Norwood BOE appoints Thomas Pflaumer to hear all expulsion appeals

What are his qualifications, and how much will he be paid?


Effective immediately, the Norwood School Board is no longer hearing expulsion appeals. By a vote of 3 to 2 at their April 19 meeting, the Norwood School Board approved a resolution to appoint a designee to hear all expulsion appeals made by students and their parents.

School board members voting for the resolution voiced concerns that because they likely knew either the student being expelled or the student's parents or family members, they felt it was too difficult to carry out this duty. The two school board members voting against the resolution, Ken Miracle and Scott Faulkner, stated they were elected to make these very decisions. Superintendent Collier stated that some other districts have chosen to appoint a designee, although he did not name those districts.

The resolution names a Thomas Pflaumer as the designee and states that "Thomas Pflaumer has the necessary qualifications to serve as the Board's designee during expulsion appeals". No resume or information concerning Mr. Pflaumer's qualifications was presented. We requested his qualifications from the NCS Treasurer’s office but were told, “There is no document that will fulfill your request.“ We GOOGLED Thomas Pflaumer and found no information on him. Mr. Pflaumer will be paid per hearing but the resolution does not indicate what that fee will be.