Joint board appoints Jen James to fill Lincoln School Committee vacancy

LINCOLN — August 12, 2021 — Lincoln fills School Committee vacancy with Jen James as Board of Health reimposes mask mandate. The joint Select Board and School Committee voted 5-0 with two abstentions Thursday to appoint James, a former committee member and current IDEA and LAG volunteer, to the seat vacated by Tringy Nazo, choosing her from a five-candidate field. School Committee member Adam Hogue and Select Board member James Craig abstained; Hogue argued for "new blood" and pushed Dr. Chris Pace, while METCO Representative Kim Mack said the district needs someone who can "hit the ground running" on the equity audit. James told the body she will run for the full three-year term in March: "I'm in it for the long haul." Town Administrator Tim Higgins then reported the Board of Health had voted Aug. 11 to impose a town-wide indoor mask mandate effective Aug. 20 — modeled on Belmont's — after Public Health Nurse Trish McGeehan reported 10 new cases in a week, seven of them breakthroughs.