By Carol Britton Meyer

A school committee vacancy and three openings on the Hull Community Housing Trust were filled during the select board’s meeting Wednesday night.

In a joint select board and school committee meeting, Aleeza Hagerty – an active community and school volunteer – was appointed to fill the seat formerly held by Regan Yakubian, who resigned in August to apply for a nursing job within the school district.

Hagerty, one of six applicants, will serve in this position until the regular 2026 town election.

The other applicants were Sheila DeRensis – who was not present for the interviews – Susan Engelkemeyer, Jennifer Gonzalez, Robert Insoft, and Ernest Minelli IV, a former school committee member.

Click here for the letters of interest and backgrounds of each applicant

School Committee Chair Kyle Conley prefaced the interviews with remarks made in the “context of where we are at the start of the school year. I’m incredibly proud of our students, staff, teachers, and administrators,” she said.

Conley also noted that Hull Public Schools students continue to excel academically, “outperforming the state averages [on test scores] … within a safe and welcoming environment. Our students are also continually recognized by outside organizations as incredibly respectful and kind.”

Conley also noted that committee members had an opportunity to speak to each of the applicants prior to the public interviews “to vet their capacity to take on this commitment, their qualifications” and the reason they were seeking the position.

She went on to say that a big part of the school committee’s work is supporting the efforts of Superintendent of Schools Michael Jette, now in his second year, including the rolling out of his five-year draft strategic plan and his priorities to the school committee this week.

“A lot of the committee’s work got paused when we lost a school committee member,” Conley said. “We’re really excited to have someone in place to get the ball rolling and to move quickly for the sake of the students.”

Hagerty, a Hull resident for 12 years, has a long volunteer history – from veterans’ organizations to youth sports to the Hull Public Schools – and has a teaching background.

She also has a real estate business in town.

“I’m hearing a lot of questions about low student enrollment and how we can attract families to Hull with housing being so expensive,” Hagerty said. “The new structures being built here are not intended for families. We could hopefully address this issue to attract more families to Hull.”

In volunteering for the school district, Haggerty has already shared her ideas about ways to improve the HPS curriculum with school administrators and thinks relationship building is important.

“I could hit the ground running,” she said in her interview.

Hagerty said she is an advocate for finding creative ways to provide extracurricular programs that are not as competitive for students who don’t wish to play on an organized sports team, for instance.

After Hagerty was appointed, Conley thanked all of the applicants for “putting their hats into the ring. That takes a lot of courage.”

Both boards acknowledged that all six candidates had good qualifications. “With six candidates for one seat, I hope the other applicants will consider serving on other town boards,” select board Chair Irwin Nesoff said.

The vote for Hagerty was seven of the eight votes – four from the school committee, and four from the select board (Greg Grey was not in attendance).

Before the vote, Conley expressed support for Insoft, a pediatrician who she said would “bring complementary skills to the table, with a focus on students’ health and wellness.”

Housing Trust seats filled

Michelle Cox, Joe Gibbons, and Robert Pezzini – who sits on the affordable housing committee – were appointed to fill the three at-large seats on the Hull Community Housing Trust. Marlene Earl, who also expressed interest in being appointed, was not present at the meeting.

The housing trust is dedicated to receiving and managing funds and resources to increase and preserve affordable housing. The trustees will play a crucial role in creating and preserving affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households through providing financial support for development projects, rehabilitating existing housing, and offering programs to assist homebuyers and renters.

Cox, who is a real estate agent, believes that the affordable housing issue is important and remarked at the high cost of housing in town.

Gibbons, who sits of the Friends of the Carousel board and works on residential construction projects, desired a seat on the trust “to help ensure the fund is managed responsibly to benefit everyone in Hull.”

Pezzini, who said he has spent his entire career in the affordable housing field, said he would like to help the trust “come up with a plan that meets the town’s needs and is financeable and attractive.”

Fellow select board members also appointed Nesoff to represent them on the trust.

Affordable Housing Committee member Cyndi Koebert said trust members “will set the agenda and will learn from each other. If you have the passion and interest, I think this [effort] will be very successful.”

AHC Chair Kate Barclay called those appointed that night “a good mix of people for the best interests of Hull.”

Nesoff commended the AHC for its “incredible” work to get a vote on creating the trust on this year’s town meeting agenda and the vote of support that resulted.

“It’s great to see it coming to fruition,” he said.

A replay of the interviews will be available on demand on Hull Community Television’s website, www.hulltv.net.

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