Candidate profile: Mary Morgan

Mar 17, 2019

School Committee incumbent Mary Morgan has been involved in Wareham’s school system for nearly two decades, and this spring she’ll be running unopposed for reelection to her current three-year seat. 

This will be Morgan’s second term on the committee, and she said that she plans to use this time to try and bring more vocational programming to Wareham.

Morgan added that she would also like to create more opportunities for “middle of the road” students in Wareham.

I’d like to see more focus on the child that sort of falls in the middle,” Morgan said. “We have lots of programs for advanced students and students in special ed, but nothing for our other students who don’t fall into either of these categories. They deserve to have the same kind of attention and opportunity that we provide to everyone else.”

Morgan won her current seat on the committee from incumbent Rhonda Veugen back in 2016. 

A Wareham resident of 25 years, Morgan lives in her late grandfather’s house in Onset where she grew up summering.

Though her children have grown and left, Morgan said she remains very attached to the town and wants to make a difference for its families with kids still in the school system.

Morgan started out as a Title 1 special education teacher at Wareham Middle School and moved onto become a reading specialist. She was an early childhood education coordinator for Wareham’s preschool and an out-of-district special education coordinator.

She now works as a special education supervisor in Fall River and teaches classes on the topic at Bridgewater State University.

I truly have the interest of our students in mind and want to see them succeed,” Morgan said. “I want to see them get the tools and resources they need.”

Morgan said she came onto the School Committee in 2016 with a lot of energy, which she admits may have scared some people away.

She’s since dialed back her approach, however, commenting that she now tries to make her statements and comments as pointed as possible.

Morgan said she feels strongly about creating vocational opportunities for Wareham students who are unable to get into Upper Cape because of grades or disciplinary issues.

“Our high school students applying to Upper Cape feel like they’re stuck when they don’t make it in,” Morgan said. “And leaving high school with a skill can sometimes more successful than attending college.”

To achieve this goal, Morgan said she would be looking for foster relationships with local businesses and other Wareham community members that could get students on the right track.

Morgan said she also feels there’s more work to be done with special education intervention in Wareham’s youngest grades.

“It’d be nice to see interventionists and reading specialist like we used to have in the elementary schools,” she said. “We should be catching issues as they arise, not playing catch up.”