NORTHAMPTON — The School Committee will see significant turnover on Inauguration Day on Jan. 3 as nine elected women come aboard and one man takes a ward seat.
In Tuesday’s general election, voters chose eight women and one man for School Committee. Mayor-elect Gina-Louise Sciarra will serve as chair in an ex-officio capacity.
Only three incumbents, all women, ran to keep their seats and all were unopposed: Emily Serafy-Cox of Ward 3, Dina Levi of Ward 5 and Kaia Goleman of Ward 7. Three men and three women — Rebecca Busansky, Sean Condon, Laura Fallon, Roni Gold, Lonnie Kaufman and Susan Voss — did not seek reelection.
Holly Ghazey beat Remiel Baskin in Ward 2 to replace Fallon, and Margaret Miller bested Edwin Burlingame in Ward 6 to replace Kaufman.
Meg Robbins ran unopposed in Ward 1, and Michael Stein, the new School Committee’s only male member, ran unopposed in Ward 4.
Two women ran for two at-large seats — Gwen Agna, former principal of Jackson Street Elementary School, and Longmeadow Public Schools teacher Aline Davis — after both incumbents declined to run for reelection.
On Wednesday, Serafy-Cox, the Ward 3 member elected to a second term, celebrated the election results in a social media post with the hashtag #TheFutureIsFemale.
Reached on Wednesday, Serafy-Cox said, “I don’t think it’s surprising that it’s women who step up in times of crisis. It’s women who have gotten us through some of the most challenging times in our country.”
She said that the moment makes her think of the downtown mural depicting influential Northampton women including abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth, domestic violence activist Yoko Kato and former mayors Mary Ford and Clare Higgins.
“This feels like standing on the shoulders of our foremothers, so to speak,” she said. “It was a really exhausting few years for all of us, especially our educators, so I know the people who are stepping up for this next term are very passionate about schools. I’m really excited to work with them.”
Agna said the female-to-male ratio on the new committee “is something to celebrate. I’ve had a wonderful experience over my career of working with women.”
Among those female colleagues are three other newly elected members of the School Committee: Ghazey, who was a teacher at Jackson Street while Agna was principal, and Miller and Robbins, whom Agna met through their work in the education field.
“I think women have big hearts and they’re interested in hearing about the human side of things, and I hope that will play out in the School Committee meetings,” Agna said.
Her own goals, she said, include a review of wages for school staff at every level and outreach to “some of the voices that are not usually heard on School Committee issues.”
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.