School Committee Names New Special Ed Director

     Bourne School Committee last week welcomed Ellen M. Varnerin of Sandwich as the district’s new director of special education and student services.
     Ms. Varnerin, 55, has worked in the education system as an educator and administrator for nearly 30 years.
     She has spent the bulk of her career working on Cape Cod as a school psychologist and special education director in the Barnstable Public School system from 1983 until 2005.
     She is now the director of special education for Weymouth Public Schools.
     She said that she is eager to return to Cape Cod so she can cut down on her commute and spend more time with her friends and family.
     “I’m just very excited to come back to my community,” Ms. Varnerin said.
     She is also ready to tackle the challenges her position will pose.  
     Among them will be meeting the needs of the district’s developmentally challenged students, while working with a lean budget.
     She said that she is used to working with limited funding and is prepared to do so again in the future.
     “Budgetary constraints have been challenges that I have faced as an administrator both in Barnstable and in Weymouth,” she said. “I feel that my experiences in both districts has allowed me to develop the necessary skills to think outside the box and come up with creative ways to restructure existing resources to more effectively and efficiently meet the needs of the students.”  
     In addition to balancing her budget, she is also prepared to build her relationship with the people of Bourne.
     Ms. Varnerin said that her experience as a school psychologist will help her to analyze performance results and build relationships with parents, teachers, and students.  
     She will also bring continuity to the district. For the past six years Ms. Varnerin has been a fellow member of the Lighthouse Directors Group with Bourne’s current director of special education and student services, Lorna C. Ibbitson. As members of the group, the two have met monthly with other administrators to discuss issues surrounding special education.
     “I believe that my association with Lorna will be instrumental in helping me make the transition to Bourne and to understand the climate and culture of the community as well as the challenges of the district.”
     Ms. Ibbitson, who will retire at the end of this school year, said she was confident that Ms. Varnerin would do an admirable job in filling her shoes.
     “She is a wonderful match for this community,” Ms. Ibbitson said.
     Ms. Varnerin’s three-year contract as Bourne’s director of special education begins July 23.