Ahead of November’s municipal election, three female newcomers are hoping to shake up the race for Haverhill’s open School Committee seats.
Longtime city educator Toni Donais is the latest hopeful to pull papers in the upcoming race, joining Marlon Street’s Patricia McDonald and attorney Melissa Lewandowski, the daughter of former Haverhill School Committee member Glen Lewandowski.
Donais, however, told WHAV Monday she remains undecided as to if she’ll actually pursue a School Committee run, having just been named administrator of Walnut Square School in Superintendent Margaret Marotta’s new “rightsizing” plan for the upcoming year.
All candidates who take out papers with the Haverhill City Clerk’s office have until July 23 to return 50 certified signatures in order to appear on the ballot. As of Monday’s news deadline, a preliminary election would take place in September to narrow the field before November’s election.
“I’m a longtime educator and have spent 40 years as an educator—35 in Haverhill—and I want to make a difference and make sure the school department’s going in the right direction,” Donais told WHAV.
She expects to make a decision in the next two weeks, Donais said.
Should she choose to run, Donais tells WHAV she’d focus on class sizes, integrity of school building infrastructure and professional development for teachers.
As previously reported, Donais, McDonald and Lewandowski join incumbents Scott W. Wood Jr., Gail M. Sullivan and Sven A. Amirian, along with fellow newcomer economist Thomas Grannemann, in the ballot bid.