Incumbent Danehy Declines School Committee Run

Haverhill School Committeewoman Susan D. Danehy.

A member of the Haverhill school committee will not seek another term in this year’s municipal elections.

Two-term Committeewoman Susan D. Danehy told WHAV Friday she is not running for re-election due to increased work obligations.

“I was working part-time when I first ran and I was able to devote a lot of time to visiting the schools and really getting involved because just prior to that I was a substitute teacher in the schools. Since then I’ve had another job that has taken me away from the community a little bit more and I haven’t been able to devote the kind of time I feel that needs to really go into the job to be able to do a really good job at it,” Danehy said.

However, she encouraged others to seek the open seat for what she said is “a very important role for the community at large.”

“I don’t want what happened to me happen again, that I was a sole candidate when I first ran. I won without competition because there was nobody putting in their papers for the role. This is a very important job for the community at large, like I said. People need to respect what the job entails and the lives that are at stake. These are young people and we need to really pump up the education system so that we can move the community forward,” Danehy said.

So far, candidates who have taken nomination papers for Haverhill school committee include incumbents Scott Wood and Shaun Toohey, as well as newcomer Michael Shurman, 742 Washington St. and former City Councilor Sven A. Amirian.

Amirian resigned his city council seat three years ago after serving six months of his second term. The resignation was reportedly a condition of his then-new employer, Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce. Councilors chose Thomas J. Sullivan to replace him, and Sullivan won in his own right in 2013. Amirian resigned as president of the chamber a year ago to become vice president of business development of Marlborough-based MassAmerican Energy