Pawtucket School Committee elects Omar Reyes chair; Jill Olen Crowley clerk, Joan Bonolo deputy

The Pawtucket School Committee on Jan. 7 elected new leadership for the coming term, choosing Jill Olen Crowley as clerk, Omar Reyes as chair and Joan Bonolo as deputy chair in unanimous 7–0 roll-call votes.

The committee nominated and confirmed Crowley for clerk after members reviewed her résumé and discussed her more than 20 years of experience in education and familiarity with open-meetings requirements. After the vote, Crowley said she was honored and pledged to support the committee "on behalf of all of our students and their family." Crowley said she looks forward to helping the committee improve services for students and families.

Omar Reyes, who was nominated and seconded before the vote, accepted the chairmanship and used his remarks to describe his background and priorities. Reyes said he is "proud Dominican American" with roots in the Woodlawn neighborhood and described work helping adults return to education. He told the committee he believes in second chances and said he aims to prioritize "social-emotional learning, student outcomes, multilingualism [and] facilities" during his term.

In his remarks Reyes said he believes he may be the first person of color to serve as chair in the city's school-committee history and said he would "bear that accomplishment with the great honor and the huge responsibility" if confirmed. He asked members and voters to hold him accountable and said he would "share governance, be honest, listen and most importantly do what is right for our learning communities."

Joan Bonolo was nominated and confirmed as deputy chair by the same unanimous margin. Bonolo, who has an extended record of service on the committee, said she intends to continue work on student wellness, facilities and support for teachers and families.

The committee briefly reviewed its public participation rules at the meeting; the chair read the policy that limits comments to three minutes, explains that the committee cannot act on items not on the agenda and directs persons with employee complaints to pursue them with the superintendent. During public comment, Cameron Sagala congratulated the new leadership, said a parent and student advocacy group is forming and asked to meet with committee members to offer suggestions.

Following the organizational business and public comment, a committee member moved to adjourn and the meeting ended.