01907 Summer 2021

SUMMER 2021 | 19
However, the door didn't close completely:
He became a part-time police officer and
jumped over to the fire department. Still, the
idea of being a police officer tugged at him.
So he was off to the Municipal Police
Officer's Academy in Burlington, when he
graduated in a class with 41 other officers
and finally got on the force in 1991, first as
a reserve and as a patrolman. He became a
detective in 2001. For the past eight years, he
has been in the family crimes unit.
While he was making his mark as a
detective, Delano lived another life as well,
helping to craft the town's educational
policies as a member of the School Committee.
He began his tenure on the committee
in 2002, with the goal of making the board
more accessible.
"I would say residents sometimes can
feel as if the School Committee members
are not approachable," Delano says. "I always
tried to make myself available to every
parent and every child — from the lowest to
the highest income.
"It took a lot of energy to make sure
METCO was welcome in the town, and that
we had a good special-education program.
Kids in that situation are already feeling as
if they're behind the eight ball academically.
They have to know they're being educated as
best as they can be."
He left the committee before final resolution
on a new elementary school for the
town that would enable the older schools in
disrepair to close. But Delano remains on
the record as an enthusiastic supporter of
such an endeavor.
"If we could do it, obviously you'd like to
have your kids stay in those neighborhood
schools," he said. "But the elementary schools
in this town are a disgrace. They're in bad
condition, and there are health issues. We had
to give kids half-days last month because of
unusually hot weather. We can't stand by and
let kids be educated in hallways and closets."
In 2014, when this issue came up last,
Delano suggested "taking tours of the
buildings. They were embarrassing. We need
to do better; we have to get our kids in school
buildings that meet 21st century educational
standards. I wish we could build four new
schools, but we can't."
Delano can't help but look at the town
of Saugus — just a few miles away, but
seemingly miles ahead in education. Saugus
not only just completed a new middle-high
school, it refurbished the old Belmonte
Middle School and turned it into a
third-through-fifth elementary school,
designating the Veterans School into a
K-through-2 facility.
"Saugus had the finances and appetite to
do this," Delano said. "In Swampscott, we
have been less than perfect for decades, and
not just with the School Committee. Even
the plan for a new police station only passed
by 27 votes. And it took a decade to get it
done."
However, this past April he decided
he'd had enough, and chose not to run for
reelection.
“I held the position of being on the
School Committee incredibly close to my
heart,” Delano said when he announced he
was stepping down. “I have enjoyed the privilege
of representing the future leaders of our
community, and my decisions were always
based on the best interest of our children and
the fiduciary responsibility to the district.”
Reflecting on his tenure last month, he
said, "I did my part, and I tried to make it a
better community."
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