Underland Resigns From Board of Education

Sherri Underland – who was charged with marijuana possession in the spring and whose son was in a traffic accident this summer – has resigned from the Board of Education.

The board accepted the resignation Wednesday night after solicitor Tom Profy III read a letter from Underland, who cited her family's personal problems and a need to spend more time with them. She thanked the board and administration for their kindness and for wanting her to stay on but said she had made the “difficult decision” to step down.

“The last six months have been a very emotional and trying time for us,” she wrote. “At this point in time, my family has to come first.”

Profy said the board has 30 days to fill Underland's term which expires in December 2013, and the board will accept applications through Oct. 2 before potentially making an appointment Oct. 12.

As reported last month by Patch, Underland had missed seven of 15 board meetings this year, and six of seven since it became public this spring that she faced the criminal charge.

Underland told Patch her most recent absences were due to health issues for herself and her son. And she added last month that she hadn't decided whether she would resigning from the board.

Elected in 2009, Underland was charged with marijuana possession along with her husband at the end of March. Police were investigating her 19-year-old son and that probe led to the issuance of a search warrant of her house. And, according to published reports, during a search police found drug paraphernalia and marijuana in her son’s room as well as a pill bottle containing marijuana in Underland’s bedroom.

Underland previously told Patch her husband had found and removed a small amount of marijuana from their son’s bedroom and hid it in the dresser in their bedroom.  

She also has said her son had been to rehab and subsequently was in a multi-car accident. She wrote in her letter that the “horrific” accident had left him temporarily disabled.

Last month Underland, 42, was accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program. ARD is a pretrial program for first-time, nonviolent offenders, in which their record is cleared following a probationary period.

Board president Heather Nicholas on Wednesday offered thanks to Underland for the time she had put in as a school board member and wished her and her family well.

She said the board has not had any problem getting applicants in the past. If that were to happen, she said, the board would reach out to previous applicants.