
Waterville City Clerk Patti Dubois, left, administers the oath of office Monday night to Leah Zeimetz, center, and Taylor Amuso, who are student representatives to the Waterville Board of Education. Both students are juniors at Waterville Senior High School. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel
WATERVILLE — Erin McDermott was elected chair of the Waterville Board of Education Monday night, succeeding Pamela Trinward, who resigned last month after serving on the board for 20 years.
McDermott, 49, lives in Ward 3 and has served on the board for two years. She is a member of the Waterville Public Schools Strategic Planning Committee and has a daughter in eighth grade at Waterville Junior High School.

Erin McDermott is the new chair of the Waterville Board of Education, having been elected to the position Monday night during the board’s first meeting of 2025, held in the media center at Waterville Senior High School. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel
Board member Patricia Helm nominated McDermott for the chair post. She was elected 5-0. Board members Maryanne Bernier and Joseph Schmalzel abstained from voting.
“I’m honored by the nomination,” McDermott said just before the vote. “I think that I would be a good chair, trying to be fair and balanced, including input from students and the community as well. I would be honored if you’d have me as the next chair.”
McDermott works with adults with developmental disabilities and brain injuries and serves as initiatives and implementation manager for Maine’s Office of Aging and Disability Services
After Monday’s meeting, held in the media center at Waterville Senior High School, McDermott said she wants to continue to encourage community members with children in schools to participate on the board. She said she is grateful that the board is starting to have more members who are parents of students.
“The more engaged we all are, the better our students do, I think,” she said.
McDermott said she enjoys working on the Strategic Planning Committee, which was launched last year by the board and coordinated by Superintendent Peter Hallen and Assistant Superintendent Jen Allen to develop a strategic plan for city schools.
McDermott said the committee has held two open forums so far, one for the community and one for school staff members. The panel is scheduled to meet again Wednesday, she said.
McDermott also served on a committee to help seek student representatives to the Board of Education. Hallen introduced two student representatives: Taylor Amuso and Leah Zeimetz, both juniors at the high school.
City Clerk Patti Dubois administered the oath of office to Amuso and Zeimetz, to Helm, who was reelected to the board to represent Ward 1, and new board member Joseph Ferris, who represents Ward 7. Hallen said the board was inducting its first-ever student representatives to the board. Their votes will count as advisory only.
The board elected Spencer Krigbaum as executive secretary, succeeding Helm. Krigbaum has served on the board since 2019; the vote was 7-0.
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