Concord School Committee Seats Five Members, Delays Chair Vote Until June

CONCORD — May 6, 2026 — Concord School Committee seats five members and delays leadership elections after Thoreau Elementary fire. The committee unanimously seated Andrew Hercheck, Drew Magliozzi, Tracy Morano, Sandy Fischerati, and Michael Williams following Concord Town Meeting, then voted three to zero with two abstentions to defer chair and vice chair elections until the June 3 regional meeting, pending the outcome of the Carlisle school board election June 2. Superintendent Lori Hunter disclosed that a space heater fire in Thoreau Elementary's 1994 wing — the third major incident there in nine years — caused an estimated $1 million in water damage across eight classrooms; four rooms will be demolished to the studs. "We're not putting this system back the way it was," Hunter told the committee, announcing plans to redirect insurance replacement funds toward a permanent fire-suppression solution under evaluation by architectural firm SMMA. The committee also approved fiscal year 2026 budget transfers and gave unanimous second-reading approval to three facility-use policies, while scheduling a June 3 vote on DOJ-mandated anti-Semitism revisions to student harassment and non-discrimination policies.