Vote Potentially Delayed; One School Committee Candidate Disqualified
On Thursday night, December 2, 2022, during the regularly scheduled School Committee meeting, Chair Sarah Fox announced that eleven candidates submitted letters of interest for the School Committee vacancy created by the October 27th resignation of Emily Barron. One of the candidates, according to Fox, was not a registered voter in town and thereby disqualified, bringing the total number of candidates to ten. Marblehead Beacon has since confirmed with the Town Clerk’s office that candidate Ariana Contreras is not registered in Marblehead, and further research indicates that she is a registered voter in Beverly, Massachusetts.
All valid candidates for the open position are to be interviewed by a joint session of the Select Board and the School Committee, originally scheduled for Wednesday night, December 7th. Fox announced during the School Committee meeting that she had been notified by Select Board Chair Moses Grader that “they had a conflict on Wednesday with the Selectmen’s schedule.” Therefore, Grader had indicated to her that the interviews and vote would have to be rescheduled.
School Committee Member Meagan Taylor expressed concern saying, “I understand everyone’s schedules change, but I mean that is kind of what we put out in the press release to the community in terms of making themselves available for their interview.” Fox agreed and said she felt that if any of the candidates are unable to attend the new date, there should be a way to accommodate them and not cause them to be disqualified. She noted that Grader had agreed with this provision.
Member Sarah Gold stated “I have a lot of trouble changing this date. It just really does not sit well with me. We have been very clear about this date, and it is really bothersome to me that literally after things came in we’re changing the date and quite frankly it is just going to come and bite us in the bum in the end and I’d Iove to avoid that.” Eventually the group decided that Fox will offer the Select Board several dates in December and early January, while also reiterating the School Committee’s desire to maintain the agreed upon December 7 joint meeting.
For those who missed Marblehead Beacon's earlier article providing information about the candidates, links to their letters and resumes are provided below.
The candidates are:
Paul Baker
Jennifer A. Brennan
Kimberly M. Day
Don DeWitt
Raymond Hansen
Thomas Mathers
Application Letter | Resume
Liam McGeown
Joseph Patuleia
Scott Stunkel
Laurence Winer
EDITOR'S NOTE: The author served on the Marblehead School Committee from 2016 to 2020 with several of the current members.
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