Open question on appointments for Worcester School Committee subcommittees

 Mayor Petty announced earlier this week that he wouldn't be appointing subcommittees for the Worcester School Committee until "all members are eligible for chairmanship," deeming this part of the "equitable opportunity for representation," as reflecting the new committee structure. Under the rules of the committee as passed in December, members must have taken the state mandated training in order to serve as vice chair or chair of a subcommittee.

Setting aside the the degree to which the committee may reflect "equitable opportunities for representation," this seems to miss that meeting the state mandate is of course a minimum bar; chairing a subcommittee would, one hopes, also reflect close attention to and demonstration of the role of the school committee in district governance; ability to run a meeting according to parliamentary procedure; and, ideally, experience in the ongoing work of this committee in particular. One would certainly hope that such standards would apply to the appointment of a role in leadership. 

Also, I do wonder what happens, as has been true in every committee to serve since the mandate started in 2002, save the last committee, if not every member chooses to go through training. That self-imposed "all eligible" condition would appear to rather tie the hands of the chair.