By David Fortier
The Board of Education has a new chair after the former chair stepped aside for personal reasons at a special meeting earlier this evening at the Board of Education Auditorium.
“Even though I’m not in the top seat, the priorities of the board remain unchanged,” said former chair Dante Tagariello (D) in a text message. “Serving in leadership is less about the person serving and more about what they want to accomplish.”
He said he was grateful that vice chair of the board Shelby Pons (D) was willing to step up and looked forward to working together for all the students in the Bristol Public School system.
Tagariello was elected chair after the 2023 November municipal elections which were particularly contentious among Republicans after antisemitic posts by an endorsed Republican candidate Jennifer Van Gorder were made public. He did not resign and will continue on as a board member.
Eventually, Van Gorder, who now sits on the board, ran on the Republican line as an uncontested candidate.
Shortly after the municipal election, Tagariello changed his affiliation from a member of the Republican Party to a member of the Democratic Party.
Pons, who was nominated and elected as the new chair at the special meeting, will complete Tagariello’s term as chair, through November of 2025. Pons received a majority of the votes in a race that included three nominees. Aside from Pons, there was Maria Simmons (D) and Kristen Giantonio (R). Pons received five votes, including one from Simmons.
Simmons was elected vice chair over Giantonio. And Jill Fitzsimons-Bula (D) was elected secretary over Van Gorder (R).
In her first act as chair, Pons reshuffled committee assignments, with former chair Tagariello being named to the Finance and Operations and Labor Relations committees, positions formerly held by Pons.
Fitzsimons-Bula was named chair of the Policy Committee, a position formerly held by Pons. Simmons was moved from alternate on Policy Committee to active member. Tagariello was also named an alternate on the Policy Committee, filling Simmons former role as alternate, and Fitzsimmons-Bula was named to fill a seat formerly held by Pons on the School/Family Partnership committee.
In his formal letter to the board, Tagariello wrote, “Months ago, when I agreed to take on this role, my life looked very different.”
“Over the last month, my family has experienced personal loss that has created a seismic shift in my priorities. This seismic shift does not allow me enough free time to lead the board effectively which would result in a significant delegation of duties. This delegation of duties would not be fair to the Board as I feel that the Board deserves one leader.”
He asked not to be appointed to any committees nor elected to another office of leadership and promised to work with the new chair for a smooth transition. He encouraged commissioners to do the same.
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