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To the friends, neighbors, and colleagues who signed my nomination papers and wished me well in pursuit of serving on the Sudbury School Committee I say thank you for your encouragement and especially for your participation in this most basic democratic process.
I stepped up to offer my time and talents when I saw that no community member had come forward to run to serve on the committee which oversees the nurturing and education of our students and manages our community’s largest cost center. Now three others are seeking to serve. This I celebrate – active civic engagement; the passion to do the work of this or any other committee in Town.
I have now decided not to seek a position on the Sudbury School Committee. I applaud the candidates who are going forward and I will follow their campaigns eagerly to hear about their positions on the issues and their visions for Sudbury Schools.
As a long-time observer of the School Committee, I have watched its processes and operations move in a concerning direction in recent years. Committee members need to appreciate better the full scope of the mandate and parameters of their roles.
Among School Committee Operating Protocols is this statement:
The School Committee will exercise leadership in vision, planning, policy making, budget, communication, and advocacy on behalf of the students and District.
The School Committee cannot fulfill these functions when interpretation of Open Government rules becomes a stumbling block. Progress on important issues has been impeded by kerfuffles over Open Government regs – arriving at excessively restrictive procedures that hamper robust dialog and creative solutions. Open Government rules are in place to ensure decisions are made in public view, not to constrain agenda development, open discussion, and community input.
The Sudbury School Committee must always address critical issues and put student needs as their first criteria. Our students, families, taxpayers and educators deserve nothing less.
- Are SPS’s commitments to welcoming and inclusion the true experience of ALL our students, or are some students othered and excluded in ways we are missing? How can we create policies and teaching that will do better on this? How can we truly eradicate stigma and assertively cultivate respect for all students?
- Are students who master their work provided academically challenging curricula to ensure they reach their full potential?
- How can we ensure that students with documented need for services do not languish, waiting as their families struggle with the system?
- How will we budget to reverse the troubling trend of increasing class sizes which exceed the School Committee’s official guidance?
- How can Sudbury Schools help expand contractual after school care to serve the students whose needs remain unmet?
- How shall we secure discipline, efficiency, and stability in our operating and capital budgets? Can we commit to never spending one-time funds on operations? Will we never again ask for an override amount that is known to fall short of the needs presented by the administration, resulting in the request for further funds just months later? Can we use this calendar year to improve upon the Combined Facilities Director MOA by collaborating with the Town as specified in the agreement?
The School Committee Operating Protocols specifically welcome the community’s input by offering participation in Public Comment; yet during this school year nine in-person-only meetings have occurred, and these have not provided a remote participation option for comment. This excludes those of us who cannot attend in-person due to disability, caregiver obligations, or any other reason. This needs to change as soon as possible.
These are just some examples of issues which are before the dedicated, hard-working members of the Sudbury School Committee, those presently sitting and those who will join them. I am grateful to them for their service and I am glad to live in a community where so many step up and pitch in.
Kay Bell, Sudbury