Students Quiz School Committee Candidates on Safety, Budget During Haverhill High Debate
Members of Haverhill High School’s government classes had their chance to question candidates running for the city’s three open School Committee seats last week in a debate over topics including safety, infrastructure improvements and creative arts funding. Moderators Sean Lanigan and Rachel Walsh from Tom Jordan’s and Shaun Ashworth’s classes quizzed incumbents Sven A. Amirian, Gail M. Sullivan and Scott Wood Haverhill. Wood Jr., along with challengers Toni Donais and Thomas Grannemann in front of 85 of their peers Wednesday in the high school library as Superintendent Margaret Marotta and Principal Glenn Burns looked on. The highlight of the discussion was a lively back and forth about the importance of fine arts funding, which was deemed a priority by all candidates. Each person on the ballot also agreed school safety for Haverhill High students must be paramount, especially in the wake of the July 29 incident in which a sophomore allegedly brought a gun to campus. While criti