have become an issue for Cimino if he secured paid employment with any school board during his four-year term.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances with both my current studies in education and my role as a trustee, I cannot fulfill the role to its fullest capacity,” Cimino said in his November 2022 resignation letter.
Nancy Deni, who previously served two terms as trustee with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, was appointed in early 2023 to replace Cimino. The board also sought applications from interested community members in this case.
A similar process was also followed by the Rainbow District School Board this fall to replace trustee Dena Morrison, who passed away in September. Former Sudbury police chief Alex McCauley was appointed to the vacant post.
Asked about the fact that two Sudbury Catholic trustees have now resigned so far this term, Bellmore said it’s unfortunate.
“When people commit to doing this, I would hope they have a sense of what's involved,” he said.
“There's a lot of trustees who've been around the table and know and have made that commitment and continue to make that commitment. We meet regularly, there's work to do. It's not just, you know, you're not just there, there's actual work to do.”
Bellmore said he feels for the constituents in the affected areas, but “when somebody resigns from their post, what do you do? You can’t force them to stay, so to speak. So now that the task is left to the rest of the board to fill that vacancy and get somebody on board, who can represent those schools and the parents and the students in those areas as effectively as possible.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
