A joint School Committee (SC) and Select Board (SB) meeting was held tonight, and one of the agenda items was to appoint a candidate to fill the seat vacated by Holly Morand, who in November resigned from the SC to take a position at Town Hall. Ms. Morand’s term expires in May 2024, so the appointment was to serve out the remainder.

Of the five candidates who applied, only three appeared in person: Ashley Fogg, Jamie Wronka and Lori Nickerson. Chris Masters had a family emergency and sent his regrets. No explanation was provided for Karen Mulik’s absence.

Nickerson was elected to the SC from 2014 – 2017, and served as chair for part of her tenure. Wronka has served on several town committees, including Conservation Commission and Trails Coordination and Management Committee. Fogg is an active volunteer in the schools and community.  

After each of the three candidates made an opening statement, members of the SC and SB took turns asking questions. In the interest of fairness, each candidate was given the opportunity to answer the same question.

SB member Mary Jo Lafreniere opened the questioning by asking “if the candidate were appointed tonight, would they commit to running again in May?” Fogg said she’d need to discuss it with her family, but most likely she would. Nickerson said she would need to assess the situation by the end of March, emphasizing that her professional work is demanding, so she couldn’t guarantee a run. Wronka confirmed that she intends to run in May, regardless of the outcome of tonight’s appointment. 

SC member Adam Munroe asked each candidate to explain their vision for their work on the committee between now and May. Nickerson replied that her goal was to get consensus agreement on the school budget. Fogg agreed that the budget was the big item, and also presenting the Hopkins addition to the town for a vote at Town Meeting. Wronka said her focus would be on the budget, specifically on the Special Education portion.

There were other questions asked, and there was little difference between the candidate’s answers. 

SC Chair Nancy Richards-Cavanaugh thanked the candidates and dismissed them. The SC and SB then spoke openly about what each of them were looking for in a candidate, outlining the committee’s core priorities of finalizing the budget, performing the superintendent’s annual evaluation, and communicating with the town about the importance of the planned Hopkins School addition.

A recurring theme among the committee members was the difficulty of the position, and the learning curve with the ongoing budget cycle. Prior to the vote, SB Chair Muriel Kramer revealed her choice by saying “I knew where I stood when I saw Lori’s name, because I’ve seen her work.” Several other committee members emphasized the importance of prior experience.

A straw poll was taken, with Fargiano, Stephenson, Richards-Cavanaugh, Kramer and Lafreniere voting for Lori Nickerson, and Munroe, Ritterbusch, Mannan and Nasrullah voting for Jamie Wronka. Ashley Fogg received no votes. With that, a motion was introduced to appoint Nickerson to the School Committee, and it passed unanimously.

All committee members made similar speeches, thanking the applicants and urging them to run for election in May. “We are so fortunate to have so many great candidates,” said Kramer.