Two weeks after saying he was not running for re-election, Barrington School Committee Chairman Patrick McCrann filed papers to run for re-election.

McCrann, who has served on the School Committee for six years, said his change of heart was based on the lack of candidates as the filing deadline approached. 

“No real magic here. With 24 hours to go to the deadline, only one person had filed papers. I was concerned that ‘anyone who filled the form’ would be on the ballot, which could be yet another uncontested election — our educational community loses in that scenario,” McCrann wrote to the Barrington Times. 

“A diversity of new voices is critical if our school leadership is to evolve alongside the people we serve (as it is intended to).”

When the filing deadline arrived, six Barrington residents had officially filed their declaration papers: McCrann, Karen Rasnick, and Elizabeth Singh are running as Independents, while Megan Douglas (an incumbent), Tim McNamara and Lisa Nelson are running as Democrats.

McCrann wrote that he is looking forward to meeting the other candidates, but was not sure whether the larger field of candidates would lead him to pull out from a re-election bid. 

“I am relieved there are several candidates for the voters to choose between, but then again not all candidates chosen by a local party are created equal. I want to connect with the candidates before making a decision,” McCrann wrote.