NORTHFIELD — A familiar face at Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee meetings will now be among the members sitting around the table.
Sue O’Reilly-McRae of Warwick is a new member of the School Committee, replacing David Shoemaker, who resigned early last month because of time constraints. Shoemaker would have served on the School Committee for three years in November.
“It was enjoyable and I wish I could commit more to it, but I had prior commitments, and I just couldn’t in good conscience let (the School Committee) lay by the wayside,” Shoemaker said.
O’Reilly-McRae has been a regular presence at School Committee meetings, and is an active member of Pioneer’s School Council, the Community Committee and the newly formed HEART Committee, or the committee for “Honest Education and Retaining Trust.”
Upon learning of Shoemaker’s resignation, Warwick Town Coordinator David Young reached out to O’Reilly-McRae, who stepped up to the position and was sworn in prior to the March 30 meeting.
“I really believe in supporting public education,” O’Reilly-McRae said. “We’ve had a lot of change in leadership (at Pioneer), and as a longtime educator and a parent, I just wanted to bring my skills to the table.”
O’Reilly-McRae has a lengthy history in education, earning a bachelor’s degree in art education from Southeastern Massachusetts University — now the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth — in 1986, a master’s degree in education from UMass Amherst in 1991, and a doctorate in education from American International College in December 2016. For the past 30 years, she has worked at Conway Grammar School, where she is currently a preschool teacher.
“I understand education, I understand the educator evaluation process, I have experience with school unions, I understand heterogeneous grouping, I really value public education and I value community engagement,” O’Reilly-McRae said.
“Sue is going to be fantastic,” Shoemaker said of his successor. “She’s got a lot of experience.”
O’Reilly-McRae has also had two sons attend school in the Pioneer Valley Regional School District, 21-year-old Liam and 17-year-old Dana, which has instilled O’Reilly-McRae with a commitment to the district.
“We have a really wonderful school and I’m proud to represent them and support them,” she said. “My children have had a great experience in this district.”
With her number of commitments, O’Reilly-McRae will be letting go of her position on the Community Committee. In her new role as School Committee member, she hopes to see leadership in the district stabilize and aid the schools in curbing their budgets.
Still, O’Reilly-McRae recognizes there isn’t an easy answer to making the district more financially sustainable.
“There are certain costs that are out of our control, like health care costs, that are hard for the towns and the schools,” she said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
You can reach Shelby Ashline at:
sashline@recorder.com
413-772-0261 ext. 257