Pittsfield Sees Rise in Potential School Committee CandidatesBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
12:37PM / Tuesday, May 20, 2025 | |
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Interest for a seat on the School Committee has boomed as the community continues to ask for more answers on the Pittsfield High School investigation.
Ciara Batory, who filed a public records request that resulted in the secretary of state's office ordering the release of non-exempt parts of Bulkley Richardson & Gelinas' investigation into alleged staff wrongdoing, has taken out papers to represent the Pittsfield Public Schools.
Earlier this month, she filed a second appeal after the School Committee sent the report to the Supervisor of Records, Manza Arthur, for an in-camera review.
"The Pittsfield Public Schools have claimed exemption under M.G.L. c. 4, § 7(26)(c), citing personnel privacy. However, the allegations in question involve matters of public concern, use of public taxpayer funds, and issues that directly impact student safety — a point that overrides routine personnel privacy under Massachusetts law, especially when misconduct is involved," Batory wrote in a press statement on May 6.
"This is not just about documents. This is about the safety and well-being of 4,900 children in the Pittsfield Public School system. When serious allegations are swept under the rug in the name of 'privacy,' and the public is left in the dark, trust is destroyed. This School Committee has made it clear: protecting their own is more important than protecting our children."
Nomination papers became available on April 3, and certified papers are due by Aug. 1. A preliminary election will narrow the race down on Sept. 16 if a position has more than two candidates, or nine for at-large councilor.
A couple of former faces on the committee have also taken out papers: Vicky Mashek Smith and Katherine Yon, who served four terms on the committee, including as chair.
Megan Arvin, who organized the Pittsfield People's March in January, Carolyn L. Barry and Kelly Ott have also taken out papers. The new candidates join incumbents Daniel Elias and Sara Hathaway, and newcomers Geoffrey Buerger, Jacob Klein, and Sarah Muil.
There is a total of 11 interested candidates so far for the six-person committee.
During conversation about the executive summaries released on the investigation, Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi urged people to run for the committee.
"We continually are ignored by the School Committee on this. We haven't had any meaningful interaction with them and yet we are all up here responding from our hearts and our minds of what we know is right and also, our constituents that are calling us saying, 'What the heck is going on with our School Committee?' and we're still not hearing anything," she said at the last City Council meeting.
"So I am just going to take this time to just ask people, please run for School Committee. Please. If you think that this is wrong, if you care about education, if you support our schools, our students, our teachers, run for School Committee."
Sara Hathaway, former mayor, and Danielle Munn, owner of Witch Slapped on North Street, have taken out papers for councilor at large. They join incumbents Kathleen Amuso, Alisa Costa, Earl Persip III, and Peter White, as well as Alexander Blumin, former councilor Karen Kalinowsky, and Lawrence Klein.
Amuso's papers have been certified.
Incumbent Kenneth Warren, whose papers are also certified, remains the only candidate in Ward 1. Blumin has indicated that he is not running for Ward 2, leaving Craig Benoit, Cameron Cunningham, Lindsay Locke, and Corey Walker.
The incumbents of Wards 3-5 are the only candidates for the position. Ward 4 Councilor James Conant's papers have been certified.
Walter Powell has taken out papers for Ward 6, joining Edward Carmel and incumbent Dina Lampiasi. Carmel unsuccessfully ran for the seat in the 2021 election. Lampiasi has been representing Ward 6 since 2020.
Former Ward 7 councilor Anthony Maffuccio is looking to make a return, as he and Katherine Moody took out papers for that seat. Rhonda Serre, who won the seat two years ago, has indicated she will not run again.
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