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Each of the four candidates running for School Committee in next month’s town election identified COVID-19 as a main reason for running, Both challengers, Ashleigh MacKinnon and Eric Kelley, criticized the decisions and actions of the existing board which includes two incumbents, Sean Costello and Kendra Stetson Campbell, up for reelection. Both Costello and Stetson Campbell said they stood by the board’s decisions, most significant of which were the decisions to return to the school year in a hybrid model and eventually bringing students back fully in-person starting on this week. “I think we have made the best decisions we could with the information we had at the time,” Stetson Cambpell said. “We are looking at feedback from parents, from students, from teachers, we’re looking at DESE guidelines, we’re looking at CDC guidelines, and a lot of times they don’t match or they change.” ....
Wicked Local While women in politics have made historic strides in recent years, including the election of Kamala Harris as the first female vice president, women have been noticeably absent from Marshfield’s Board of Selectmen, the town’s highest elected office. Marshfield voters broke the town’s selectman glass ceiling nearly 40 years ago when Sheila Gagnon was elected, serving from 1982 to 1985. In the years since, only four other women have served on the Board of Selectmen: Faith Jean from 1992 to 2001, Patti Epstein from 2005 to 2008, Katie O’Donnell from 2006 to 2009 and Patricia Reilly, from 2008 to 2011. Among neighboring towns, Marshfield is the sole community without a female member of the Board of Selectmen or Select Board. Duxbury and Hingham each have one currently serving, Cohasset, Hanover, Hull, Norwell and Plymouth have two and Kingston, Pembroke and Scituate have three. ....
School Committee Chair criticizes state response on education Wicked Local Marshfield School Committee Chairman Sean Costello sharply criticized state leadership this week, taking the unusual step to speak on behalf of himself, not the committee or district, during a committee meeting. I don t typically say things like that in meetings like this, but I m at my breaking point, Costello said. He characterized the issue as an absence of leadership. In times of great challenges, we look to our leaders to steady the ship, Costello said. We rely on them for advice and for guidance and to help us minimize stress. From the very start of this pandemic, the Massachusetts Department of Education has, in my view, failed to provide this leadership. ....