The Bangor School Committee chose a new chairperson on Wednesday morning after two recently elected members — including the committee’s first member of color — were sworn onto the seven-person group.
Marwa Hassanien and incumbent committee member Carin Sychterz were both sworn in after they won the two seats up for grabs in last week’s election. Hassanien, who grew up in Oklahoma, is the daughter of Egyptian immigrants and the first Muslim woman on the committee.
After the swearing-in ceremony, the six committee members who attended the meeting unanimously chose Warren Caruso to be the next chairperson. He replaced former Chairperson Susan Hawes, who just left the committee after serving three terms and was elected to the Bangor City Council.
Caruso, 54, has previously served as the group’s chairperson. He was re-elected to the group in 2018 after a yearlong absence from the committee. He had hit the committee’s three-term limit in 2017.
He has two children who have attended Bangor schools and works for Husson University as executive director of the major gifts office and head coach of the men’s basketball team.
Wednesday’s meeting happened shortly after Hawes and three others were sworn onto the City Council and that group chose Councilor Clare Davitt as its next chair.