Sears chosen to fill Ward 5 seat on school board

By DANIEL KITTREDGE
Posted 2/5/20

By DANIEL KITTREDGE The city's School Committee is once again at full strength. On a 5-0 vote, the committee on Jan. 29 approved the appointment of David Alden Sears to fill the Ward 5 seat left vacant by Janice Ruggieri's resignation in November. Sears

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Sears chosen to fill Ward 5 seat on school board

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The city’s School Committee is once again at full strength.

On a 5-0 vote, the committee on Jan. 29 approved the appointment of David Alden Sears to fill the Ward 5 seat left vacant by Janice Ruggieri’s resignation in November. Sears was sworn in and took his seat immediately following the vote.

Sears, 23, is a 2014 of graduate of Cranston High School West. He attended the Community College of Rhode Island and is currently studying at Rhode Island College.

He previously served as a page for the Rhode Island Senate, a legislative aide in the office of Gov. Gina Raimondo and a field organizer for the Rhode Island Democratic Party. He presently works as an account manager for East Coast Beverage in Warwick.

“As the grandson of Janice Pilibosian, a Cranston Public School teacher for decades, I take students’ and teachers’ rights very seriously, and I have been committed to fighting for warm, safe, dry schools that serve as beacons of academic excellence in Rhode Island,” he told committee members before the vote.

He added: “From speaking before the School Committee regarding the condition of classrooms and outdated textbooks at just 14 years old, to being a young voice against the proposed Mayoral Academy in 2011, I have been an advocate and friend to Cranston students and educators for almost a decade.”

The process that led to Sears’ appointment mirrored the one used to fill the Ward 2 seat following Stephanie Culhane’s resignation last year. In both cases, since the resignation occurred more than six months after the most recent election, it was found that the committee had the authority to fill the position.

The committee in September appointed Kristen Haroain to fill the remainder of Culhane’s term, selecting her from a field of multiple applicants. The process in the Ward 2 case included statements from the candidates and questions from committee members before nominations and votes.

Sears was the sole candidate to appear before the committee for the Ward 5 seat. Dan Wall, the committee’s chairman and Ward 6 representative, said one other candidate had expressed interest in the seat before withdrawing from the process.

Ward 1 representative Sara Tindall-Woodman was absent from the Jan. 29 meeting.

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