EASTHAMPTON — When the next group of Easthampton School Committee members are sworn into office in January, they will be tasked with a number of responsibilities including budget discussions and a renewed superintendent search.

Ten candidates, including four current members, are running for six positions on the ballot. Interest in the position comes after several tumultuous months for the committee last spring in its failed search for a permanent superintendent.

With the Nov. 7 election around the corner, at a nonpartisan candidates forum held in the high school cafeteria last Saturday, nine of the 10 candidates met with members of the public to discuss their goals, background and vision for city schools.

Incumbents running for reelection are Megan W. Harvey and Benjamin Hersey, along with Sam Hunter and Laura Scott, who were appointed by the City Council after two members quit amid the spring controversy.

Six newcomers are also running: Linda Markee, Timothy St. John, Eric Guyette, Lynda Broadhurst, Raymond Sliz and Patricia Covalli, who was unable to attend Saturday’s forum.

Saturday’s event, hosted by the Easthampton Democratic Committee and the Easthampton Education Association, kicked off with a brief introduction by each candidate followed by a “speed networking” portion where candidates rotated through tables of smaller groups of community members.

Easthampton Media, which recorded the event, hosted one table and asked candidates a set of questions about their top priorities, skill set and background, opinions on book banning, school resource officers, and knowledge of plans to foster equitable education.

Megan Harvey

Incumbent Megan Harvey said that with friends and family members who are teachers, she has a “deep passion for public education.”

“Every child deserves to be able to go to school, a place where they feel seen and accepted, valued and supported,” she said.

She added that it is “obvious that there were mistakes made in the last superintendent search” and that the renewed search will “need to be done thoughtfully, transparently and with a lot of community input.”

As for the coming budget season, Harvey said she is proud of the work she has done on the finance committee so far, and would be willing to serve as chair of that committee if reelected.

Benjamin R. Hersey

Hersey, another incumbent, has worked in public education for nearly 25 years.

“My life has been dedicated to public education,” Hersey said. “It feels like one of the core ingredients of our society that ties us together.”

Hersey said he “learned a lot last year” about the superintendent search, and is “looking forward to exercising skills around communication and transparency and connecting with more stakeholders,” as well as slowing down the process.

He said in terms of budget talks, he believes it is important to get into schools and talk to teachers.

“As an educator myself, I know about the tireless, endless hard work that goes into the daily experience in school,” he said, adding that he aims to “be there for teachers and be there for families and parents.”

Sam Hunter

The City Council appointed Hunter to fill a vacant seat in the spring, but he previously served on the School Committee a few years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a 7-year-old attending Mountain View, Hunter has worked in public policy, social work and education.

“I’m really excited about continuing to be a part of making sure our schools are safe places for diverse families, families who come from different places and different backgrounds,” said Hunter.

He hopes to hire a consultant to help in the search for the next superintendent. In addition to hiring a new superintendent and facing “a tighter budget” this year, Hunter said a top priority is to “respond thoughtfully to the changing climate of education right now.”

Laura N. Scott

Another City Council-appointed member, Scott was also a member of the committee for a few years beginning in 2013.

“I approach this work pulling from my old background in public education … when I was a public school teacher,” said Scott. “I also try to approach it with a sense of balance.”

“It’s useful to be a School Committee member to hear everyone’s concerns and to be a filter through which that happens,” she added. “But I also think it’s useful to explain to the community how much our focus has to remain on finance and policy.”

Scott said the budget is a “moving target” that reinvents itself each budget season.

“We have to be flexible and innovative to address those challenges,” she said.

Eric R. Guyette

Guyette is running for School Committee with a 16-year background in teaching fourth, fifth and sixth grades.

“My main objective as a teacher is to teach the children not just as students, but as complete people,” Guyette said, adding that in addition to his public education experience, he also volunteers in youth sports.

“I would be looking to help [teachers] serve those children and give them as much space as they need,” said Guyette, adding that he values social emotional learning programs.

Guyette pointed to the budget as his top priority. He said he firmly opposes book banning, and sees student resource officers as a valuable asset to the school system.

Lynda A. Broadhurst

Broadhurst, a longtime Easthampton resident, said she prides herself on her experience working in customer service, which she said has taught her “to learn how to listen to everybody before forming an answer or decision.”

She teaches Sunday school, volunteers in her religious community, and raises money for ALS.

“We need to listen to our community, our students, our parents, the teachers,” said Broadhurst. “I don’t pretend to have all the answers to all the challenges that Easthampton schools are facing, but I do have an eagerness.”

Broadhurst added that she was on the superintendent search committee that hired Allison LeClair, the former superintendent who retired.

Some of her goals include helping disabled students and bringing in vocational curriculum.

Timothy M. St. John

St. John has a background as a behavior management specialist at Brightside for Families and Children, a mental health facility in Holyoke. He currently works as a real estate sales agent and a Medicare Advantage representative.

“I’m really interested … what makes things work and the rules and the guidelines,” St. John said. “I think that would translate really well to a School Committee member.”

In the community, St. John is a baseball and soccer coach, a role in which he said he “spends a lot of time interfacing with the community.”

Asked to name three issues most important to him, St. John listed social emotional learning, community focus, and digital interactions as top areas of focus.

Raymond Sliz

Retired Easthampton Police Chief Sliz is running with a background in education and law enforcement.

Sliz taught at Easthampton High School for 10 years in the social studies department, spent three of those years as chair of the department, and was also the athletics director.

He went on to spend 28 years with the Police Department, and retired as chief of police.

“As the chief, you’re responsible for formulating, implementing and managing the budget, and also very familiar with hiring, firing, disciplinary processes, and so on,” Sliz said, adding that experience will be useful in the search for a new superintendent and budget discussions.

Providing students with necessary resources is important, he said, but “we have to keep in mind while we’re doing that that we need to exercise some fiscal restraint.”

Linda Sue Markee

Markee describes herself as a “person who is willing to really listen and learn.”

As a former teacher and manager of two small businesses, she said, “my dedication, my integrity, my passion will enable me to be a strong advocate.”

“I promise that I will listen to every one of you and bring those ideas back,” she said.

Calling the budget her top priority, she said one of the items she would look into if elected is school choice students.

“There are more students school choicing out of our school district … rather than school choicing in, which would give us revenue,” she said.

Markee saidt two other top goals are addressing the rise of artificial intelligence and reestablishing a sense of trust and openness with the community.