ACCOMPLISHMENTS ON THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE

I want to start by saying that I have had the responsibility and privilege to serve on the School Committee responding to everything from a once-in-a-lifetime crisis to the "regular" challenges and opportunities of developing a new district plan.

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I have shown that I can bring people together with various points of view and data considerations, and come up with consensus or other ways to move forward. For example, as chair of the building & grounds subcommittee, I listened to our community members to helped put together the district’s COVID-19 health & safety manual, which enabled us to bring our youngest and most-at-risk students back to the classrooms safely earlier than many other districts. The manual served as a model for other school committees in and outside the state.  Similarly, during the development of the new district plan, I shared my experience on how to set measurable goals that helped us arrive at a dashboard that will provide insights on how well or not we are meeting our objectives.

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At the same time that the committee has overall worked well together over the last four years, I have endeavored to be an independent thinker by respectfully but forcefully voicing different views to the other members when necessary.  For example, I repeatedly stated my concern and frustration about not following through with a national superintendent search during our last hiring.  While at the same time supporting our new Superintendent once they were hired. Similarly, I shared my understanding that the school committee overstepped its authority by making decisions that were under the purview of public health agencies during the emergency period of the pandemic.

 

Lastly, I have used my professional experience to ensure long-term considerations are fully incorporated in the School Committee’s decision making. For example, as co-chair of the budget subcommittee during the last two years, I facilitated the sharing of information between the administration and the school committee members, as well as the response to community concerns.  This resulted in the school committee reaching consensus on adjustments to the budget that lead to its unanimous approval.  Similarly, while past budget discussions had focused on new initiatives, my ongoing requests that we also discuss areas that should be changed or discontinued, have started to lead to discussions of how to adapt and course-correct based on the monitoring and evaluation of our programs.