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Why I'm Running... "I've done all I set out to do..." - Susan Holmes I remember being struck by this statement by my good friend and colleague, Sue. I was in a caucus meeting where we were trying to convince her to run for a 1 year term that had been left by a resignation from the Board of Education. She ultimately decided to run for that one year term, but in the discussion, she had conveyed the idea that she had done all that she had set out to do when she originally ran for the Board. That got me to thinking... How would I know I was done? To help you to understand why I'm running for re-election, it is
important for me to explain why I ran in 2001 and 2003. And in order
for you to understand that, it is also important to think back to those
days... When the new high school referendum failed, 2 things were clear to me. Manchester wanted a modest proposal to renovate our schools, and Manchester wanted to reuse the buildings we already had. I heard you loud and clear. And realizing that we were no better off than we were before I first ran, I realized that time was of the essence. I quickly became convinced that a new addition to Manchester High School was critical. We didn't have the space we needed there, and it was going to affect our NEASC accreditation if we didn't do something about it. Thankfully, Manchester overwhelmingly approved the addition to MHS. Thank you! We also got political and voter support for renovating our existing elementary schools. Waddell and Bowers elementary schools were renovated over a two year period, and while these schools don't have a "like new" status, the updates provided much needed ventilation, fire safety, and code work. This was part of a concept that we would renovate elementary schools every 2-3 years, which again, Manchester overwhelmingly approved at referendum. However, the thorny problem of Bennet Middle School, and to a lesser degree, Illing Middle School still loomed large over the town. Bennet was a shambles... or should I say still a shambles. We had more than one incident of plaster falling out of the ceiling. Window panes spontaneously fell from the building and shatter on parked cars. Roofs routinely leaked, and at one point, we found nothing holding up several of the roof trusses in the Rec building. Frankly, Manchester was lucky that a more serious incident didn't happen. I proposed the plan to renovate Bennet Middle School. My idea was to put our 6th grade there -roughly 500 students. This plan would do two things - first it would create a small learning community at that campus, reducing the number of students attending Bennet by about 250 kids. Second, it would reuse the historic Bennet campus, and refurbish it. I proposed the idea because I wanted to minimize the number of students at that site. More importantly, it was imperative that we get the children out of that facility so that it could be made safe and educationally sound. The plan I proposed enjoyed broad support, notably from Josh Howroyd who championed the plan. Thankfully, Manchester voters again overwhelmingly approved the renovation to Bennet. So, the renovations are well on their way to completion, and that's why I ran originally, so why are am I running again? Well, there are several reasons. First, I want to see these renovation through. While the high school renovation is complete, the Bennet renovation remains, and won't be completed until next year. I also want to see the town move on to some more elementary schools - I want to see that initial momentum continue. My hope is that the Board of Directors will see fit to put a Highland Park renovation referendum question on the ballot this fall, and if they do, I'd be out campaigning for that anyway. And if it passes, then I'd like to be a part of that planning and oversight process. But I'm also more than just about the buildings. I am now on the Curriculum and Instruction committee and the Policy committee. I've been quietly championing a "parental report card" project for over a year now. The administration is looking at this over the summer, and my hope is that the Board will be able to take some action on this in the fall or spring of this year. For more info, see the Issues page. The achievement gap also continues to be troublesome in Manchester. Essentially, we've made no progress on this in the last 5 years. I am not proud of this, and I'd like to take another whack at it. I think we, as a town, have been distracted for far too long regarding the school buildings and we have not looked at this problem properly in that time. It is high time to start doing some meaningful things about it. With our school building issues under control, we can focus on this now. Probably the hottest issue right now is racial balance. Again, the Issues page will give more details, but I want to be a part of that issue. I feel I have the experience on the Board to deal effectively with this issue. Manchester needs people who have experience on the Board of Education. Experience, Insight, Commitment Finally, right now, the Board of Education has very little depth of experience. Peggy Hackett brings that to the table. So does Mike Rizzo. And me. That's it. After that, the Board is filled with people who have little or no experience. Some are appointees, filling out other member's terms of office. Some were elected last season. None have more than 2 years of experience. So a big piece of why I'm running is that I have the experience, the insight, and the commitment to see this through. I'd like to be there to help the Manchester Board of Education get to a better place in terms of these things. I hope you agree. If so, please vote for Moose in the coming November election. You'll be glad you did!
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