WHY HE'S RUNNING
ISSUES I CARE DEEPLY ABOUT
Our amazing public schools are the main reason many of us live in Winchester, and indeed the reason many, myself included, return to Winchester generation after generation. We want our children to be happy, encouraged, engaged and curious. As parents, we want them to have the resources they need to succeed both in school and in life. I believe we can deliver on this promise.
Supporting the Social and Emotional Well-Being of Our Children
Expanding and Maintaining Educational Offerings in a Practical Manner
Ensuring that All Our Students Have 21st Century Facilities
Advocating for an Operating Override to Support Our Town and Schools
Winchester Public Schools are among the top districts in the country. With excellence, however, comes immense pressure on our children to perform. Some of this pressure comes from parents and educators, but much of it comes from our kids themselves. We must support initiatives at all levels to help them reduce stress, including looking at and potentially reforming testing and homework, and enhancing school sponsored activities and sports so we can encourage wellness.
Winchester voters have been very generous over the last 20 years, allowing us to update the physical spaces in which our children learn. Lincoln, Ambrose, V.O., McCall, and WHS have all been renovated, expanded, or rebuilt. We still have significant building projects ahead to ensure that all of our students have the opportunity to learn in safe and modern facilities. Lynch and Muraco are next in line, and we must fight to make sure that both buildings are approved by the MSBA for funding at the state level. In parallel, we must support the expansion of McCall which is needed to support our mission as our student population continues to grow.
The financial cost of running a high performing school system is significant. As a member of the Finance Committee, I am acutely aware of the other needs in town competing for our limited pool of funds. As Winchester's population continues to grow, our town's resources are stretched more thinly than ever. With a growing population, not only our schools, but the fire, police, and other departments need additional funds. The time will soon come when we will need to make the difficult decision to fund an operating override for our town as a whole. The grim alternative would be to reduce the level of services our town and schools provide, which would be unacceptable.
For a school system like Winchester to remain a high performing one, we must continue to grow, adapt, and add new offerings. One such example is the important proposal to expand world languages beyond grades 7-12. At the same time, we don't want to risk extending ourselves in an unsustainable way. While we explore programs to add, we need to continually review existing programs to make decisions about resource allocation. As a district, we are blessed with outstanding professional educators who can make thoughtful recommendations on these difficult choices.