The Harford County Board of Education on Monday night officially declared the vote on the removal of Melissa Hahn from her position as board vice president to be “improperly declared,” leading to the vote being eliminated from future board meeting agendas and Hahn maintaining her leadership position.

Board member Carol Mueller made the motion to add a vote on Hahn’s removal from the position of board vice president — not the board entirely — during the board’s meeting Oct. 21 when Hahn was absent so she could be with a gravely ill relative.

Mueller, along with board members Wade Sewell, Carol Bruce and Denise Perry and student member Sasha Pazoki voted in favor of the motion. Dissenting votes were cast by board members Diane Alvarez, Terri Kocher, Lauren Strauss and board President Aaron Poynton.

The motion to add Hahn’s removal vote to the agenda passed but was ultimately tabled for the board’s Monday meeting.

However, in a letter sent to board members last week, Poynton stated that the absence of Hahn’s vote on the initial motion invalidated the motion entirely.

“A valid motion requires a majority concurrence of the ‘entire board’ or ‘whole board,’ respectively, which is generally defined as the total membership of the board, irrespective of attendance, vacancies, or voting status,” the policy reads.

During Monday’s meeting, when board members were initially set to vote on Hahn’s removal from leadership, Poynton made a point of order and scrapped the vote.

“The motion only had five affirmative votes and was declared as passed when it needed six affirmative votes,” Poynton said. “Therefore I am declaring that the motion was improperly declared and it did not, in fact, achieve the required majority vote to pass.”

He asked the board secretary to correct the Oct. 21 meeting minutes to show that the motion did not pass and said the motion can not be voted on again unless it is reintroduced.

During the board member comment portion of Monday night’s meeting, Hahn denounced the vote for her removal and said she was shown “zero respect” by board members and the board’s legal counsel when she initially disputed the legality of the motion.

She called for unity among the board members and urged everyone to treat one another with respect.

“I will be the first to tell you that I am not perfect. I am very passionate, strongly opinionated and I will always stand for what is right even if that means I stand alone,” Hahn said. “We as a board need to put our differences aside, focus on our goals, and work together to stop this divisive rhetoric and put our students’ needs first.”

Mueller said during the board’s October meeting that she made the motion to add the vote to the agenda because she does not feel Hahn acts in good faith as a leader, as demonstrated by the vice president calling for Superintendent Sean Bulson’s resignation in September following a fatal shooting at Joppatowne High School.

“The reason why I am asking for Mrs. Hahn’s removal is because she is supposed to be board leadership and I do not feel like she is leading this board when she goes off on her own, two meetings in a row, to tell an employee of the board that they have to resign, a personnel matter like that should be private,” Mueller said during the Oct. 21 meeting. “You have to look at how she has been acting as a leader to see why I want to have her removed as vice president.”

In response to Poynton’s letter, Mueller told The Aegis that she does not plan on reintroducing the motion for Hahn’s leadership removal.

Hahn was elected to the board in 2022, becoming a polarizing figure after receiving an endorsement from the Republican political organization Moms for Liberty and after her criticism of the school system over what she considered explicit material in school libraries.

A petition for Hahn’s removal was started in March and has 582 signatures.

However, dozens of community members spoke during the meeting Monday night, with an overwhelming majority speaking against Mueller’s motion.

Many speakers said that they felt the vote was the product of a divided board and a waste of time, with some speakers attacking Mueller personally for the motion; one speaker went as far as telling Mueller to resign and get out of the county completely.

Most speakers defended Hahn and her actions as a board member.

“You cannot demand acceptance of differences and viewpoints and in the same breath condemn someone for their differences,” said the Rev. Steven Hofmeister. “This is counterproductive as a board and as a community. Leave Melissa alone.”

Speaker Keith Devoe, a former Marine and retired Baltimore City detective whose son graduated from North Harford High School, pointed out that Hahn secured nearly 70% of the votes when she ran for board election.

“The majority of her district believes what she believes and wants her here,” Devoe said. “Safety should be the number one thing — the woke crap means nothing to me. … And if someone hurts someone’s feelings for bringing that up, oh well. It is our children’s lives at stake, so put your feelings away and do your jobs whether you like each other or not.”

Other speakers said Hahn represents their belief as parents and supported her being on the board.

Del Sellers, a Harford school system employee speaking on behalf of himself as a community member, called the board’s dismissal of the motion a “hot mess” and urged the board members to “get their own house in order.”

“We look to you guys for policy, procedure and rules, and you guys can’t even figure out the rules to remove somebody,” Sellers said. “You can’t just go on a whim and try to do something because that weakens your authority and presents questions in your leadership.”

One speaker thanked Mueller for “acting in the best interest of Harford County constituents” and said that whatever is not resolved through a motion on Hahn’s removal will be resolved in 2026 when Hahn is up for reelection.

“What is ironic, Ms. Hahn, that in your attempt to oust Bulson, you got way closer to a pink slip than he did,” Alexa Sciuto said. “That sends a message — this agenda is not wanted.”

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