The Town of Wellesley depends on the active participation of its citizens in governance of the Town. Wellesley has 11 Boards and Committees on the ballot at the Annual Town election each year in March. The 2018 election will be held on March 6.
We invited the three candidates for the two open positions on the School Committee to answer a few questions about their qualifications and their priorities for the Town of Wellesley. Here’s what they told us:
Ron Alexander, SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The Swellesley Report: What is your background and what qualifies you for this position?
Ron Alexander: I am an 18 year resident of Wellesley and proud parent of 3 children, 2 who have completed their journey through the Wellesley Public Schools. I have a wealth of experience with the Wellesley school system from the perspective of a parent and a taxpayer, and I have witnessed the changes that have occurred over the past 18 years in the quality of education and the cost to Wellesley taxpayers. I also have much experience with the history and operation of the School Committee as an observer and active public participant in the process, and I have seen what works and what does not work with the School Committee.
SW: If elected, what do you hope to accomplish on the School Committee?
Alexander: Over the past several years, the School Committee has become an insular body, closed off from the people it was elected to represent. It has instituted a Citizens Speak policy that prevents dialog. It constantly fights requests for public information. It has violated both Open Meeting Law and Public Records Law dozens of times. It does not respond to questions, nor does it answer phone calls or emails. Our public bodies should be above reproach, but somehow the School Committee has gotten the idea that it is above the law. I will do everything I can to restore the rule of law to the School Committee and return it to serving the community that it is supposed to represent, rather than the entrenched bureaucracy that has become its master.
SW: What is your hot-button issue?
Alexander: Transparency, Transparency, Transparency. The School Committee must stop withholding public information, must stop convening illegal executive sessions, and must stop engaging in crony politics that are loaded to the gills with Conflict of Interest, such as Sharon Gray and Matt Kelley being members of both the School Committee and the HHU/SBC committees. I would also vote to scuttle the current HHU/SBC plan that involves losing the Hardy School and costing the Town millions of dollars in unnecessary expenses for “swing space”, and which flies in the face of all of the evidence of new housing developments in the Hardy neighborhoods.
LINDA CHOW — SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The Swellesley Report: What is your background?
Chow: I am a 24-year resident of Wellesley with two sons who benefited greatly from a WPS education; BA (Chemistry and Chinese Studies), Wellesley College; MBA, Harvard University; Early career in technology: ~20 years at Cambridge Technology Partners in its various forms (from startup to publicly-traded company later acquired by Novell).
In last 10+ years, my focus shifted to education, leadership and youth development: Work as part-time contractor for Harvard Business Publishing to design and develop Leadership Development curriculum; Previously served on: WMS PTO (Co-VP and Co-Pres); Wellesley Education Foundation (Co-VP; Co-Pres. 4 out of 6 years); Wellesley Youth Basketball (Treasurer 2 out of 6 years); Currently serve as: board chair for Teachers21; board member on Wellesley Scholarship Foundation.
SW: What qualifies you for serving on School Committee?
Chow: For the past 10+ years, I have been able to leverage my results-driven orientation, knowledge, skills and experience – all gained in the business world – to help advance several mission-driven organizations. Through my experiences leading organizations dedicated to supporting our schools (i.e., WMS PTO and WEF) and a short-term program management stint in WPS’s Central Office, I gained first-hand knowledge and appreciation for the opportunities and the challenges facing the district. At WEF, some projects in which I was involved include: Development and publication of WPS’s 2013-2019 Strategic Plan; Co-chairing of Superintendent Advisory Committees (SACs) which: 1) Developed District Progress Report, and 2) Provided Computer Science K-12 curriculum recommendations; STEM Expo and CreateAthon (continued involvement on emeritus basis).
In business and throughout my nonprofit service, my approach is: Dedicated and Strategic – Commitment to supporting and advancing mission-driven organizations; strategic planning experience for nonprofits (WEF, WPS, T21); Collaborative and Compassionate – Ability to collaborate with multiple stakeholders and consider various viewpoints; Results-Driven and Pragmatic – Track record of rolling up my sleeves to get things done; experience as nonprofit treasurer; Analytical and Experienced – Ability to go between strategic and detailed, operational thinking; program and project management experience.
I welcome the chance to further support our schools by lending my commitment to excellence, my collaborative style, and my leadership experiences gained in business and 10+ years of nonprofit service to the important work of the Wellesley School Committee.
SW: If elected, what do you hope to accomplish on the School Committee?
Chow: As with other boards on which I serve or previously served, my hope would be to bring my dedication, skills and experience to help the School Committee accomplish its mission and goals. The School Committee exists to support the vision and mission of the Wellesley Public Schools, and is responsible to the people for whose benefit the school system has been established. If elected, I hope to contribute to each area of the Committee’s primary responsibilities which I would frame as follows:
Adherence to shared vision, mission and goals – in addition to helping formulate and refine WPS’s strategic plan, support establishment of those goals, programs, and procedures that will best produce the educational achievement needed by our students; Legal oversight – formulate and adopt policies, making decisions on the basis of declared educational core values and goals that are consistent with state laws and regulations; Financial oversight – recommend an appropriate budget which reflects wise management of resources available to the school system; Leadership and board oversight – evaluate progress and performance of the superintendent and of the committee itself.
There are some specific initiatives already underway or on the horizon important to supporting the first category above. They also serve as important resources for further strengthening communications between the District and the community, which I believe is a critical success factor for any school committee. Given my past involvement with the following initiatives, I would welcome the chance to assist with: Development of the next iteration of the WPS strategic plan: The District’s current effort to define what knowledge and skills our students need for success as global citizens beyond WPS will serve as important input into the next version of the plan; Publication of the annual District Progress Report: As I understand it, the inaugural version of the District Progress Report is due out in the coming weeks. As co-chair of the Progress Report SAC in 2015 and 2016, the report was designed to provide the community with both a framework and information for assessing the District’s progress towards implementing WPS’s Strategic Plan.
SW: What is your hot-button issue?
Chow: Fostering an inclusive school climate is a high priority for the district in my mind. When an online racial incident occurred early in the 2016-17 school year, rather than shy away from it, the schools and the community as a whole appear to have sought ways to learn from it and to take steps to foster a more inclusive environment. I commend the schools for bringing in consultants to conduct a race and diversity climate assessment. I hope to be able to directly support the schools’ efforts to further promote diversity and inclusion among faculty and students, by leveraging the findings from the race and diversity climate assessment as a guide for implementing positive change.
SW: Is there anything else you would like to say that the above questions did not cover?
Chow: When attending Wellesley College many years ago, I never imagined I would one day be living in Wellesley. But 24 years ago, my husband and I decided, like many couples before us, to move here primarily because of the schools. We are grateful that our sons Billy and Andy Kaplan benefited from an excellent education and have already shown they are well prepared for college and beyond. It would be a privilege to be able to give back and serve on School Committee in support of the entire community.
SHARON GRAY — SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The Swellesley Report: What is your background and what qualifies you for this position?
Sharon Gray: First, I have direct experience with this position as a member of School Committee since 2015. Since being elected, I’ve learned an incredible amount about the operation of the Wellesley Public Schools, and have applied that knowledge as well as my independent, critical thinking to the work that we do. I served as Chair of the Committee during the 2016-17 school year, and have been deeply involved in a wide range of issues and projects, including budget development, facilities, policy review, and strategic planning for the future of our schools.
Since moving to Wellesley in 2010 with my family, I have been involved in many civic and school-related organizations. (An aside: I am consistently amazed by how many committed and engaged citizens we have in town.) I have been a Town Meeting Member in Precinct C since 2014, have served on the boards of the Wellesley Education Foundation and Committee 21, and was president and vice president of the Upham PTO.
Finally, I was a journalist for 20 years, and the skills I gained in my previous career have served me well in my role on School Committee. I believe strongly in engaging with citizens by both taking in feedback and providing information to the public in a clear and concise manner. I also tend to look at all sides when considering an issue, and am always looking to ask the right questions, either to help focus the conversation or dig up the extra bit of information that may make a difference.
SW: If elected, what do you hope to accomplish on the School Committee?
GRAY: I am very much committed to continuing the work I’ve been involved with for the past three years, and would be honored to have the opportunity to do so. On the teaching-and- learning side, I believe the Committee has voted strong budgets that support students and promote excellence, but we can always do more. Just a few examples: I'm looking forward to advocating for the addition of world language to the 6th grade curriculum, additional STEM opportunities, and more elementary math specialists. I would be delighted to have the opportunity to contribute as a Committee member to the creation of the district’s next strategic plan.
On the facilities side, as current Chair of the School Building Committee for the Hardy, Hunnewell, and Upham facilities project, I am – along with a handful of town board members and staff who have truly spent countless hours on this project – absolutely committed to getting these building projects moving forward. Every elementary student in town should have the opportunity
to have a facility that meets modern educational standards, and the current HHU schools fall well short.
SW: What is your hot-button issue?
GRAY: Personally, I tend to be less of an activist and more of a deliberative problem-solver who tries to take each issue as it comes and work carefully through it. Few things get me truly riled up. But there is no denying I’ve been deeply involved in one of the most hot-button issues in town: HHU. There is so much detail and data involved in this very complex master planning process, but it is also a project that inspires a lot of passion in people, and understandably so. Our very special schools, and our town’s educational philosophy as a whole, are why many if not most people move to Wellesley. (Myself included.)
I remain in strong support of the School Committee’s HHU Position Statement, which we voted unanimously in May. From here, we really need to get into the feasibility process in order to make more concrete decisions on where to build and what the buildings might look like. I am thrilled that we have been invited to partner on one building with the Massachusetts School
Building Authority, and look forward to addressing the question of whether to rebuild at Upham or Hardy through the MSBA process. I am also looking forward to the further study of the Hunnewell site. I know it will take many years, and that there will be tradeoffs and compromises and frustrations, but I truly want the end result to be something the community can be proud of.
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