Longtime Braintree Resident Looks to Bring Fresh Take to School Committee

This election marks the first foray into local governance for Cyril Chafe, a 1980 Braintree High School graduate and union carpenter.

"It was time to give back," said Chafe, a candidate for a four-year School Committee seat.

Chafe and incumbent David Ringius, Jr. are the only candidates on the ballot Nov. 5 for three, four-year seats on the committee.

George Kokoros, Steven Quigley and Andrew McInnis have publicly declared their intent to run a write-in campaign for the third seat.

Kate Naughton, who previously applied to temporarily fill the seat left vacant by Joe Zarrella's resignation earlier this year, is the only nominated candidate for a two-year School Committee seat.

Chafe and his wife Carol, an administrative assistant for the insurance fraud division of Arbella Insurance, live in Braintree with their son Nicholas, who attends Hollis School.

Overcrowding in the schools and full-day kindergarten are two area Chafe mentioned that he may focus on starting next year, but by and large he said the school system is doing well and he would like to help contribute to that.

"There was nothing that jumped out at me that needs fixing," he said.