Please provide a brief biographical background on yourself. What should voters know about you?
A Massachusetts native and lifelong resident, I moved to Northborough in 2004 with my wife, Danielle. Like many other families, the school district’s reputation played a big part in our decision. In Northborough, we found both a welcoming community and highly rated schools. Simply put, the town “checked all the boxes” for a young couple making our way in the world. 18 years later, we still love the town and are raising two boys, an eighth grader at Melican, and a sophomore at Algonquin. During my time in town, I have sat on the Lincoln Street School Council, been an active member of the Northborough Baseball and Softball Association Board, and volunteered as a coach for several Little League and youth basketball teams. Currently employed as an IT Director, over the past twenty years I have also worked in Finance and Consulting. I am a graduate of the St. Sebastian’s School, hold a BA from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from Northeastern University.
Why are you running?
The past two years have been difficult for everyone. For our children and teachers, they are faced with making up for lost time. For parents, there is a need for more engagement with the administration. In talking with other parents in Northborough, there is frustration around both the processes in place to have their voices heard by the school committee and in getting information from the administration. I am running to help to change this dynamic. I want to engage with parents and ensure that their concerns have a platform. I also want to ensure that the administration is accountable to the parents and residents. The School Committee should be the conduit for getting information from the administration to parents AND from the parents to the administration. The latter is not working as it should.
What specific skills/experience/expertise would you bring to your role?
My professional career has been spent in consulting, finance, and information technology. I have also spent time in Northborough on the Lincoln Street School Council and on the Northborough Baseball and Softball Board. In each of these positions, I have been tasked with building relationships, managing projects, and troubleshooting issues. Given my background in financial modeling, particularly with how it relates to budgets, I am hoping to develop a way to make the budget process more transparent while finding a vehicle to publish actual results against the budget throughout the year. It is important to understand not only how the budget is intended to be spent, but also how the budgeted dollars are actually being spent.
What do you see as the three issues facing Northborough/Southborough schools?
Post Pandemic issues are the most critical issues facing our students, particularly making up for lost time academically, and ensuring that we can also address any mental health issues (particularly depression and anxiety) that have arisen. The third issue I see is that many parents and taxpayers feel like they do not have a voice in many of the decisions being made by the school committee and the administration.
How do you plan to address the issues identified facing Northborough/Southborough schools?
Bringing different points-of-view into the discussions related to the issues our schools are facing is critical. First, we need to address the policies and avenues in which parents’ voices can be heard. Second, a healthy school committee makeup is one that includes diversity of thought. There should be turnover on our boards on a regular basis. One or two terms should be more than enough for any one member. Regardless of one’s desire to serve the community, being in the same position for multiple terms, which in some cases equate to decades of service, can lead to complacency and the formation of echo chambers. New members with different backgrounds cycling onto the committee with a commitment to listening to and serving the community is critical.
How do you think schools should address potential learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic?
First, we need to measure just how far behind our students are as it relates to the curriculum in which they were engaged during remote and hybrid learning. Realizing that not everything will be able to be addressed, we need to build consensus on the areas of focus (e.g. Math, English, Science, etc.). With this information, a training plan that utilizes school resources and teacher professional development can be implemented.
Schools have identified mental health as a topic of concern especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. How should the Northborough/Southborough schools address this issue?
This can be addressed in a variety of ways. As somebody who has dealt with depression and anxiety throughout my life, I am a strong advocate for eliminating the stigma associated with it. I am also aware of how it can impact all aspects of our students’ lives. Empowering our teachers with education on how to recognize these signs is critical so that dialogue can be opened with parents and if needed, mental health professionals. We also have an opportunity via physical education to introduce things like yoga and mindfulness-based meditation. In doing this, we can easily give our students tried and true tools to help them deal with mental health issues that also fit the mission of physical education.
