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In your opinion, what are two top strengths of the district and two top opportunities for improvement?
Strengths: 1) quality of teachers and staff, 2) spirit of innovation and continual improvement
Opportunities for improvement: 1) refinement of offerings to address demand for specific subjects and levels; 2) expansion of efforts to coordinate the three school districts to streamline logistics and add opportunities for students and families to connect earlier than 9th grade.
What unique perspective would you bring to the L-S school committee?
As a college professor in a STEM field I am continuously exposed to the latest techniques and technologies used by both students and faculty to improve teaching outcomes. This results in a lot more exposure of students to online platforms—a necessity in this day and age, but inevitably gluing more students’ eyes to glowing rectangles instead of fostering hands-on work. The idea of digital balance requires preparing our students to operate professionally using state-of-the-art tech but preserving their real world analog social lives. I do this every semester by designing classes that include real time (not Zoom) group work, live problem sessions, extensive tutoring and office hours, and pencil-on-paper assignments for submission. I am particularly qualified to interface between parents who are concerned about how much time their kids spend on their chromebooks instead of playing or learning outside and teachers who benefit from the efficiency of online learning platforms and who strive to equip students to operate on the cutting edge.
With ongoing budget pressures and nuanced funding arrangements (for example, the shared cost allocation between Lincoln and Sudbury), what approaches would you take to ensure fiscal stability while still investing in educational priorities?
Fundamentally, money spent on education is money well spent. There is talk of declining enrollment, but there are also unusually large class sizes in some K-8 grades that suggest that future funding decisions absolutely require an objective, quantitative, data-driven approach and a granular analysis of every expenditure to make sure that we never sacrifice the quality of the product due to undetected inefficiencies or inaccurate forecasts. If the upcoming guidances are lower than what we want, the committee should find strategic ways to distribute cost savings over multiple years to buffer the effects of any budget shortfalls while investigating alternative funding sources to preserve or advance educational initiatives.
What is your position on consolidation of school districts to form one K-12 district?
No. Cast conformity behind you! The unique personalities and styles of SPS and LPS are to be cherished; logistical gains from formally codifying regular tri-district meetings can deliver value without sacrificing the identities and independence of the individual districts. There is a great moment in Sudbury where students from the four elementary schools unite at Curtis and make new connections. There is another great moment at L-S when the two towns’ students come together. After high school, young adults unite with peers from different backgrounds and learn from each other, be that in college or in a trade apprenticeship. These are the learning opportunities that arise from preserving individuality of our towns and districts.
Given that the district serves both Lincoln and Sudbury—and also includes METCO students—how would you promote equitable representation and decision making for all?
METCO is a success. The L-S Committee should consider launching a subcommittee that meshes with the Racial Climate Community Group (to which the Committee currently has a liaison) and explicitly includes METCO leadership from at least L-S if not all three districts. This is another opportunity for tri-district coordination that could improve the experiences of METCO students.
In light of the sudden changes at the federal Department of Education, how would you plan or prepare for possible changes in federal funding and grants for Lincoln-Sudbury?
…by educating students to be more responsible and informed voters once they turn 18. More immediately, I would consult the L-S Finance Director about modeling the potential ROI of an FTE tasked solely with grant writing and grant administration. This could enable fundraising from novel sources for specific programs and initiatives that exist and would be jeopardized by federal budget cuts or don’t exist and would be back-burnered in the climate of uncertainty.
How should L-S approach policies on gender inclusivity, including pronoun use and accommodations for transgender and gender nonbinary students?
Respecting and accommodating peoples’ gender identities helps everybody and hurts nobody. The wellbeing of our kids depends on this respect. If you, like me, were raised in an environment that mandates binary gender identity, please know that this construct is not supported by either biology or major world religions and cultures going back millennia—this fallacious construct can be unlearned through open-mindedness and compassion. L-S should formally acknowledge the bravery of students who ask for their identities to be acknowledged and valued knowing full well that they do so in a social climate that is going to return dismissal and negativity if not the risk of outright violence.
What is your vision for the district in the next five years?
Weather the budget storm, continue to evolve and expand the offerings and electives, renew the District Agreement and codify both a renewal schedule for the agreement and a set of guidelines for efficient tri-district coordination, and solve the question of digital balance so that we’re sending graduates into the world who are prepared to operate in a future in which AI and machine learning are ubiquitous tools but have been taught to be responsible about their exposure to and dependence on electronic platforms for aspects of life that are meant to be experienced in person.