Westford Academy Student Joins Contested School Committee Race

St. Patrick’s Day marked the deadline for candidates in this spring’s town elections and it appears there will only be one contested race for voters.

The expiring seats of Angela Harkness, Margaret Murray and Terence Ryan on the School Committee will be contested by four candidates.

Ryan is joined on the ballot Avery Adams, Christopher Sanders and Pranav Mulpur.

Adams fell short in an attempt to join the School Committee in 2014, volunteering for the Full-Day Kindergarten Citizens’ Advisory Committee.  This will mark the first campaign for Sanders and Mulpur.

Sanders, a stay-at-home dad and 12-year Westford resident, told the Lowell Sun in January that he often volunteers in classrooms and hopes to share his ideas.

Mulpur is currently a Westford Academy senior, has earned a variety of honors ranging from commendation in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program to Third Prize for Best Student Programming at the ACM-NE Video Festival for his work with WestfordCAT.

Finance Committee chairman Mark Kost was the only candidate to return nomination papers for the expiring seat of Selectman Jim Sullivan and Helen Fu was the only candidate to return nomination papers for Joanne Martel’s expiring seat on the Board of Health.

Martel and Kirk Ware took out papers for the Board of Health and Board of Selectmen respectively, but did not submit their paperwork on time according to the Town Clerk’s office.

Library Trustees Marianne Fleckner and Susan Flint and Planning Board Member Dennis Galvin will gain new terms barring unexpected write-in opposition.

Election Day is on May 5.

CORRECTION – 2:35 p.m.  The candidate that did not return papers for the Board of Selectmen’s race was Kirk Ware, not Mark Ware.