Acton’s Town election ballot includes three candidates running for two Acton School Committee seats. The Acton Boxborough Education Association (ABEA, the teachers’ union) posed questions to each of the candidates and shared the questions and answers with their membership and with the Acton Exchange.
For more information about the candidates, two candidate forums are available from ActonTV or the ActonTV YouTube channel: the Acton Democratic Town Committee forum, and the League of Women Voters forum.
For details about the election, including important dates and a link to a sample ballot, see https://www.acton-ma.gov/598/Elections-Voting.
Candidates’ responses are presented in alphabetical order. The answers are printed verbatim and should not be taken as the opinions of the Acton Exchange or the ABEA.
Question 1: Why are you running for School Committee?
Are there any particular issues that inspired you to run?
Lisa Adil
The entire reason I want to run for School Committee is because, as a parent and former educator, I have become increasingly concerned as I have witnessed countless staff reductions and cuts in our schools. This is causing good people to lose their jobs and the students to have less and less support.
The impacts of these cuts continuing to happen will cause permanent damage and disruption to our education system. We cannot keep cutting valuable people and then asking teachers to do more. Teachers are already doing too much. We can call them superheroes as much as we want — but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be put in a position that stretches them to their limits and taxes their spirits and energy.
Glen Cote
I went from failing nearly every class in middle school to graduating magna cum laude with a computer science degree from UMass Lowell. That turnaround was made possible by the compassion, support, and mentorship I received from dedicated teachers and staff. That has had a deep impact on who I am, and it’s a perspective I believe is valuable to bring to the School Committee, which is why I am running.
I’ve been talking to voters around town on the campaign trail. One gathering that moved me was the Acton-Boxborough Campus Walk in Supporting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Supporting mental health initiatives on campus and providing our students with the resources and care they need to be well and live happy, fulfilling lives is deeply important to me.
I believe it is the responsibility of a community to provide a safe and accepting space for everyone who calls it home. In Acton, our schools are a vital pillar that makes us who we are. We must do everything we can to remain inclusive, continue supporting academic excellence, and helping those who are having a hard time with schoolwork achieve great things and be their best selves.
Given the national environment where the concept of public education itself is under attack, I believe what goes on in local school committees is more critical than ever. We have worked too hard for too long to go backwards on making sure our schools are as welcoming and belonging a place for our students as possible. I would be honored to serve Acton in this role, and humbly ask for one of your two votes.
Jason Fitzgerald
One year of cuts to the number of FTEs [(full-time equivalent)] and you see it as maybe a necessary correction. Two years, and one raises an eyebrow and starts to wonder what’s going on. Four years in a row and there’s no denying it, there’s a problem. And that’s where we are, four years into an alarming situation that is good for no one, with no clear end in sight.
The question is not why am I running, the question is why isn’t every parent in this district?
By nature and by profession I am an engineer, I see problems as opportunities and just can’t sit by and not engage to help solve a problem. With four kids in this district, and the types of problems, budgetary and beyond, the School Committee gets to work on are of paramount importance. Getting to work with teachers and school administrators, town administrators and planners is very exciting and impactful work. I like to engage with people, have conversations, uncomfortable or not, and figure out how a system is working, and if there is room for improvement, sometimes to a fault. For years, my neighbors have forbidden me from discussing bus routes, except on specific occasions.
I moved to Acton with my wife, Holly, in 2001, choosing Acton as a location to establish our family in no small part because of the remarkable school system. Since then, I’ve been blessed with a son and three daughters who are now thriving in the school system, academically, athletically and socially. My wife works as a substitute teacher in the district. I’ve served on PTO Boards, most recently as treasurer for the Douglas PTO.
I’m running for School Committee this year, primarily, as a way to give back and offer my support to the teachers and students. I’m invested in the schools and understand many of the challenges at the different levels of education. I am unencumbered by direct ties to any special cause or interest group, and while the support and assistance these group provide is invaluable, we have the personnel, opportunity, responsibility, and resources to offer every student in our district with a world-class experience and I want ensure the opportunity to succeed is presented to every student across every demographic and income level.
Question 2. Preventing further staff cuts
Even with last year’s override, the school district is making staff cuts for a fourth year in a row. Many school districts across the state are also struggling with increasing costs and increasing student needs. What creative ideas do you have to make sure we don’t have a fifth year of staff cuts next year?
Lisa Adil
Given the fact that the School Committee has already begun the process of selecting a consultant for district reorganization and started reaching out to commence putting together a steering committee to guide a consultant, I think it is important to convey the fact that I am committed to being a strong team contributor. My goal is to use my experience and ability to connect with others to seek out and embrace the diversity of ideas from our educators and community. One person cannot think of everything; but, together, we can explore what is possible as we seek to better utilize our limited resources. There are many possible ways to reorganize the district and, right now, everything is still on the table and up for discussion.
Based on one of the ideas suggested, my creative idea is more of a fine-tuning approach to the K-2; 3-5; 6-8; and 9-12 model. If we have all of each of the grades combined, from an early age, it could be very overwhelming for small children to try and connect with their peers — especially if they are reshuffled into different classrooms every year. With over 12 different classrooms, of 20 kids, and endless possible combinations of students, having a cohort that they follow elementary school through may be helpful. Some school districts call this “pods” and others have labeled this as “teams.” However we label it is not of great importance; rather, it is how we execute this that will matter. The reason looping in Merriam is so popular is because many parents feel that consistency provides more stability in the lives of their children. Seeing some of the same peers throughout the younger years can provide an added layer of protection to vulnerable students who are more likely to thrive from the security and comfort of familiar faces. An additional benefit of all this is that it will provide a more flexible range of options for students who have had a difficult relationship and would benefit from more space. If the pool of students is wider (to choose from when creating classrooms), classroom balance and larger cohort groupings can be optimized (for both students and educators).
Should school choice remain and just a building is eliminated, an additional idea that I am interested in collecting data on, is to determine the feasibility of having Conant added to Gates. It could become Conant-Gates (or Gates-Conant). Having the Conant staff move over with the kids would be ideal. If that isn’t possible and other combinations need to be explored, I would fiercely advocate for retention of staff and do everything possible to prevent the loss of more incredible educators, specialists, support staff, and anyone facing students. We can lose a building. We just can’t afford to lose more people.
Glen Cote
Because of the override passing last year with the dedicated work of advocates such as myself and others with Together For Acton, we were able to reduce the damage in our schools from what would have been a catastrophic 80 staffing cuts to 20. Speaking out at Town Meeting and getting the word out was crucial to this success, and I believe shows us a model of how we can engage constructively and proactively with our community going forward.
Frankly, the state legislature needs to step up and do much more. We need to collectively organize and pressure the legislature to reform the egregiously insufficient funding model they use to fund schools across the state. I attended a state budget hearing at UMass Amherst on March 24th where hundreds of educators and students were out protesting the state’s inaction. I have seen up close the dedicated work School Committee members are doing to advocate to legislators to advance the change that we need. We cannot let up on that, and as your School Committee member, I will help lead those efforts.
I am not holding my breath for overnight funding reform on the state level. That is going to take dedicated effort and time. While we are advocating for that, we need to engage with our communities on how we will restructure the school district with our existing resources, given that our schools are experiencing the following:
- The student enrollment population is declining, and is projected to continue doing so.
- While our educators are doing a fantastic job given the strained resources provided, we are still struggling with meeting the rising needs of our students — particularly those with special needs and English language learners, which require more specialized attention and care than in previous times.
- The way we allocate our existing resources needs to adapt to this reality, so that we can all do what’s best for our students, teachers, staff members, parents, and families.
This trajectory of staffing cuts every year is simply not sustainable. Restructuring our schools — in terms of where staff will work and how our buildings will be utilized — will be a community led effort. I believe we can and must handle this discussion with grace, compassion, and clarity on our mission: serving the needs of our students as effectively as possible. Maintaining a clear and open channel with the community and our educators will be critical to this process.
Taking a look at restructuring which grades go where across our school buildings is one option I believe we should seriously consider, and every use of our buildings should be reviewed and justified to ensure we’re utilizing our existing resources effectively. In addition, making sure we are utilizing aligned scheduling across elementary schools for more efficient scheduling of multilingual services can better meet demand for where services are needed most across the district.
Longer term, I hope we can work to expand vocational programs at AB High School so that families don’t feel like they have to send their kids all the way to Minuteman to get a more hands-on vocational training that’s more effective for some students than the traditional classroom model. Meeting the needs of our students here in our schools instead of sending them out of district whenever possible is a responsibility we share. When making the serious decision to send a student out of district, we must be able to clearly and concretely communicate what interventions have been tried and what needs remain unmet to justify those decisions.
We simply cannot keep cutting staff to reach financial stability while also meeting our current students’ needs. As your School Committee member, I will do everything I can to ensure we retain staff, advocate for funding reform at the state level, and guide this restructuring process to be as thoughtful, deliberate, and clear as possible with the community. I encourage all members of the ABEA to engage with this ongoing process with the School Committee earlier than later. My door will always be open to you.
Jason Fitzgerald
First of all we need to act on the structural changes that are available. I was critical of the override last year because it did not engage on these things, leaning yet again on teachers to bear the brunt of budget cuts. And this budget did not properly correct our path. Fortunately, those options are still available. As I recently sat in on an initial conversation between the superintendent and the School Committee I was very encouraged by the open-ended approach with seemingly very little constraints. An open-minded, “all options on the table” approach is exciting!
What does the school district look like in the end? That’s where I am excited to see some creativity and some radical ideas! What would it look like if all the AB K-6 students were at the current high school building? What would that mean, having all those kids in the same place? It would certainly get those pesky independent PTOs together and remove those perceived inequities. Maybe the 7th graders are at the Boardwalk Campus, and 8th graders at the Parker Damon Building? Is RJ Grey the new high school under this restructure?
If we decide to keep the same footprint, we also have some 20-30 empty classrooms in the current elementary schools. What can we do with them? What if we combined them and sublet the space to an outside group? What about some preparatory programs for primary educators? What would the impact be of having young, energetic interns developing their craft alongside the best students and most experienced teachers in the country?
Or maybe those classrooms are sublet out to Minuteman? That would be a win-win partnership, having the students using our spaces, and maybe defraying some of those costs of the Minuteman partnership, which is controversial to some.
What about all of our MLL [(multi-language learner)] students? It stands to reason they have multi-language parents and caregivers. What could an educational program look like for MLL adults? How can we use our experience with students to benefit them? What if the program extended beyond teaching English and taught other skills like automobile driving, paths to citizenship, job skills, etc? Would this help with demographics that traditionally struggle with attendance and communication with the schools?
What about bringing an educational specialty program into town? The reading programs in schools such as Carroll and Landmark are incredible and very necessary, but are expensive and it is unfortunate to have to bus those kids away from their neighbors and rec sport teammates.
This restructure can be exciting! We don’t have to fear change if it’s well thought out and beneficial. We have a diverse population of smart, engaged, vocal people who are absolutely passionate about their kids and their education. Let’s tap into that breadth of life experiences and let the community take the lead in some of these conversations leading us along with their value systems.
All this is not to ignore that there are some serious issues with state mandates that are very demanding without providing adequate funding. The district and committee and teacher’s union all need to continue to do their part in advocating for state and federal funding and for whatever reforms are possible to align with the changing needs or changing populations. The question asked for creative ideas, and that is more interesting to talk about than intricacies around Chapter 70 funding and Circuit Breaker scenarios.
Question 3: Competitive salaries for educators
This fall the School Committee will begin contract negotiations with the ABEA. Why do you think it’s important to pay our educators a competitive salary?
Lisa Adil
It is important to pay our educators a competitive salary for many reasons. Paying more money attracts and retains talent. We are incredibly fortunate, as a district, to have so many experienced and highly educated educators. They have amassed a fortune of knowledge and valuable experience. Our educators deserve everything we can possibly give them. They are worth it — and we don’t want them going anywhere else.
Glen Cote
Educators deserve to live comfortably and be paid well for the work being done to serve our students. Simply serving praise to educators is not enough. Our teachers deserve higher wages and more resources. I think it’s stupid that Kindergarten teachers make less money than people who peddle crypto. Teachers provide value to the world. We can and we must all work towards building a society where public education is given as robust funding as possible.
As we’re entering contract negotiations, we need to (1) understand that staff deserve to have the resources and pay they need to do their jobs well, and (2) be honest and open throughout the entire process about the constraints we’re working with given the lack of state and federal support. This process will work best when we are working collaboratively within our communities and engaging them in the conversation. That way, the initiatives we decide on will have the collective buy-in of our towns. Our educators deserve strong allies on the School Committee, and I will be one.
Jason Fitzgerald
Simply put, we need to pay teachers what they are worth. And my experience has shown me that AB teachers are worth a lot. My four kids have done a combined 41 years in AB schools so far. I have entrusted Jason Jr., Grace, Helen and Faith to many different teachers and my kids, the four most important people to me are, all the better for it.
I certainly have some anecdotal opinions of what the teachers are worth to me and my family. But it goes beyond my kids’ education. Two of my immediate neighbors are AB teachers, and there are at least six I know of in my neighborhood in West Acton. My wife has worked alongside many as an assistant for years and this year as a substitute teacher. I have coached on ball fields with Acton-Boxborough teachers, camped alongside teachers on scouting adventures and participated in faith services with, you guessed it, teachers as well. Teachers are threaded into our community, not only as educators but also as neighbors, volunteers and friends.
We have a history of being competitive in compensating our teachers, and we need to continue that heading into this upcoming contract cycle. Obviously, the most basic reason is that if we aren’t competitive, other districts will, justifiably, snatch them away. There is a shortage of teachers in the state, and beyond, this is well documented. And of course, turnover is not good for anyone, the benefit of having stable teaching staff engaged with students consistently year to year is immeasurable.
This didn’t happen by accident, we have a history of investing in our teachers. That investment is motivating, demonstrating our respect for the value to our youth and community they provide. We need to continue the cycle, and continue to invest in our teachers for generations. I’ve seen the collaboration from our experienced teachers, working with the younger teachers and seeing how the fresh ideas and techniques can motivate not only students but other teachers.
Our schools are, year over year, highly ranked and highly performing. This is due to the primary school resource, our teachers. In their last cycle, three years ago, they acted in good faith to compromise, coming out of the strain of the pandemic with cuts looming on the horizon. The cuts have arrived, severely and it’s time to turn this trajectory around.
I’m hoping for the opportunity to be a part of the School Committee for the next three years and ask for your vote on April 29th.
Mike Balulescu is the President of the Acton Boxborough Education Association (ABEA), the local affiliate of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.