SWAMPSCOTT — Two residents have declared their candidacy for Swampscott School Committee in the April municipal elections.
Colin Codner, executive director of the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce, is one of those candidates, and former School Committee member Glenn Paster is the other.
Codner moved to Swampscott in 2009, and lives with his wife and two sons, a first-grader at Hadley Elementary and a 3-year-old who will begin school next year.
“Education is a passion of mine, specifically public education,” Codner said. “I’m also a proponent of public service and support for the school system, and this was a way I thought I could use my skills and experience to benefit the public education system of the town of Swampscott.”
Codner said he isn’t running to “shake things up,” but because he feels an obligation to the town where he lives to provide the best possible opportunities to its students.
As an administrator, Codner has experience working with the nitty gritty of education budgets, including as director of finances at the Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead (now the Epstein Hillel School), and has consulted with other schools on their finances with accreditation teams.
However, Codner believes that that experience is only half of the picture. A youth lacrosse coach and youth baseball and soccer volunteer, he knows what it’s like to work hands-on with the kids he cares about.
“I always laugh that anyone who has not served as the kindergarten recess monitor, if you haven’t done that, you have no idea what it takes to be a teacher,” Codner said. “It’s the little things like that. It’s amazing how much mission achievement comes into play when you’re putting a budget together.”
Paster was a member of the School Building Committee when the town tried and failed to approve a new elementary school building in 2014. Paster said he wants to help correct the mistake that the town made back then.
“One of the main things is getting the new school across the finish line and a powerful asset that I offer is I understand the process,” Paster said.
Paster, an email marketing director, said that his job involves a lot of communication, which would help him connect with all of the people in the district. In addition, he has made presentations to the Massachusetts School Building Authority and worked with architects on the plans for the previous school, which would allow him to “hit the ground running” as soon as he joins the board.
Paster is a father of three, and all of his children attended Swampscott Public Schools in the past. He said that because he doesn’t have any current students, but has an intimate knowledge of the school system, he has an objective view of all of the intricacies of it.
“My job is to support the entirety of the school district community, from superintendent to administrators to teachers to parents, and those are all very diverse groups and they all have their own take on things,” he said, giving the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning as an example. “Our job is to make sure that everyone comes together to an agreeable solution.”
Current School Committee member Ted Delano announced last month that he would not run for re-election, leaving the seat open.
The town election will be April 27.
