SAUGUS — Thursday night was a first for Erin McMahon.
This was the first School Committee meeting that she attended as superintendent of Saugus schools.
McMahon started off by saying that she has received a warm welcome from the committee and others throughout the school district and town.
Prior to the conclusion of Thursday’s meeting, member Dennis Gould gave McMahon a formal welcome to the School Committee.
“I really look forward to working with her and I know that we’re going to move this district forward,” he said.
Part of the first meeting involved setting goals for the upcoming school year. McMahon wants to have students advancing in their first “regular” school year since the pandemic began.
In an exercise, the various School Committee members talked about certain goals they are looking to achieve in the following school year. John Hatch talked about getting acclimated to new buildings while Dennis Gould talked about getting kids back in front of teachers in classrooms. Arthur Grabowski also talked about MCAS scores possibly being a goal for the committee to mobilize around.
Also in her first meeting, McMahon brought up research involving the start and end times of the school day. No decision has been made regarding school start times at the moment.
Committee Chair Tom Whittredge told The Item that McMahon’s first meeting went well.
‘It’s nice to get the first one done and get down to business moving forward,” he said.
Vice Chair Ryan Fisher added that, so far, McMahon is doing exactly what she promised to do, and that he is optimistic about her time as superintendent.
“She’s starting goals, achievements and assessment and methodically moving us to where we need to be,” he said. “She’s only been on the job for a week but so far the feedback I’m getting is lots of ‘wow, she got back to me really quickly.'”
