The K-8 and regional school committees last night each added a new member to their ranks to fill the vacancies created when Paul Gaffney resigned last month.
There were two candidates for each board. The K-8 school committee voted unanimously to appoint Deborah Keefe over candidate Erik Simon. Keefe is a teacher by profession and volunteers regularly in the Southborough schools. Committee members counted her first-hand knowledge of the schools along with her education background as pluses.
Keefe is a 4-year resident of Southborough with three children in the school system. “My passion is in education,” she told the committee.
On the regional school committee side, the vote was unanimous in favor of Dan Kolenda over candidate David Rueger. Kolenda has been a Southborough resident for 13 years, and like Keefe, has three kids in Southborough schools. He is a lawyer who recently returned from a 9-month stint in Baghdad with the Reserves.
“This is an opportunity for me to volunteer on a committee that’s essential not just for my kid, but for all our kids,” Kolenda said.
Keefe and Kolenda will finish Gaffney’s term which runs through the elections next May. If they want to continue, they’ll need to run for election themselves.
