Barbara Lee appointed to Rochester School Committee
The Rochester Select Board hosted a joint meeting with the Old Rochester Regional School Committee. 
Barbara Lee presented why she would be a good fit for the Rochester School Committee position at a Select Board meeting Monday, March 2. Photos by Mari Huglin
David Arancio presented some of his reasons for wanting to be on the school committee temporarily.
The Rochester Select Board hosted a joint meeting with the Old Rochester Regional School Committee.
Barbara Lee presented why she would be a good fit for the Rochester School Committee position at a Select Board meeting Monday, March 2. Photos by Mari Huglin
David Arancio presented some of his reasons for wanting to be on the school committee temporarily.
ROCHESTER — A once-vacant Rochester position on the Old Rochester Regional School Committee has been temporarily filled until town elections this spring.
Barbara Lee was appointed at a joint meeting between the Rochester Select Board and Rochester representatives on the school committee on Monday, March 2.
Lee received four votes of support, while her opponent, David Arancio, received three.
She ran for the Rochester School Committee position last year. She has been a resident of Rochester for around 5 years and is a mother of two students in Old Rochester schools.
She has been on school councils, the parent teacher organization, and has experience with finance and budgets.
Lee said she is familiar with the area schools, teachers and residents. She wants to be a creative problem solver and avoid teacher layoffs.
“We shouldn't be laying off any teachers,” Lee said. “That should be an absolute last resort, if possible, and looking at the different options we have available to us.”
Arancio said he looked to bring consistency and knowledge to the committee through his experience on the Rochester Finance Committee.
“For me it’s about trying to bring some stability to the committee,” Arancio said.
Arancio planned to only fill the temporary position, and not to run for a full term. He would have stepped down after voters appointed a new committee member.
Rochester School Committee member Joshua Trombly said he opposed Arancio’s appointment since it would have been temporary.
“I would like to see someone that's going to be accountable to the voters in May, someone that can have a little continuity going on,” Trombly said. “It just bothers me a bit that [Arancio doesn’t] have any intention of running in May.”
Select Board members Adam Murphy, Paul Ciaburri and Bradford Morse supported Lee’s appointment.
Murphy said Lee almost won the committee spot last year, and she should be appointed now since so many voters wanted her to be on the committee previously.
Murphy offered her some advice before her term begins.
“I was all ears for the first 6 or 8 months, just absorbing like a sponge and figuring out how things work and trying to figure out what I could relate back to the group,” he said.
