City Council supports changes to School Committee composition

Morabito: City expanding, representation must follow

  The School Committee looks like it will be growing. On Monday night, the City Council approved an act proposed by Mayor Brian Arrigo to establish a new election system for the School Committee. The act now goes to the state legislature for approval.

  Under the new system, there will be six ward committee members and two at-large members, as well as the mayor. Currently, the committee has six at-large members, plus the mayor. Arrigo proposed the change to increase representation within the wards, as well as to avoid a possible lawsuit from an organization that has challenged other at-large school committees in the state.

  “You as councillors represent your wards; it’s just being asked that the School Committee have the same representation,” said City Solicitor Paul Capizzi at a Legislative Affairs Subcommittee meeting prior to Monday’s full City Council meeting. Capizzi said the change would allow for greater representation from the neighborhoods and for individual schools within the wards.

  “I can’t see any reason not to do it, actually, and if we don’t, we’re going to get sued, so that’s the other reason, too,” said Capizzi.

  Ward 4 Councillor Patrick Keefe said he supported the measure, even though he said he is usually hesitant to vote for something due to potential legal action. Keefe also said he is concerned about current committee members potentially losing their seats under the new format. “I do kind of feel bad that there are current School Committee members that we feel very strongly about, and all of them represent the city very well,” who could lose their seats, Keefe said.

  “Unfortunately, this may have an impact on sitting members, but this also increases the number of School Committee members from six to eight, plus the mayor, which makes nine, which is the odd number,” said Capizzi.

  Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky, who voted against the act along with Councillor-at-Large George Rotondo, said he supported ward representation. “But I’m not happy with increasing the School Committee,” said Novoselsky. He said the city might want to look at an alternate method for electing the committee, such as ward races where everyone across the city can vote for each ward committee member. Novoselsky said that would help counter potential low turnout in some of the wards.

  School Committee Member John Kingston said he did not have an issue with the move toward seats on the committee, but he did express some concerns about adding two new members. “I think it is sometimes hard enough to get a coalition when it is 4-3,” he said. “We have seven members and we are adding two more; that’s my only concern. I understand the mayor’s point about trying to have two at-large [seats], and I’m not saying it is bad if it’s approved, but my concern, just from being new, is that having to add two new members creates a lot more issues and a lot more complexity.”

  Councillor-at-Large Steven Morabito said he supported the proposal as presented by Arrigo. “Our city is not getting any smaller; it’s getting larger, so I think we need representation at large, as well,” said Morabito.