Tuesday night's Easthampton School Committee meeting was cancelled because of overwhelming activity on their Zoom and live stream.

So many people signed in that the Zoom meeting reached capacity and some members of the committee could not log on. Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, who is also a member of the school committee, said they were not expecting so many people to attend Tuesday's meeting.

"We are fixing that glitch with a software that has a much higher limit of participants who can actually participate, not just watch," LaChapelle said.

The committee is receiving international attention after they rescinded an offer to former high school principal Vito Perrone to become their next superintendent. Perrone confirmed the school committee rescinded his offer after he sent an email during contract negotiations where he addressed the female school committee chair and the board’s executive assistant as "ladies."

A date for the rescheduled meeting is yet to be announced, but LaChapelle said it's likely it will be virtual.

"I strongly suspect it's going to be remote given the number of people and, quite honestly, the tenor of the crowd expressing what they should and can under the First Amendment," LaChapelle said. "It's well respected, but it's not a tone and tenor that we're looking to bring into one room."

State Sen. John Velis, D-Hampden and Hampshire, represents Easthampton and said the decision to rescind the job offer appears to be a disproportionate response by the committee.

"If the allegations are true that his offer rescinded solely due to the way he addressed an email, then things have gone too far,” Velis said in a statement. "If this was indeed the only issue, this was an opportunity to learn and grow as a community.”