Incumbent and newcomer race for Marion seat on Old Rochester School Committee

MARION — Two contenders are racing for a spot on the Old Rochester Regional School Committee ahead of Marion town elections.

Incumbent Margaret McSweeny and Katharine McAuley are running to represent Marion on the school committee ahead of the Friday, May 15 election.

McSweeney has been on the committee since 2020. She said her experience working at Our Sisters’ School, a tuition-free school for low-income girls in New Bedford, originally prompted her to run. 

She said she saw the murder of George Floyd bring attention to systemic racial issues, and believed she could bring an important perspective to the committee through her experience working with people of color.

“Six years later, here we are, and the work does not stop,” McSweeny said. “There's still lots to do, and I want to show up and support the administration and the schools as best I can.”

A key focus of McSweeny’s time on the school committee has been heading the policy subcommittee. She said policies protect committee members, students and staff, and is vital to the committee’s work. 

She is also the vice-chair of the Tri-Town Education Foundation fund, which serves the district by distributing grants to educators.

As a school committee member, McSweeny said she wants to continue supporting the district’s administration during challenging times. 

“We have an incredible central office team that works tirelessly to support the district, and we've come up against a lot of hurdles in the last six years,” she said, listing budget constraints and a recent deficit in the district’s health insurance funding.

McAuley has several children who attend Old Rochester district schools, and said she is running to bring more parent representation to the school committee.

She also brings an education background as a teacher at Falmouth High School with a doctorate in educational leadership from Liberty University. She said she wants to share the combination of her experience and parental investment with the district.

“My biggest motivation to run was that I have a vested interest in the school system, namely my children,” McAuley said. 

She said this is an “unprecedented time in education” with the rise of artificial intelligence, rampant phone use in schools and increasing special education needs. 

With her experience working in a school, she said she has first-hand experience with these issues and is prepared to help the school committee navigate them. 

McAuley and her family moved to Marion in 2020, and she said she’s eager to give back to the community she has quickly grown to love. 

“I have substantial background knowledge for this position, and I think coupled with the passion, because it's my children, it ends up being this perfect storm of credentials for a position like this,” she said.