I went from failing nearly every class in middle school to graduating magna cum laude with a computer science degree from UMass Lowell. That turnaround was made possible by the compassion, support, and mentorship I received from dedicated teachers and staff. That has had a deep impact on who I am, and it’s a perspective I believe is valuable to bring to the School Committee, which is why I am running. 

I’ve been talking to voters around town on the campaign trail. One gathering that moved me was the Acton-Boxborough Campus Walk in Supporting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Supporting mental health initiatives on campus and providing our students with the resources and care they need to be well and live happy, fulfilling lives is deeply important to me.

I believe it is the responsibility of a community to provide a safe and accepting space for everyone who calls it home. In Acton, our schools are a vital pillar that makes us who we are. We must do everything we can to remain inclusive, continue supporting academic excellence, and helping those who are having a hard time with schoolwork achieve great things and be their best selves.

Given the national environment where the concept of public education itself is under attack, I believe what goes on in local school committees is more critical than ever. We have worked too hard for too long to go backwards on making sure our schools are as welcoming and belonging a place for our students as possible. I would be honored to serve Acton in this role, and humbly ask for one of your two votes.

Because of the override passing last year with the dedicated work of advocates such as myself and others with Together For Acton, we were able to reduce the damage in our schools from what would have been a catastrophic 80 staffing cuts to 20. Speaking out at Town Meeting and getting the word out was crucial to this success, and I believe shows us a model of how we can engage constructively and proactively with our community going forward.

Frankly, the state legislature needs to step up and do much more. We need to collectively organize and pressure the legislature to reform the egregiously insufficient funding model they use to fund schools across the state. I attended a state budget hearing at UMass Amherst on March 24th where hundreds of educators and students were out protesting the state’s inaction. I have seen up close the dedicated work School Committee members are doing to advocate to legislators to advance the change that we need. We cannot let up on that, and as your School Committee member, I will help lead those efforts.

I am not holding my breath for overnight funding reform on the state level. That is going to take dedicated effort and time. While we are advocating for that, we need to engage with our communities on how we will restructure the school district with our existing resources, given that our schools are experiencing the following:

(A) The student enrollment population is declining, and is projected to continue doing so. 

(B) While our educators are doing a fantastic job given the strained resources provided, we are still struggling with meeting the rising needs of our students -- particularly those with special needs and English language learners, which require more specialized attention and care than in previous times. 

(C) The way we allocate our existing resources needs to adapt to this reality, so that we can all do what’s best for our students, teachers, staff members, parents, and families.

This trajectory of staffing cuts every year is simply not sustainable. Restructuring our schools -- in terms of where staff will work and how our buildings will be utilized -- will be a community led effort. I believe we can and must handle this discussion with grace, compassion, and clarity on our mission: serving the needs of our students as effectively as possible. Maintaining a clear and open channel with the community and our educators will be critical to this process.

Taking a look at restructuring which grades go where across our school buildings is one option I believe we should seriously consider, and every use of our buildings should be  reviewed and justified to ensure we’re utilizing our existing resources effectively. In addition, making sure we are utilizing aligned scheduling across elementary schools for more efficient scheduling of multilingual services can better meet demand for where services are needed most across the district.

Longer term, I hope we can work to expand vocational programs at AB High School so that families don’t feel like they have to send their kids all the way to Minuteman to get a more hands-on vocational training that’s more effective for some students than the traditional classroom model. Meeting the needs of our students here in our schools instead of sending them out of district whenever possible is a responsibility we share. When making the serious decision to send a student out of district, we must be able to clearly and concretely communicate what interventions have been tried and what needs remain unmet to justify those decisions.

We simply cannot keep cutting staff to reach financial stability while also meeting our current students’ needs. As your School Committee member, I will do everything I can to ensure we retain staff, advocate for funding reform at the state level, and guide this restructuring process to be as thoughtful, deliberate, and clear as possible with the community. I encourage all members of the ABEA to engage with this ongoing process with the School Committee earlier than later. My door will always be open to you.

Educators deserve to live comfortably and be paid well for the work being done to serve our students. Simply serving praise to educators is not enough. Our teachers deserve higher wages and more resources. I think it’s stupid that Kindergarten teachers make less money than people who peddle crypto. Teachers provide value to the world. We can and we must all work towards building a society where public education is given as robust funding as possible.

As we’re entering contract negotiations, we need to (1) understand that staff deserve to have the resources and pay they need to do their jobs well, and (2) be honest and open throughout the entire process about the constraints we’re working with given the lack of state and federal support. This process will work best when we are working collaboratively within our communities and engaging them in the conversation. That way, the initiatives we decide on will have the collective buy-in of our towns. Our educators deserve strong allies on the School Committee, and I will be one.