Capobianco Steps Down as School Committee Chair

At the start of Monday night’s School Committee meeting, Chairman of the School Committee, Valentino Capobianco, announced his decision to not seek re-election as the Chair. For the past two years, Capobianco has held the position, leading many efforts including: improvement of the full free day kindergarten program, reinvigorating the transportation program and revitalizing the Little Vikings program. He also played a role in campaigning for the new Miller Field, standing by the belief that the field would be open to the community.

During his time as Chairman of the School Committee, Capobianco led the charge in supporting Question 3 in 2018, standing up for LGBTQ students, while also favoring a resolution that changed the Chapter 70 formula. Capobianco’s work as Chairman included the involvement of two contract approvals with salary increases, without layoffs and without a proposition 2.5% override or raising user fees.

“​I will remain an active school committee member and fight to defend the right of each child to live to their fullest potential and of each staff member to work in a safe, happy, and healthy learning environment,” said Capobianco during the committee meeting. “I am so proud of the work that this committee has accomplished during my time as a school committee member thus far. From my very first meeting when we surplus the Middle School back to the town to help revitalize our center business district, to when we saved our Tennis Courts, to when we stood with our union members to save ESP positions at the Gorman Fort Banks School, and finally to today when we finalized the new contract for our teachers. We have done our best to live up to the trust put in us by our community.”

Following Capobianco’s statement, the committee agreed to elect Brian Perrin as the new chair of the committee. Perrin has been a dedicated member of the school committee for ten years, recently serving as the Vice-Chair. Jennifer Powell and Perrin had both been nominated for the position, however; Powell declined, accepting the role as Vice Chair.

“As Vice Chair, I am looking forward to working with Brian Perrin and the other members of the board to support our administration and teachers in moving our school system forward and providing excellence in education,” said Powell.

Howard shared her appreciation for the consistent hard work that the committee puts forth every year.

“I am comfortable working with everyone on the committee and it has been a pleasure working with Tino. The communication is really solid on this committee, and I thank all of you for that.”