SAUGUS ― Members of the School Committee were officially sworn into office Thursday night, two days after winning the election.
Tom Whittredge, Ryan Fisher, John Hatch, and Joseph “Dennis” Gould all retained their seats. They were joined by former member Vincent Serino, who decided to run again in the 2021 election and took Arthur Grabowski’s place on the committee.
After the committee members took their oaths of office at the Belmonte Elementary School, it was right back to business, with a regular School Committee meeting starting immediately after the ceremony.
During that meeting, the committee nominated and voted on who would fill the chairman and vice chairman positions. It was decided unanimously that Whittredge would retain his position as head of the committee. Serino was voted in as vice chairman unanimously as well, replacing Fisher in the seat.
Superintendent of Schools Erin McMahon congratulated the five men on their achievement and expressed her enthusiasm for the coming term.
“Welcome to the newly-elected committee,” she said. “Welcome Mr. Ryan Fisher, Mr. John Hatch, Mr. Tom Whittredge, Mr. Vincent Serino, and Mr. Dennis Gould. We are really lucky to have the School Committee rejoin us.”
During the election, Whittredge received the most votes (2,090) with only a 69-vote margin between him and Serino (2,021) votes. Hatch came in third, with 1,846 votes; Fisher received only 39 votes fewer, at 1,807. He was followed by Gould, who received 1,661 votes.
Whittredge thanked his family and friends for their support during his second-term run on the School Committee.
“It really is an honor to be the School Committee chair, it really is, and I know we joke around a lot and try to keep it light but there’s a lot of business to be done,” he said. “And with these guys here (Serino, Hatch, Gould, and Fisher), it’s good to be back here,” said Whittredge.
“Everyone who got re-elected deserved to be reelected,” said Whittredge. “I look forward to the future.”
Serino kept his remarks brief.
“I look forward to a great couple of years and keep moving forward,” he said.
Hatch shared his gratitude toward the voters and expressed his excitement about the partially-new committee and the future plans.
“This board really understands what our mission is and it really knows what the goal of the School Committee is, and I am really excited to work with the district board and move the district forward,” said Hatch.
Fisher thanked his wife, daughter, and mother ― all of whom were in the audience during Thursday’s meeting. He shared his hopes for this committee’s future by reminiscing on the past term, where the COVID-19 pandemic created more than its fair share of obstacles.
“This was one of the most difficult last two years the school system ever had, and I’m hoping things will be much smoother going forward,” Fisher said. “I am very excited for the board that got elected,” said Fisher.
Gould was not in attendance due to COVID precautions, according to Whittredge. In a Facebook post, Gould thanked his voters and shared his future plans as well.
“Thank you fellow Saugonians for having enough confidence in me to reelect me to the Saugus School Committee,” he said. “It is humbling and I assure you all that I will give it my all to improve student achievement, keep all the key programs funded, improve our VELC (Veterans Early Learning Center) and Belmonte libraries, and support policies that make sense for our district.”
