Ledyard — When the Republican Town Committee officially chooses its Board of Education candidates July 21, two current members likely won't be included.

Nominating Committee Chairman Mike Cherry confirmed Monday that Chairwoman Julia Cronin and Policy Committee Chairwoman Doreen Soldato are not among the six Republicans the committee chose to endorse this year.

In its vetting process, Cherry said, the committee sought those who would best carry out Republican ideals such as fiscal conservatism.

During Cronin's interview with party leaders, Cherry said, the committee questioned the board's inability to answer some questions regarding this year's budget and brought up the controversial Ledyard Administrators' Association 2015-18 contract, which provides school administrators with a 2.5 percent annual raise.

"State law required that, prior to negotiations, that the Board of Education meet with the financial authority of the town," he explained. "That didn't happen."

Cherry said the committee also was concerned about some of the board members Cronin appointed to chair the board's six committees.

Under Cronin, Democrat Stephanie Calhoun chairs the Finance and Communications committees, and Democrat Rebecca Graebner chairs Strategic Planning.

"If I was chairman of the Board of Education, the chair of every committee and subcommittee would've been a Republican," Cherry said. "That would've allowed me to hold a caucus and know leaders of key committees were there."

He said that "in a world where Republicans are worried about fiscal conservativeness," a three-person finance committee that has two Democrats "astounds us."

"In order to advance Republican ideals, we needed a different chairman," Cherry said. "If Julia was re-elected, she'd probably be chair again ... the only way to preclude that is to not nominate Julia to be on the board."

The Board of Education unanimously has chosen Cronin, a member of the board since 2007, as its chair for the past two years.

In a recent telephone interview, Cronin, a middle school science teacher with a master's degree from Harvard University, said, "I don't look at the board chair position as being politically biased."

She said she chose the people she believed could best fulfill the job requirements.

During her tenure as board chairwoman, Cronin said she has, among other things, begun the overhaul of the board's strategic plan, created a schedule that led to better Finance Committee meeting attendance and worked to increase the availability and detail of meeting agendas and minutes. 

Regarding Soldato, a professor at University of Saint Joseph who has a doctorate from Brown University, Cherry said the committee asked her two sets of questions.

When answering questions about why she wanted to be a Republican on the Board of Education, Cherry said, she did "not so well."

"She's a hard worker, beyond a doubt," Cherry said. "It was not a bad interview. But in the final stack-up ... she didn't make the cut."

In the time since the Republican Town Committee nominated Soldato to fill a vacancy left by Robert Beaver in February 2014, she's been active as the Policy Committee chairwoman and with two liaison positions, missing only three regular meetings.

Soldato, who is expecting a baby Nov. 1, said she initially wasn't sure if she wanted to run this fall, but with her family's support, she decided to go for it.

In a letter to state Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr., Soldato called into question the committee's decision.

"The call I received from Mr. Cherry on June 7, 2015 while I was at a Board of Education Strategic Planning (meeting) was most disturbing," Soldato wrote. "After telling me that the RTC was not endorsing me for a seat on the Board of Education, he again asked me my due date. After telling him yet again, his response was that I 'should spend time with my baby.' 

"My status as a mother and what I can and cannot handle with my time commitments is not for the Ledyard Republican Town Committee to decide," the letter continues.

Cherry said he and the other committee members knew her due date was in the fall, but that it "had no bearing from our standpoint."

"I think most members of the board have children that have gone through the school system or are currently in it," Cherry said. "Why would that have an effect on our choice?"

The six candidates the Republican Town Committee likely will endorse July 21 are incumbents Mimi Peck-Llewellyn and David Luke, appointees Steve Shuttleworth and Michael Brawner and newcomers Andra Ingalls and Anthony Favry.

The committee didn't re-interview Shuttleworth, who was appointed in July of last year, or Brawner, who became a board member in February.

Luke, who has missed nine meetings in the past year, assured the committee that attendance will no longer be an issue, Cherry said.

Cherry said Ingalls, who homeschools her children, "hit a homerun" when she said she strongly believes in not spending money she doesn't have.

Cronin, who noted that the board has struggled with turnover for quite some time, said it had recently begun to gel. He said the nominating committee thinks the new nominees will be helpful, not harmful to that.

"I think what we're hoping for is that this board, if elected, will bring some stability to the situation," Cherry said.

Neither Soldato nor Cronin plan to run as petitioning candidates.

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter: @LindsayABoyle