Plymouth School Committee candidate profiles are posted in alphabetical order.
Tell us a bit about yourself: I am married to my wife, Maureen, and we have one child, our son, Connor, who is a senior at Plymouth North High School. We also have our dog Juneau, a golden doodle. I have lived in West Plymouth for 23 years.
Education and/or relevant experience to the position you’re seeking:
I have a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a concentration in management from North Adams State College (now known as Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts).
Current employment: I am employed at Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which is a writer of personal and commercial lines insurance in New England, New Jersey and New York. I am the property claims manager and oversee the property claims department.
Past/present community involvement:
- West Plymouth Steering Committee, nine years, with the last three as chairman.
- Precinct 11 town meeting member, one year
- Nuclear matters committee, two years.
- Advisory and finance committee, two years
- Building xommittee. As school committee member liaison, I have served over five years on the committee
- Plymouth School Committee. I have served as an elected member of the school committee from 2009-2012 and 2014-present. I have served as the vice chair, secretary and as a committee member.
Past/present public service:
I am a veteran, having served eight years years in the Massachusetts Army National Guard.
Five questions
How do you define the role of the school committee?
The school committee has three primary functions: Review and enact policy; review and approve the school department budget; and oversee the superintendent of schools.
There are many other functions the school committee does, including advocacy, and we are often appointed to town committees.
Would you support book reviews –as some other schools have done across the country- to look for perceived inappropriate materials?
I do not believe we need to have regularly scheduled book reviews. If a stakeholder or a staff member brings a book to the school committee’s or administration’s attention, it should be investigated.
Student safety is a national concern. Do you think Plymouth schools are doing enough to keep our kids safe? If not, what changes would you like to see?
I believe as a district we are doing a good job in providing a safe environment for staff and students, but we should always what we can do to improve further.
In recent years, cameras and panic buttons have been installed in the schools that are tied into dispatch at the police department. We have added an additional two school resource officers to rotate through the eight elementary schools, which is in addition to the resource officers at the secondary schools.
Professional development is done with staff and drills are done in the schools to prepare for an emergency.
The fiscal 2024 school budget was approved after a difficult and drawn-out process that nevertheless prevented layoffs. What areas of school spending could be reduced to help for the next fiscal year, which will likely be even more difficult? Additionally, to what other funding sources can the schools look or at least explore?
This budget cycle was difficult.
The school committee approved a budget that represented a 4.5% increase over the prior year. This was not a level service budget.
To reach this budget, positions are not being refilled after retirements and supplies budgets were significantly reduced.
Town meeting approve a budget with a 3.8% increase and approved $800,000 to be put in a reserve account to prevent layoffs.
Next year will be especially challenging, and unless there is more state aid or money received from grants programs or position may need to be cut. Hopefully we can avoid this and work with the cost center managers and the administration to get this accomplished.
Beyond the budget, what are three areas you’d like the committee to focus/continue to focus on?
- School buildings. Plymouth has submitted a letter of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Association for Hedge and Cold Spring elementary schools. These schools are very old and are in need of upgrades and maintenance.
- School Safety. The school committee needs to work with the administration, fire and police departments to ensure all safety measures are enacted and look for new opportunities to improve safety.
- Redistricting. The redistricting plan was recently approved by the school committee. I want to work with the administration and the community members to ensure a smooth transition.
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