The Rutland mayor has recommended state Rep. Peter Fagan, R-Rutland City, to fill a vacancy on the school board, forgoing his original choice after strong opposition from some city residents.
Mayor David Allaire said Fagan, who is also a retired local school commissioner and a military veteran, has the experience, leadership skills and unifying ability that the board needs.
In the past couple of years, the board has been divided over whether to change the Rutland High School “Raiders” mascot after many students, alumni and city residents expressed concern about racism in its origins. The board voted to replace the moniker with the “Ravens” in 2021, but a new composition of school commissioners reversed that decision before the year ended.
The school board will interview Fagan at its next regular meeting on June 14, then vote on his nomination at a meeting in August.
Allaire said he chose Fagan because he wanted someone who could help keep the board focused on providing the oversight and support that local schools need.
“He would be a perfect choice,” Allaire said in an interview Thursday, a day after his nomination deadline. He predicted Fagan would “try to bring the sides together because it’s pretty factious over there.”
In a Board of Aldermen meeting on May 16, Allaire said he was leaning toward nominating Bob Pearo Jr., who unsuccessfully ran for school commissioner in March. At the same meeting, some local residents spoke up to back Marisa Kiefaber, who had finished first runner-up and a step ahead of Pearo in the race for four school board seats.
Allaire said Thursday that he had received messages of both opposition and support for Pearo, and thought back to his promise “to be a mayor for everyone” when he was first elected to his seat in 2017.
Fagan, who had served on the school board from 2004 to 2017, said he didn’t seek the nomination but felt it was his civic duty to respond to the needs of his community.
“I believe that when a leader calls someone and says, ‘I need your help,’ you don’t turn them down,” said Fagan, who served six years in the U.S. Army and 24 years with the Vermont Army National Guard.
He is currently vice chair of the House Committee on Appropriations. If confirmed to the school board, Fagan said he wouldn’t seek another term after the appointment ends in March 2023.
“I have retired more times than I can count, and so I don’t want to run again and then have to retire,” he said. “I will just fill out this term.”
When asked what he intends to accomplish on the board, Fagan said his first task would be to observe the existing commissioners’ work and assess what needs to be done.
Both the school board chair and superintendent said they support Fagan’s nomination.
Chair Alison Notte said his experience in public service, including his years on the school board, will be an asset, particularly because eight of the 11 commissioners are only in their first term.
Notte, who is in her third term, said she is the longest-serving member, followed by Commissioner Charlene Seward, who is in her second term.
“We have a very inexperienced board,” Notte said. “To have someone fill the vacancy with the background knowledge and insight Peter Fagan has will serve the district well.”
Notte said she’d initially recommended Kiefaber for the position, then brought up some previous school board members when the mayor contemplated nominating Pearo.
The candidates ran under opposing political slates, with Pearo’s group in support of the “Raiders” mascot.
Superintendent Bill Olsen said he believes Fagan can help the school district grow, given his experience on the board.
The school board can reject Allaire’s nominee by a supermajority vote of seven commissioners, according to the Rutland City Charter. In that case, the mayor could submit another name under the same process. If the second nominee is voted down, the board makes the appointment, without the need for the mayor’s consent.
The board has tabled further discussion of Rutland’s mascot until this summer, after the Legislature passed a related bill earlier this month. S.139 is intended to ban racist and offensive school mascots. It would direct the Vermont Agency of Education to create a state policy for school branding, including mascots, logos and sports teams, by this August. Gov. Phil Scott has not yet signed the bill.
