LONGMEADOW – At the March 5 joint meeting between the Longmeadow Select Board and School Committee, four individuals were selected for the remaining open seats on the School Committee.

On both Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, 10 individuals were interviewed by both the School Committee and the Select Board: Peter Landon, William Timothy Mitchell, James Ryan, Kevin Ryczek, Kevin Shea, Gianna Allentuck, Jamie Hensch, Marcie Kearing, William Knowlton and Susan Bell. The candidates were asked a series of questions regarding the schools stem program, how to improve communication, and what experiences they each had in the past that would be beneficial to their roles on the Committee.

Kicking off the first round of votes for the four appointed members of the School Committee, Select Board Chair Mark Gold explained the process. Each person currently sitting on the Select Board or School Committee would vote for four individuals that they wish to see on the School Committee. After going through and tallying up how many votes each of the 10 candidates received, any candidate that had over five votes would be automatically appointed to the School Committee. Should there not be four individuals at the end of the first round of selections who received more than five votes, the Board and Committee would vote again.

After each member of the Select Board and School Committee listed the four candidates they had chosen, Longmeadow Finance Director and Assistant Town Manager Paul Pasterczyk tallied the votes, revealing the totals: Peter Landon received one vote, James Ryan received three votes, Kevin Shea received four votes, Kevin Ryczek received two votes, William Timothy Mitchell received three votes, Marcie Kearing received one vote, Susan Bell received six votes, Jamie Hensch received seven votes, William Knowlton received one vote, and Gianna Allentuck received four votes. Automatically, both Susan Bell and Jamie Hensch were appointed to the School Committee, as they both received over five votes.

From there, Landon, Kearing and Knowlton were removed from the list of possible candidates, as they all had the lowest amount of votes. The Select Board and School Committee moved forward with the voting process once more, opting to each choose two candidates between Ryan, Shea, Mitchell, Allentuck and Ryczek. After each member cast their votes, Ryan received two votes, Shea received three votes, Ryczek received two votes, Mitchell received three votes and Allentuck received six. Allentuck was then appointed to the School Committee, leaving one remaining open seat.

In a final round of voting, the School Committee and Select Board chose between Shea and Mitchell, dropping both Ryan and Ryczek, as they had lower vote counts. In this round, Shea received five votes, and Mitchell received three, further appointing Shea to the remaining seat on the School Committee.

“I really want to thank the people who’ve put their names in for consideration, we’ve got a whole bunch of these folks who submitted paperwork to run for the election on June 11,” Gold stated. He then advised that the individuals who were appointed to the Committee make use of the training that the Commonwealth offers for individuals who are newly elected to Boards and Committees. This training is online, and offers insight on open meeting laws, conflicts of interest and more.

School Committee Chair Armand Wray thanked the Select Board for their time in assisting the School Committee on this matter, and further thanked the individuals who applied to serve on the Committee.

“I know that it’s not easy to come here and sit, especially on TV,” Wray said. “Thank you to everybody who applied.”

The Longmeadow School Committee is now comprised of Chair Armand Wray, Vice Chair Bronwyn Monahan, Clerk Ryan Kelly, Susan Bell, Gianna Allentuck, Kevin Shea, and Jamie Hensch. The newly appointed members will serve on the Committee until the upcoming June 11 election, where some will be seeking election to the Committee.