New Harford school board members sworn in

Dec. 7—Newcomers Denise Perry, Melissa Hahn, Diane Alvarez, Carol Bruce and Wade Sewell were sworn in as members of the Board of Education of Harford County on Monday evening before the board's business meeting.

Returning board member Carol Mueller was also sworn in. Mueller was elected in November after being appointed to the board in 2020.

"They all have a very positive outlook and I am looking forward to working with them," said Superintendent Sean Bulson. "I think we have a good mix of people with a range of talents, and it's nice to have diversity and experience in different backgrounds on the board."

Six candidates — winners Bruce, Sewell and Mueller along with Sharon Jacobs, Stephen Puopolo and Ariane Kelly — were endorsed by the Harford County Education Association, the county teachers' union.

Five candidates — Dennis Barry, Kayla Mariskanish and Tanya Tyo along with winners Hahn and Alvarez — were endorsed by conservative political action group Moms for Liberty.

The Morning Sun

The mix of ideal and personalities on the board better reflects Harford County which should allow the school system to better serve the community, Bulson said.

"This is such a great reflection of what this community is, and they all have different experiences within that" Bulson said. "I think we have a pretty broad range of backgrounds and beliefs, but as long as everyone treats each other civilly, I think we are going to do really good on behalf of the families of the students in this county."

After the board members were sworn in, Mueller was elected as president of the board and Sewell was elected as vice president of the board. Alongside Sewell, Patrice Ricardi was nominated to be vice president, but she declined the nomination.