Kelly Garcia will remain the School Committee Chair for 2023.
Garcia was nominated by committee member Shawn O’Regan and received six votes to retain the chair at last week’s committee reorganization meeting. Committee members Roberto Jimenez Rivera and Jeannette Velez voted present, and Ana Hernandez was absent from the meeting due to illness.
“Thank you for voting me as chair, and for those who didn’t, I equally respect you and want you to push me to be a better leader, you’re leader, and the leader for our students,” said Garcia.
The vote for vice chair was a close one, with Jimenez Rivera nominating Katherine Cabral and Claryangeliz Covas Caraballo nominating 2022 vice chair Hernandez.
Cabral prevailed 5-3, earning the votes of Naomi Zabot, Rivera, Garcia, and Yessenia Alfaro in addition to her own. O’Regan, Caraballo, and Velez supported Hernandez.
There was some hesitation for a nomination to be the committee’s representative to the City Council before Alfaro nominated Zabot, noting that Zabot had previously served on the council. Garcia nominated Jimenez Rivera, who garnered the votes of all eight members who were present.
Jimenez Rivera in turn nominated Zabot as the representative to the Shore Collaborative, and she earned the eight votes for that position.
The committee also adopted the School Committee rules of 2020 for the current year, and committee members signed up for the subcommittees they would wish to serve on for the current year.