Holyoke City Council/School Committee Reunion Tour Continues. (via Holyoke Media)

After wading through a relatively short lists of options, a joint session of city councilors and the remainder of the School Committee voted in new faces to fill two vacant ward seats. Well, they were somewhat new to the School Committee anyway.

Over the summer, Ward 1 committee member Gustavo Romero and Ward 4 member Gloria Roca-Cabellero resigned. Per the city charter, a Joint Session of the rump of the School Committee and the City Council join forces to vote on replacements. The two bodies did this dance earlier this year to fill an at-large Committee seat. On Tuesday, they chose former Ward 1 City Councilor Gladys Lebron-Martinez and Orlando Isaza for the Ward 1 and 4 Committees seats, respectively.

Nine years after the state took over the public schools, Holyoke is clawing its way to local control. State receivership featured prominently in the 2021 mayor’s race. This year the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education finally laid out Holyoke’s path back to local control.

Consequently, now is not the best time to see a third of School Committee resign, whatever the reasons. The Joint Session has clearly put a premium on experience. In June, it selected once and now-again At-large School Committee member Devin Sheehan to fill Erin Brunelle’s seat.

The Ward 4 seat had nominally become vacant first and so the Joint Session addressed it first. Besides Isaza, Dorothea MacNeil was in the running for that seat.

Ward 4’s new School Committee member Orlando Isaza. (via Holyoke Media)

“I am here because I love Holyoke and I would like to serve in any position,” Isaza told the Joint Session.  “This being the opportunity at this time, I am glad to present my name for your consideration.”

During his presentation, he described his activism in the city over the years. He noted he had served on several city boards, including on the Housing Authority as an appointee of then-Mayor Martin Dunn. It was a move, Isaza characterized as “extraordinarily courageous” move for the time.

Ward 7 School Committee member Ellie Wilson asked whether Isaza would run for reelection and whether he would be able to make all of the school board meetings. He said he would try to seek a full term in 2025, when the ward seats of the Committee will be up for reelection. As for the busy meeting schedule, he indicated he was familiar with the responsibilities and foresaw no difficulty.

Isaza was appointed with 13 while eight went Dorthea MacNeil. There were no apparent absences and Mayor Joshua Garcia voting. The City Clerk immediately swore him in and he was able to participate in the Ward 1 appointment.

In addition to Lebron-Martinez, Victor Machado and Maribel Ortiz applied for the Ward 1 seat.

Like Sheehan earlier this year, the School Committee would be something of a homecoming for Lebron-Martinez. She had won a seat on the panel back in 2003 before moving on to the City Council in 2012. She retired from the Council in 2021.

Lebron-Martinez laid out her work in the community as well. She said during her career in various community services, such as serving job-seekers at MassHire, she gained the trust of residents. They shared other concerns with her. Some eventually encouraged her to run for School Committee.

Lebron-Martinez is (Ward) number 1 again. (via Holyoke Media)

She added that her children and her grandchildren are products of city schools.

“My investment is about the generations that are here, the generations who have left us and that we continue to leave children behind,” she said.

On those left behind, she observed it is not necessarily the city forgetting them, she clarified. She pointed to the state as well, and the importance of ending receivership.

Responding to Wilson’s questions, Lebron-Martinez also said she would seek a full term next year. As for the meeting schedule, Lebron-Martinez said she would have no trouble rearranging her work schedule around Committee meetings.

Lebron-Martinez received 12 votes, which was sufficient for appointment. Nine votes went to Machado and one vote went to Ortiz.

As with Isaza, Lebron-Martinez took the oath after the vote right at the Joint Session. With that, the School Committee was complete once more.