Please provide a brief biographical background on yourself. What should voters know about you?
My wife Amy and I bought our house in Grafton in 2005. While I am originally from New Jersey, my wife grew up in Grafton. We have two children in the Grafton Public Schools, our daughter Emma is a Junior and our son Ian is in 8th grade.
Why are you running?
I am running for School Committee to bring my 22 years of experience as a public school teacher and administrator to the committee to ensure that our students receive the education they deserve. If we truly want to develop lifelong learners and responsible citizens, per the district’s mission statement, then we must ensure that all students have the necessary skills to be successful in an ever changing world.
In those two decades of work, I have worked in various capacities including: revising curriculum across various subjects and grade levels, developing and implementing new programs, analyzing student learning through various assessment methods, developing district-wide emergency response procedures, and working with various school stakeholders to ensure that student needs were being met in their growth as learners.
I hope to bring all of these different professional experiences to support our staff, and in turn, support the development of our students.
What are the three biggest issues facing Grafton?
Ensuring the our school budget provides the instructional resources, staffing, and the facilities that our school community deserves.
To ensure that ALL students are met where they are as learners with appropriate levels of support, challenge, and skill development in order to prepare our students for an ever changing world.
Permanently closing the learning gaps that still persist two years after the school closure.
If elected, what would you do to address these issues?
As many schools face the loss of any additional COVID funding along with the more “normal” fluctuation in state funding, it is important to focus on listening to school leaders in what their needs to ensure that schools are properly supported. Gaps in budgets should be closed with a focus on these needs, and not on raising taxes or operational overrides.
As a former educator, it was stressed that all students can meet standards and achieve beyond what is expected. While content instruction is a key aspect, schools should also focus on students’ skill development so they can analyze and respond to more complex questions. If elected, I would never advocate or support lowering expectations/grade level standards.
Schools continue to encounter instructional gaps due to the pandemic. These gaps are amplified for those students who traditionally struggle, and for students in more advanced classes. If elected, my focus would be on closing these gaps to ensure students are prepared to move forward each year.
