PRIORITIES

State-level advocacy

The school committee needs to lobby our state level elected officials to earmark our own tax dollars to come back to us for one-off large school expenses, and to lobby Boston on behalf of revising the woefully out of-date state school funding formula that short changes communities like Greenfield. 

I believe that the Greenfield Public Schools future affordability depends on long overdue changes at the state level. 

We can change things by speaking up, and I plan on speaking loudly for Greenfield to ensure all Greenfield children have their fair and equal access to public resources.

Short-term crisis management

Right now, the school district is facing a variety of crises, including long-running funding problems and a shrinking student population. This is nothing new for Greenfield or for similar districts.

I plan to take a triage approach to the school district, focusing on big-picture difficulties and finding solutions that can be quickly implemented using resources we already have. 

I believe that responsible spending requires paying close attention to the consequences of our actions, and that we must be careful not to make decisions to save a dollar today only to end up costing us tenfold the amount later down the line. We must prioritize based on impacts.

Long-term investment

For a healthy district, we need to move from reacting to crises and concentrate on future-proofing our schools. 

I take the long view when it comes to spending—what can we do to make sure that every dollar spent by the school department shows strong returns on the investment?

I am a creative, flexible thinker who enjoys finding new possibilities. I will carefully research each issue brought before me to analyze the future implications of each option, and will advocate for plans that will promote the best long-term health for our school district.

Communication and civility

I believe in transparency and open lines of communication. All people should be treated with respect. All members of the community are stakeholders in our schools, and should be respectfully listened to. I believe that we should give our neighbors the benefit of the doubt—especially when we disagree—and that we should always remember that we're all in this together, we all care about our kids, and we all want a thriving school district and town.