BELCHERTOWN — Retired Air Force Capt. Jeff Charron of State Street Tuesday night was appointed to fill a vacancy on the School Committee created when former member Richard Fritsch abruptly resigned in June.
The final vote was 9-0 in favor of Charron’s appointment at a joint meeting of the Select Board and the the other school boards. Several of the seven other people interviewed received support in three previous rounds of voting.
Charron was one of nine people to apply for the position. The two boards interviewed eight of them because, according to School Committee Chairwoman Donna French, it was determined that the ninth applicant is not a registered voter.
The others who interviewed for the school board were Paula Moran, Joseph Schmidt, Anne Marley, Woody Clift, Linda Sterling, Rebecca Pease and Eric Johnson.
Charron, 42, told the committees that he values “diversity of thought” and that he would bring his experience in leadership development to the work of the school board.
“No one is thinking if everyone is thinking alike,” said Charron, noting that he wants to hear a wide variety of opinions as the town faces important choices relating to education in the coming year.
“The schools are a growth engine for the community,” he said. Decisions the committee makes “can send the schools into an upward spiral or a downward spiral.”
Charron and his wife have four children ranging in age from 4 to 14, and the three oldest are in the town’s school system.
He holds a master of science degree in business management from the University of Phoenix and works as an executive coach and a manager for learning and organizational development at the Yankee Candle Co. in South Deerfield. He also teaches online courses in leadership, organization and management through Philadelphia University. Charron served in the military from 1992 to 2014. and holds a U.S. government top- secret security clearance.
Charron first moved to Belchertown in 2010 to teach in the ROTC program at the University of Massachusetts, but was reassigned to Florida where he retired from the military so his family could move back to Massachusetts.
“We quickly realized how much we missed Belchertown, the schools, the teachers and the entire community,” he wrote in his letter of interest for the position.
Charron said after the meeting that he sees his appointment as “a one-year gig” and is uncertain whether he will run for a full term when his interim appointment expires next May. “We’ll see how this year goes.”
He said he did not run for School Committee last May when Myndi Bogdanovich ran unopposed for reelection because he was unaware that there was an opportunity to seek the office.
Charron said he was “humbled and a little bit terrified” at having been chosen from among eight candidates seeking the seat.
French said after the vote that she is “excited to move forward” with the School Committee back up to full strength.
“It’s been difficult with four members. Everyone is wearing pretty thin.”
Eric Goldscheider can be reached at eric.goldscheider@gmail.com.
