Five spots were available on the Bristol Warren Regional District School Committee at the November 2024 Election and with just five persons following the proper campaign procedures in each of the towns the same quintet won their respective seats uncontested.

That included both of the open spots representing Warren on the board as incumbent Nicky Piper and newcomer Christine Barlow will sit in two of the three seats for the town on the nine-person body. The third Warren member, Kyle Jackson, was not up for re-election this cycle.

Barlow was the top vote-getter of the two with a total of 3,295 or 51.8%. Piper received 2,952 or 46.4%. Piper is the current chairperson of the body. Her two-year stint in the position, which coincides with each election cycle, is coming to a close. Upon certification of the results by the Rhode Island State Board of Elections, the gavel moves into the hand of a Bristol member, one of whom, Adam McGovern, served as vice chair with Piper. A Warren member will likewise assume the vice role for the next two years.

"Serving on the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee for the last four years has been a huge honor, and I am ready to roll up my sleeves to serve again," Piper said at the end of Election Night, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

"I'm looking forward to supporting the new chair in building a cohesive committee with many new members," she continued. "We have a lot to do, including complete the school construction projects on time and on budget, planning for a difficult budget cycle as we lose funding on multiple fronts and pushing for improved student outcomes and experiences for all students. And I cannot wait to get started."

Piper and Jackson welcome Barlow into the Warren delegation in the stead of Tara Thibaudeau. Thibaudeau, elected in 2020 along with Piper in a four-person race for the same two seats at the time, opted not to seek a second, four-year term on the committee.

Of her new peer, Piper said of Barlow, "Over the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with Christine, and the new Bristol members, and feel confident the capacity to serve our students and staff will only grow by their addition to the committee."

For Barlow, an attorney with an expertise in educational law and the mother of two Hugh Cole Elementary School students, this is her first official foray into electoral politics.

"I'm really excited to get to work and to just be a good parent voice for warren and the people at Hugh Cole on the Committee," Barlow said after the election results. "I've have two girls who go there, in third grade and fifth grade. They've had great teachers, great support there and I think it's important people who actually see what's going on inside of the building are represented on the School Committee."

Barlow expects there to a feeling out process while she also leans on her skills as a lawyer.

"I've never served in a public capacity before, so I will be learning what the role is all about," she added. "I'm sort of a person who likes to look closely at things. I'm someone who likes to review things, do research and get feedback on things, so I might be someone who asks a lot of questions of teachers and administrators. I hope to be an advocate for parents to have their questions answered."

The three seats representing Bristol followed the same pattern. Glenn Donovan, Megan Ferreira and Margaret Richards
ran unopposed this time around and join town incumbents Jessica Almeida, Adam McGovern and Carly Reich on the committee.

“I was sort of hesitant to get into actually running for office,” said Donovan, a father of three students in the district, adding that as a result of the lack of candidates he got off a little easy in that regard. “I just thought it was worthwhile to put my name out there and try to be someone that would be good and easy to work with.”

Ferreira has two elementary school-aged children in the district, including one with a disability. She describes herself as a "huge" advocate for her children, mentioning as well that personal situations she dealt with as a parent of a Special Needs child led her want to be part of the school committee.

Richards moved to Bristol five years ago, when her children were toddlers. All are now enrolled at Colt Andrews Elementary School. “Coming to a new community, I always wanted to find out how I can be part of the community,” Richards said, adding that her background in education, where she has a master’s degree in educational policy, was a logical point to participate.

— With reports from East Bay Media Group reporter Christian Silvia.