HATFIELD — Four candidates interested in preserving and strengthening Hatfield’s public schools are competing for two seats on the School Committee at the June 23 town election.
The race between David Robert Keir, Charles W. DeRose, Christy L. Boudreau and Rebecca Williams Bench is one of three contested elections on the ballot, with incumbents also being challenged for positions on the Board of Health and the Planning Board.
Polls will be open at Memorial Town Hall 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., though many are already voting early.
Bench, who was appointed to the School Committee to fill a vacancy last August, is running for the seat for the first time.
An emergency department nurse, Bench, in a videotaped statement, said she is a 13th generation resident who hopes to provide transparent leadership by emphasizing communication to the community. She has served on the wellness and principal search committees.
Bench said that she would promote Hatfield’s reputation for academics through project-based learning and cultural education and help schools thrive by remaining dedicated to innovation.
“I want Hatfield to remain regionally strong, retaining resident students and attracting school choice candidates,” Bench said.
Boudreau moved to Hatfield in 2016 and had worked in consumer goods marketing for companies and nonprofits, and sits on the Treehouse Foundation board.
She said in her recorded statement that she aims to pair her business background with her strong belief in public schools, noting that her parents were both teachers.
Pushing for creative thinking and innovation can happen because the school system, being small, can be nimble, she said.
Boudreau said her primary goal “is to make sure that we’re delivering best-in-class methods for really rich learning environments and opportunities that leverage our great teachers, that can apply technology when appropriate.”
DeRose, formerly a publisher for the Daily Hampshire Gazette, said he has a long commitment to service, from his time on the boards of the Hampshire Regional YMCA, Cooley Dickinson Hospital and Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce.
A 50-year resident of town, one of his three children went to Smith Academy. Now is the time to give back, though he acknowledges that he is unfamiliar with specific school-related issues.
“I’m trying to use my experience of community service, and all that experience so far has been in Northampton,” DeRose said.
Keir said he would bring institutional knowledge to the board, from his time as athletic director and dean of students at Smith Academy, and director of golf and soccer tournaments.
In a taped statement, Keir said he wants to continue to contribute in a positive way as he has done for the past 38 years.
The most important aspect is to address the sustainability of schools and financing, finding ways to share and lower costs and stave off any efforts to regionalize.
“It is the School Committee’s duty to find a way to provide each and every student the necessary services they need to be successful in their lifetime,” Keir said.
For a three-year position on the Board of Health, incumbent Kerry Flaherty is being challenged by Elizabeth Jane Kugler.
Flaherty, a Hatfield firefighter, said in her six years on the board she has been the point person for the town’s COVID-19 response, hiring two health agents and launching a sharps container program that is free for all residents.
Kugler, a licensed respiratory therapist, said she could bring skills for coordinating and organizing health-related events, such as a COVID-19 emergency supply site for the community, testing for the illness, and dissemination of vaccination.
Incumbent Stephanie Elizabeth Slysz is facing a challenge from Elizabeth Beringer for a five-year position on the Planning Board.
In an online candidates forum, Slysz, the vice chairwoman of the board, said her priority is for Hatfield to remain a farming town. She supports projects and policies that preserve farmland and wants to see the open space bylaw over the finish line, which she said would encourage developers to pursue compact development that provides housing while protecting tillable land.
Efforts to reach Beringer by phone were unsuccessful, and she didn’t record a statement for the candidates forum. Beringer was a leading voice in 2019 against a controversial project reviewed by the Planning Board from a company that wanted to grow marijuana for adult-use and medical sale at a Depot Road site.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
