2010 School Committee Candidate Profiles

General Information

Demographic Information

Public service experience

• Groton Planning Board 11 years
• ZBA Assoc 1 year
• West Groton Sewer Study Committee 2 years

Previously various boards and committees in New Jersey, including Pine Barrens Coalition

• Community representative on the High School Council
• member of the GD transportation committee
• chair of Vision2000 (political group advocating for the new school building plans);
• member of School Facilities Task Forces
• member, then co-chair of the Florence Roche School Improvement Council
• member of Prescott School Improvement Council
• Odyssey of the Mind, and later Destination Imagination Coach
• Frequent Room Parent
• Participant in Groton Master Plans, 2000 and 2010;
• Member, now director of the Groton Marching Band and Chowder Society
• Vice-chair of the Groton Interfaith Council
• Founder and President of the Groton Jewish Community Group
• Nashoba Valley Hadassah Board Member – I assist in the Check-It-Out program which travels to local high schools, including GDRHS, to present information to students about healthy lifestyles and about early detection of breast and testicular cancer
• member of the recent Superintendent Screening Committee
• Parent-participant of several Principal and teacher interview teams;
• member of the Indian Hill Big Band;
• Past member of the Groton Garden Club

The Issues

With the start of 2010 and discussions revolving around a potential override, my interest dramatically sharpened. Doing some research, I found that this is not the first time—and probably not the last—which the district has needed to go to the taxpayer well for more money. With the future of my own daughter’s education on the line, not to mention nearly two thousand more futures, it became clear that I wanted to run. Very simply: the district has been rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic for several years.

My approach will take advantage of such proven methods as zero based budgeting), process re-engineering), and continuous improvement). In a nut shell, I want to help our district lead the Commonwealth in delivering the most effective education experience possible at the lowest cost.

• Issues of Communication and gaining public feedback prior to finalizing policy decisions.
• Ensuring a rigourous evaluation of the Superintendent.

• Ability to listen
• Ability to make decisions
• Ability to work with constituents in a confidential and private nature

Did the fact that there were two open seats and no one was running have anything to do with your decision to run? Our school district is one of the town’s most important responsibilities and greatest assets. It began to eat at me a bit when I did not see anyone taking out nomination papers for the two open school committee seats during the month of February. When it got down to just 20 days remaining before the nomination period ended and I saw no one had taken out nomination papers, I started asking myself if I could make a difference. After talking with a number of local people and sleeping on the idea, I convinced myself that I should get off the side-lines and into the game. Believing that my efforts could make a difference for both the school district and the tax payers of Groton, I decided to take out nomination papers and offer my services to the citizens of Groton. Since then I have returned my completed nomination papers to the Town Clerk and several others have taken out nomination papers for the school committee seats which I am glad to see. Competition is a good thing as it drives all concerned to strive for excellence.

Do you have children attending the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District? Not having children currently enrolled in the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District, I believe, gives me the opportunity to think about and work for the needs of all students in the districts without the chance of any bias toward the grades my children are in or have left to finish. While they don’t live in Groton, I am the Gruncle (great uncle) to four youngsters under eight years of age, one of whom is a special needs student, the Uncle of a high school teacher and the Godfather of a fine young man who will graduate from Bentley University this spring. My close involvement in their lives keeps my education interest up and me in the loop, so to speak, with the general needs of both students and faculty.

Will you run for both Planning Board and School Committee? Yes, but perhaps the more important question is if elected to both the Planning Board and the School committee, will I serve? The answer is an unqualified yes. If elected to both positions, making whatever time is necessary to serve both roles will be my priority, and I will fulfill the responsibilities of these two important positions to the very best of my ability.

What are your goals when elected to the School Committee? When elected, my focus will include these major goals:

• Perpetuate and improve the high performing district we have today which provides a high quality, content rich educational experience for our students.
• Work with educators, administrators, school committee members, town government, labor unions and anyone else necessary to find and implement a pragmatic operating model that will allow our school district to deliver a great educati
• Improve communications among the district administrators, the school committee, the municipal governments of Groton and Dunstable, and all residents of both towns.
• Increased transparency and timeliness for all residents on where our education revenue dollars are coming from, what major changes are happening among our revenue sources, and how our education dollars are being spent.

What are your thoughts about the FY11 district budget and the possibility of an override? As an individual I do support an FY11 override for the district but would like to see a more moderate amount than the $2.3 million figure recently adopted by the current school committee. For me an override in the amount of $1.2 million to $1.4 million seems more prudent. Additionally, unless there is a surplus, over and above the state recommended balance, in the excess and deficiency (E&D) account, I would prefer not to see the district’s E & D funds used as a planned revenue source in the FY11 budget. It has been better than five years since the town last voted an override for the school district (2003 for the FY04 district budget). In that time costs, especially those associated with labor, have increased while state funding for education and education related transportation have fallen significantly. In my judgment, failing to provide an override, in at least the $1.2 million to $1.4 million range, to the district for FY11 will result in a great disservice to all residents of Dunstable and Groton.

What are your thoughts about fiscal planning for the district and the uncertainty of Chapter 70 education funding and Chapter 71 transportation from the State? As I see it, this is the area of highest priority and where the heavy lifting will be in the next few years. The current model of escalating district costs and reduced state and federal funding is not sustainable. Large annual increases in property taxes, above the 2.5% allowed by law, for school district operating expenses is not the long term solution. In my mind, we need to re-engineer all aspects of our school district, including labor contracts, major service contracts, curriculum, facilities and administration, to come up with a new model that permits us to operate within our means. I’m convinced we can do this and continue to have a high performing district that produces outstanding results. I want to help get that job done.

Do you see ways to reduce or eliminate the district’s dependence on funding from the State and Federal government? In theory yes, but in practice I do not expect we will see such major change anytime soon. Funding for our school district is part of an enormous political and administrative bureaucratic system at the state and federal level. I do not have the sense that the public and political will exists to overhaul this massive bureaucracy at the present time or anytime soon. While dealing with our current dependency on state and federal funding for education, we should all push hard on our legislators to overhaul the current system.

Do you have an opinion about the way the district has been managed over the past few years? Yes, I believe those who managed the district over the past few years made the best decisions they could given the circumstances they found themselves in. For me second guessing the decisions of others without all the information they had at the time is not very valuable so I just do not spend much time on it. Yesterday is history and it is what it is. What I can influence is tomorrow, next week, next month and beyond so that is where I prefer to focus my energies.

What about communication between residents and the school committee? For me, communications between the school district, including the school committee, the residents of Groton and Dunstable, and both Town’s municipal governments are critical to the smooth operation of our school system. There should not be surprises for anyone. My sense is there seem to have been some significant surprises in the past and such surprises must be avoided in the future. Year round the audience for communications about the district needs to be seen as all the residents, not just the parents of students, in both towns. Yes, of course, target the contents of various communication pieces for sub-sets of the total audience but communicate appropriate information to everyone on an on-going basis all year long. At the present time, I am afraid that all involved rely too heavily on electronic communication of the go to the GDRSD web site type. The school committee needs to do a better job of communicating, using a better mix of media types, to all residents of both communities.

What do you think people are most concerned about when it comes to the district? On a consistent basis I am hearing two important themes when it comes to what matters most regarding the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District. One theme centers on the content richness and delivery quality of the educational experience provided by the district and the other, not surprisingly, centers on the District’s annual cost to provide that great educational experience. In my mind, these two issues are not mutually exclusive and, while certainly related, are also not linked in a locked step fashion when you look at cause and effect. Between these two concerns there will always be contention. Because a flexible, affordable and high performing school system is in the best interest of all residents in both towns served by the district, the school committee needs to mold such a new operating model with as much objectivity and as little emotion as possible. Modifying a saying that has been around a while, I truly believe United We Will Succeed, Divided We Will Fail.

What kind of a campaign will you run? I will stick to the issues while being civil to all in my interactions. I’ll campaign at the grass roots in my usual shirtsleeves manner. My campaign will be one my family, especially my grand nieces and nephews, are proud of.

The average resident has been here about 35 years. There are residents who have leftovers in their freezer that have been there longer than my wife, daughter and I have lived in Groton. Moreover, I have no one to please nor am I worried that I may anger some to restore quality education to the area.

Finally, the residents of Groton will soon have a decision to make regarding the override. Regardless of the outcome there is a legacy to be endowed to the generations to come. That legacy, one of unspoiled beauty void of golden arches, neon, or the goatee of a colonel, has been kept sacred. The price has consistently been higher taxes in a smaller community—and excellent schools. That, I believe, is a legacy to the honored and preserved.