Yarmouth will hold a special election on Oct. 21 to replace longtime Yarmouth School Committee member David Ray, who resigned from his post earlier this month for health concerns.

Longtime Yarmouth School Committee Member David Ray stepped down from his position on Sept. 19. Yarmouth will hold a special election to replace him on Oct. 21.

Nomination papers are currently available for the position, and candidates must return them to the town clerk by Monday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m.

In a phone call on Monday, Ray said that he was sad to step aside but had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment. He said he was proud of what he and other committee members had accomplished.

“I think we’re blessed to have an administration and have had school committees that clearly recognize the demarcation between a school committee that sees the schools are well run while the administration runs the schools,” he said.

Ray said he was diagnosed in June and that undergoing treatment made staying on the School Committee too much of a time and energy commitment.

Superintendent Andrew Dolloff praised Ray – who served a total of 14 years on the School Committee between 2002 and 2024 – for his commitment to Yarmouth schools and the community.

“(Ray) has served several years as chairperson, helping to guide the district through two superintendent searches, several strategic plans, dozens of programmatic reviews and changes, and hundreds of policy revisions and adoptions,” wrote Dolloff in an email.

“Personally, I have appreciated his composure and reflection during challenging times on a variety of issues … his experience and knowledge have been a tremendous resource for me throughout my 10-plus years in the district,” he added.

Head of the teachers union the Yarmouth Education Association, Todd Abbott, wrote that Ray “brings years of work in the legal world to the school committee, but never used his vast knowledge and experience as a cudgel, but rather as a guide for how things haven’t worked and could work better.

Ray worked for the law firm Bernstein Shur, where he specialized in construction law, and retired from the firm in 2016. He is originally from Eastport.

In 2019, Ray joined a lawsuit filed by the ACLU challenging a Yarmouth charter amendment that barred municipal or school employees from running for town council. The court ruled for the town in 2021.

Whomever is elected would only serve through the end of Ray’s current term, which expires in June 2025, according to Town Manager Scott LaFlamme.