00:00:12,039 S1: Good evening. My name is Jane Kusel, and I am on the steering committee with the League of Women Voters for Hamilton Wynnum. The league is a non-partisan political organization which encourages informed and active participation in government. This league has hosted a Candidates Night for more than 60 years. Our goal for Candidates Night is to promote an opportunity for candidates in contested town elections, to introduce themselves and to provide voters with the information that will help them make informed decisions at the upcoming local town election. This is the second of two forums covering the contested races for Hamilton and Wenham. For this forum, we'll be hearing from the candidates for the Hamilton Wenham School Committee. While the position on the Hamilton Wyndham School Committee is for a three year term. This year there will be a separate election for the School Committee for a two year term to address two openings. As a result of early resignations, the candidates had to elect whether to run for the three year term or the two year term. Each year considered a separate elected position in the upcoming election. As a result, we'll hold tonight's forum by separating into two groups. Group A will cover the candidates running for the three year term, and Group B will cover the candidates running for the two year term. Now, I'd like to introduce our moderator, Amy Smith. Amy is on the board of the League of Women Voters of the North Shore. She lives in Georgetown, where she serves on that town's historical commission and Open Space committee. This is the fourth year that Amy has generously volunteered her services as our moderator, and we're grateful for her help. And now I'll turn the meeting over to Amy. Thank you. Amy. 00:02:04,290 S2: Good evening. Tonight, we'll be introducing you to the candidates for the Hamilton Wenham School Committee positions. There are three candidates running for two open positions for the three year term, which we'll hear from first as Group A, and there are four candidates running for two open positions for the two year term, which we'll hear from after that. As Group B questions may be different between the Group A and Group B candidates. The forum rules are as follows. You will each have two minutes for an opening statement and the two minutes to answer each question, and two minutes for your closing statement. The questions for tonight's forum have not been provided to the candidates in advance of the forum, although candidates may refer to their personal notes when answering questions as they need to. The timer will start at the beginning of your speaking time and can be seen by the candidates in Gallery view. The timer background will turn yellow when you have 15 seconds left in your allotted time, and will turn red when the timer is reached. Two minutes taking the entire allotted time for each response is optional, but extending beyond it is not. We will start in alphabetical order and alternate thereafter. Who answers first? And before we begin, I'd like to note that David Polito, who is a candidate for the two year term for the School Committee, regrets that he is unable to attend tonight's forum due to a standing teaching commitment. On Monday nights at Montserrat, he has provided an opening statement and a closing statement that we will read on his behalf, but he has not been provided any questions? At this time, I'd like to invite the candidates for the three year term of school committee to make their opening statements. And we'll begin with Miss Lara. 00:04:07,979 S3: Thank you. Um. Thank you. So I'm Dana allora. Um, first, I'd like to start by saying thank you to Jane and to Amy for, um, hosting this event and providing the public with, um, information to help make informed choices. Grateful for that. Um, so I have served on the school committee since 2020. Um, I have been the chair since 2021. Um, on the committee, I have served for several years on the negotiations team negotiating with, um, uh, the teachers union, with custodial staff, with our education supports, professionals. Um, I have been on the committee. Um, we were the committee that hired our current superintendent, Eric Tracy. Um, and, uh, we, um, work collaboratively with both select boards and the fin coms as we collectively work to provide the services for our community. On a personal note, I've lived in Hamilton for the past 24 years. My husband and I moved here with our two young sons, and they both went all the way through the schools and graduated from the high school. Um, I have a background in school psychology and parent coaching, and so I've worked in a variety of roles to support the needs of students, children, parents, and educators throughout my career. I'm a passionate supporter of public education. It's an amazing thing that we as a society, have decided that it's important to give the next generation the gift of education and lifelong skills and learning. It's been an honor to serve these past six years, and I'm here because I hope the voters will send me back to continue this service for another term. Thank you. 00:05:57,670 S2: Thank you. Next, we'll hear from Mr. Austin. 00:06:02,189 S4: Good evening, and thank you to the League of Women Voters and everyone watching tonight. I'm running for school committee because I believe our district needs a better path forward. We need stronger financial discipline, a sharper focus on academics, and a committee that truly listens to the whole community. Our schools matter deeply to parents, students and teachers and teachers, but they also matter to taxpayers, seniors and residents whose voices deserve respect as well. School committee decisions affect the entire community, and the people making those decisions should reflect the broader responsibility. I believe it's time for new members and a fresh view on the district. New voices can bring better questions, better oversight, and a more balanced approach to the challenges we face. That does not mean being against the schools. It means caring enough about them to ask hard questions, review options honestly, and make sure decisions are grounded in common sense, sound planning, and public trust. If elected, I'll work to support strong academics, safe and well-maintained schools, responsible budgeting, and a more open and respected relationship with the community. I want to help move this district forward with better judgment, better listening, and renewed focus on students and the full community we serve. Thank you. 00:07:20,050 S2: Thank you. And now we'll hear from Miss Noon. 00:07:25,490 S5: Good evening. My name is Kristin Noon, and I am one of the candidates for a three year term on the school committee. I would also like to echo Dana and Jeff's. Thanks to the league for hosting this event tonight. To allow us to introduce ourselves to the community. I am presently a member of the School Committee. I was appointed in October of 2025 to fill a vacancy, and I would be honored to continue serving our community in this role as a member of the School Committee. I'm presently on the policy subcommittee, as well as the negotiation subcommittee that is presently working on the new contract with our ESPs or our teacher's aide. I bring a varied public service career to this role. My commitment to public service began early, over a 20 year period at the College of the Holy Cross, where all of us who attend that school are called to be men and women for others. That experience really shaped my values, and later, my time at Suffolk University Law School, and have honed the skills and experiences that I have needed to be a leader in public life. Over the past couple of years, I have worked as a judicial law clerk in the Probate and Family Court. Executive director of the Women Museum had board roles with many nonprofits, including the North Shore Chamber, and presently also volunteer. Right now as the treasurer of one of Cub Scouts, Pac 28, where both of my children are involved. I practice law in a firm that's devoted to supporting nonprofits and philanthropic organizations. Since my appointment to the committee this past fall, I have tried to bring clarity, curiosity, and constructive dialogue to the issues that are before us. Looking ahead, I'd like to continue this work by remaining committed to the district's major priorities, which include facilities planning, responsible budgeting, and maintaining educational quality and excellence. Thank you. 00:09:24,860 S2: Thank you. And now for the first question. And Mr. Austin will start with you. If the April 2026 override fails in the upcoming town meetings. What specific reductions should the Hamilton Winter Regional School District Make to balance the fiscal year 27 budget. And what would you work hardest to protect? 00:09:51,250 S4: Excellent. I think, you know, there's a lot there to be, to be apologized for the dog in the background. There's a lot there to be, to understand and to learn. Um, we have to look at the entire budget. And, you know, I hear a lot of rhetoric around. You know, we have to lose so many teachers. And, uh, you know, that's going to certainly hurt our classroom. Um, attendance for, uh, child to teacher ratio. But there's also, you know, there's other ways we can kind of believe that outside of teachers. So I don't know if there's a one answer to that. And I think that takes a lot of thought and a lot of research to understand what the right path is. So I can't give you a flat answer to what the right answer is. It's going to take a lot of research. Um, I think that's pretty much all I have to say about that. 00:10:34,970 S2: Okay. Thank you. Uh, next, Miss Noon, and would you like me to repeat the question. 00:10:41,669 S5: Um, no. Thank you. Um, as a current member of the committee, I think we have all been grappling with this question, um, for several months. Once it became clear that an override was going to be necessary in order to preserve not only stable schools, but also the public services that we've all come to expect here in Hamilton. Um, I think in the, um, reductions that the school committee has already made to its budget, we have worked to prioritize, um, maintaining small class sizes where possible and to work to maintaining roles that are student facing. So I believe that logic would continue once, um, if we are in the unfortunate position of needing to make additional cuts as a result of a failed override. I think given the scope of the override, it is likely that there will be student facing roles that will need to be eliminated just based upon eliminated, based upon the reality of what our budget is, and that most of our costs focus on payroll as well as health insurance expenses. And when the committee has been evaluating that, we have taken an approach to really look at enrollment. Seeing where the bulk of our students are, where the greatest needs are to serve those students, and that would inform where these reductions are going to be made. As has been already discussed in open meetings, um, the current cuts that are already in our budget do disproportionately impact the middle school and high school, where enrollment is less than robust than at the elementary school level. And it's likely that that could continue. And the unlikely or unfortunate event that the override does not fail. These are very difficult choices. And every budgeting decision, um, you know, reflects our priorities and what we believe is important. But overall, my preference would be to do things that maintain retaining excellent staff and small class sizes. 00:12:39,200 S2: Thank you, miss O'Hara. Thank you. 00:12:44,039 S3: Um, so I want to highlight some things that both Jeff and Kristen, um, just said. Um, which is that, um, it definitely does take as to Jeff's point, a lot of thought and a lot of research in order to make these determinations about what, um, what would need to be cut if the override is not successful, if it does not pass? Um, and I do want to emphasize that a lot of that research and thought has been done and grappled with, as Kristen mentioned, um, at the school committee level. Um, so this much of this question has already been looked at. That does not mean it. You know, it's not set in stone. But, um, it does look, at this point. Unfortunately, um, that there would be staff, reductions. If the if the override does not pass. And um, it is really important we have heard from our community that small class sizes are something that our community really wants and expects. Um, and um, so all efforts will be made in that event to be really thoughtful about how to strategically, um, look at class sizes, course offerings, how to. Um, as an example, something that we already do. Um, we rotate at the high school. We rotate electives year. Year after year, alternating years. So that, for example, while you might not be able to have something every year, um, you know, students would still have opportunities. Um, unfortunately, things that are still on the chopping block, potentially, if this override doesn't pass, do include staff reductions, potentially, and some security things that are really critical. Um, so I do think it's a really critical thing that it does pass. Okay. 00:14:37,090 S2: Thank you. Now for our next question. And Miss Noon, we'll start with you. How would you approach decisions about inclusion and school climate for LGBTQ students and other marginalized groups while addressing differing community views? 00:14:55,929 S5: Thank you. I think that we need to start always from a place of kindness and of treating other people the way that we want to be treated, and I think that goes for students and recognizing their experiences as well as what their family and home life is like, and being open and inclusive of all of the different ways that people define family in our community. I do also think it's important to listen to people that don't necessarily share those views themselves, or have different opinions or definitions of what is appropriate And keeping an open mind, authentic listening and approaching those difficult conversations with curiosity is important as part of that process. Overall, however, I do believe that we need to be inclusive and supportive of our LGBTQ youth and families and welcome all people that live in Hamilton want them to feel welcome and part of our school district. 00:15:55,639 S2: Thank you, Miss Lara. 00:16:01,840 S6: All right. 00:16:02,720 S3: Um, so I think the number one thing that I want to bring to this question is that is a core value of our community, that our students have a sense of belonging. All of our students. Um, that school needs to be a place where every student who walks through the door knows that they belong. Um, and it's important that the rest of every student and also understands that school is a place to learn how to meet and interact, collaborate and cooperate with people who have different viewpoints, different opinions, um, than you do. And there is tremendous value for everyone in meeting people who have diverse views, um, and diverse, um, experiences. Um, I couldn't agree more with, uh, I think Kristen said the first thing she said was that we approached this with kindness. I think that, um, when we think about education, one of the beautiful things about public education is that it is foundationally bringing community together to learn together. And what a place and an opportunity to teach kindness. Um, because it's a beautiful place to learn with your neighbors. Um, our LGBT, LGBTQ youth, um, need to know that this is a place that they belong and that all families and all students are welcome. Thank you. 00:17:50,250 S2: Thank you, Mr. Austin. 00:17:53,210 S4: Yes. Thank you. I think children's children need to be, uh, to feel safe and supported from all demographics, all types. I don't, you know, I think that that's a primary concern for everybody. They should feel that, um, these these aspects should be supportive learning. It shouldn't replace them. But academics or be dominant over academics. But there should be a place for them to feel supported and safe. Parents should be partners in that process as well. We should have some sort of feedback loop to understand that the parents are part of that process and understand what's going on and support it as well. Student schools should be orderly, respectful, and student centered. Um, to include the the full community again, the parents, the children, while the children feel safe at the same time. Um, these services should be practical and balanced. It shouldn't it shouldn't be, uh, over dominant on any one particular demographic. We should be able to have all children and everybody feel safe and supported as well. Um, academics must stay at the center, though in my opinion, reading, writing and math, science and history matter. Um, we should support the teachers and whatever they need in those areas, as well as being supportive in the certain special groups that need to be feel safe and supported as well. Um, use the resources that we have, and I'm sure there's some additional resources we could use for extra activities after school. Or maybe there's certain groups that will help, um, pitch in with ideas to do that as well. Um, I think that's that's my approach to that. Thank you very much. 00:19:20,069 S2: Thank you. And I'll go on to our last question and we'll start with you, Miss Lara. What do you see as the most important issue facing the district over the next three years? And what qualities or experience would you bring to help to address it? 00:19:37,940 S3: Um, sure. Um, so I think, um, the most pressing issue, I think is pretty evident is that it is our budget and our aging facilities. Um, and those are obviously, um, both financial and intertwined. Um, on the budget, um, are the current costs are rising. The same things you're seeing at home. They're energy costs, health care. Um, the same things that you're experiencing in your that we're all experiencing are rising. Our state aid while rising is not keeping pace. Um, we live in small communities that do not have a strong commercial base, and it is a real burden on our taxpayers. It is very difficult to sustain the level of excellence in education. So this is a real, um, a real issue. And it's important that people understand that, that it is a real issue, not just for our community, but for other similar communities. Um, and also financial. Our facilities are aging, and we need to maintain and move forward to determine how best to create the kinds of facilities that our students and our teachers need in order to be successful. Um, in, in providing an excellent public education. Um, again, this is at a cost that it is difficult for our taxpayers, um, to achieve. Um, and, um, I think what's going to be critical moving forward is to continue to engage with the community to determine the steps that the community wants to take. Thank you. 00:21:34,509 S2: Mr. Austin? 00:21:36,069 S4: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. I agree budget and facilities are the two primary concerns in the upcoming years. Um, something, you know, with the budget that we have to keep in mind. Yes, costs are always going to go up. Future inflation alone does not justify overspending today, though. Um, every project will likely cost more in the future. That's that's just a fact. That fact alone doesn't justify committing taxpayers to large expenses today. Responsible planning requires waiting, affordability, uh, financial costs presented, value and actual educational needs, and whether phased or small options can meet the need without overextending the community. Um, and we have to take those things in consideration when it comes to the facilities. I think with the facilities, it's something that we keep on overlooking is that we have six buildings in the, in the, in the, in the district of of all the district buildings total. We need to look at those have and I would I would suggest an independent study. Look at all of them for just from a construction point of view. Wherever our weak points, whatever our what our immediate needs and what are our long term planning needs, and look at that from a prioritized list and then try to figure out how do the programs fit into that after the fact. But first, just understand where we are today. What from a whole district, all six buildings? Which ones have the biggest, biggest needs or emergency needs right away. And then and then work your way into the priority list and then work your way into what programs can support us from there. And again, that doesn't mean you spend, oh, you know, something's going to cost a couple extra million days down years down the road. Yeah, inflation is always going to be there. You look at what you can afford today, what's needed versus what's wanted and work your way back from there. Thank you. 00:23:18,000 S2: Thank you. Uh, Miss Noone. 00:23:23,160 S2: Would like me to repeat the question. 00:23:24,640 S5: Yes, please. 00:23:27,279 S2: What do you see is the most important issue facing the district over the next three years? And what qualities or experience would you bring to help address it? 00:23:36,039 S5: Thank you. Um, yes. I do think that the, um, the facilities and the budgetary questions are obviously significant. And I would like to touch on something that Dana mentioned, which is the state aid question. I do think that if state aid had kept pace with both our municipal budget and our school budget, we would not be in the position of seeking overrides this year. I do think that the state aid issue is perhaps not on the radar of the average voter, but this is a real significant challenge that's impacting. Um, as others have mentioned, not only our towns, but surrounding communities. I think when we see that every community is grappling with shortfalls and overrides right now, it is a real signal that there's something wrong with the overall system that's supporting and funding education in our community. I do think that systems thinking and a systems approach, and an ability to advocate and ability to work with local legislators is an experience that I can bring to the table, to the school committee, to help really make the case for Hamilton and Wenham, that it is essential that the state age formula is revisited and improved for regional districts, for smaller districts, for more suburban or rural districts, that is a big structural problem that will not only help our taxpayers, but also maintain quality education in our community. I think a top educational experience is a main reason why people have moved here, why they have always moved here, and why it's. And that helps to sustain the real estate values for homeowners in both towns. So I think while we are addressing these important facilities issues and budgetary issues, we need to also think about the overall sustainability of the community as a whole and advocate for the true structural change that will really make a difference. 00:25:30,769 S2: Thank you. And now we'll go to closing statements and we'll start with you, Mr. Austin. 00:25:38,650 S4: Thank you again for the chance to be here tonight. This election is about whether the community wants more of the same or whether it's time for a different direction. I believe it is time for a different direction. And I believe it's time for new members in a fresh view in the school committee. Over the last year, residents made themselves clear more than once. But the same ideas keep getting pushed, the same outcome outcomes keep being chased, and the community was put through repeated votes that created unnecessary community division, frustration and a waste of taxpayers money. That is not the kind of leadership we should be repeating. I'm not here to attack anyone personally, but I do believe that the district needs a reset. It needs members who listen early. Ask hard questions and respect the public when it's spoken clearly. It needs better judgment, better planning, and a more honest relationship with the community. If you want a school committee that puts students first, respects taxpayers, listens to the full community, and is willing to bring a fresh approach. I ask for your vote. Thank you. 00:26:37,869 S2: Thank you, Miss Noone. You're next. 00:26:43,150 S5: Thank you. Um, tonight I would like to ask everyone in Hamilton, one of them, for your vote for a three year term for the school committee moving forward in this role as a current community member. My main goal is to support outcomes that are driven by consensus. I think consensus is a priority and a goal that we all need to reach for right now. Building consensus will require all of us. Members of the public. Local government school committee. Elected officials. Parents to participate. To participate transparently. To listen honestly and to stretch our own understandings and as a group, to find a direction that we believe is responsible and is fair to everyone. I've lived in this community almost my entire life. I have tremendous faith in this community. I've seen it do wonderful things over the years, and I think together we can make decisions that can feel legitimate and maintain trust even when we have difficult choices to make. 00:27:47,819 S2: Thank you and Miss Lara. 00:27:51,980 S3: So as a school committee member, our first responsibility is to to the children. And we do so in context of community. Um, our children deserve an excellent education and they also deserve to live in a community that has safe streets. Police fire services for our seniors provide all of those needed services to all of our citizens. And I hold that always as I make decisions on the committee. It's been an honor to do this work. And in the time on the that I've been on the committee the past six years, we've had several issues in the community that have expressed that our citizens have widely varied views. As the chair, I have worked hard to ensure that all voices are heard. I value the conversations that I have had in this office with people who hold views across the entire spectrum. I appreciate and welcome difficult conversations, and I've found that listening with curiosity nearly always brings connection and often uncovers areas of common ground as the voters go to the polls, I hope that they will see my commitment to collaborative leadership and thoughtful decision making. Our community has made it clear that excellent public education is something that our citizens want and expect in Hamilton. Wenham and I would be grateful for the opportunity to continue service on the Hamilton Regional School Committee. Thank you. 00:29:34,269 S2: Thank you. Now, at this time, I'd like to invite the Hamilton Wenham School Committee candidates running for the two year term to make their opening statements. And we'll start with Miss Burt. 00:29:55,630 S7: Good evening, and thank you to the League of Women Voters for your support. I appreciate it. My name is Janet Burt, and this town has been my home for 50 years. It's where I raised my family, where my children went to school, where my husband, Arthur Bert, spent many years teaching. And my connection to the schools isn't just professional, it's personal. I care deeply about this community and our schools, and over the years, I've seen firsthand how much our schools matter, not just to the students, but to the town as a whole. Professionally, I've spent decades in education, teaching middle and high school students, and now working with college students at Endicott North Shore Community College and a summer program at Harvard. I've also served as a supervisor in school systems and mentor to other educators. I hold two degrees, two master's degrees, one in English and one in library and media studies. But more than titles and degrees, what I really bring to this is a lifelong commitment to students into learning. I understand the classroom. I understand the challenges that teachers face, and I understand the importance of preparing students for what's coming next in their lives. I also understand this is a difficult time for our community and as everyone has said tonight, for many, many communities, it's not just here. There are real financial pressures in there, in our community, our strong feelings about the decisions in front of us. I've been listening to parents, to neighbors and to community members, and I know people want to feel heard and they want to feel respected about what they think. That's the kind of approach that I would bring to the school committee thoughtful, steady and grounded in respect. I believe that we can make responsible decisions and support strong schools. I believe that we can ask hard questions without losing sight of our shared goals, and I also believe we can move forward even when we don't all agree. 00:32:03,940 S2: Thank you. Next, Mr. Burger. 00:32:15,059 S8: All right. Thank you. All right. To the audience out there that will see this. My name is Carl Burger. I'm running for the school committee as I cannot just sit on the sidelines any longer. Um, I've been a resident of Hamilton since 2017 and a Massachusetts since 2000. I'm running because I believe we must address any downward trend in the Hamilton Wenham school rankings. Our communities have long been defined by their excellent schools, and it is vital that we restore that reputation. My platform focuses on two primary goals providing superior education and maintaining responsibility and responsibility towards the taxpayers money. Currently, there's a lack of confidence in the committee as budgets continue to rise while rankings moderate and decline. I'm a strong proponent of investing in our teachers and support staff. For those teachers, as this is the investment paramount to student success. If elected, I intend to closely examine the district's annual spending, for example, within the desk categories including pupil services, benefits and fixed expenses, administration costs, operation and maintenance, and instructional leadership. Expenditures have grown from 16.4 million in fiscal 24 to a projected 9.4 million in 26. Even with zero allocated for capital expenditures. These figures do not include direct teacher and teacher support expenses, and I believe we need a deeper understanding of these allocations. That's $16 million to $19 million. I bring four years of prior school committee experience from a community very similar to Hamilton women in size and structure. Professionally, my background is in finance. 00:34:24,349 S2: We have to. 00:34:24,789 S8: Stop the operation and facility management, and I believe that we can have and we need to do the thing and deliver better results for our students and our community. Thank you. 00:34:36,190 S2: Thank you, Mr. Reid. 00:34:41,909 S9: Thank you very much. So I'm fairly new to town. I moved here in 2000 with two young daughters that are in the school system. We started in Wenham and I moved over to Hamilton shortly thereafter. I've had the pleasure and the privilege to serve on the Little League board for four of the past five years, that my children have been involved in that. So I think a lot of the younger parents know who I am from a professional standpoint, just for my background, for the voters out there. I have primarily been in venture backed technology. Over the years, I've had the privilege of leading many successful teams, many successful companies, many successful exits, managing budgets that have gone from as small as 500,000 to 16.5 billion of my last acquisition of companies. I've negotiated contracts going spanning across both of those types of situations, as well as educated and taught our sales reps how to sell, how to position, how to understand technology. One of the key things I think I bring to the role of elected is my focus on understanding what is actually taking place from a holistic view, and boiling it down into bite sized pieces across the board. We have some significant gaps throughout the community. Our older generation feels very disconnected from what's going on in the school district. They feel very disconnected in what's taking place and where those dollars are being spent. My role here on the school committee, should I be elected, is really to bring that back to fruition, bring the community back together, and more importantly, look at all the long list of things that we have to get done from safety, space, structural concerns, uh, teacher salaries, spending costs, things of that nature across the board. So that's a little bit about my background and a little bit about what I'm trying to bring. Should I be elected? 00:36:25,559 S2: Thank you. And now I will read the opening statement submitted by David Polito. Good evening and thank you to the League of Women Voters for hosting and to everyone here tonight. I want to begin by apologizing for not being there in person. I have a standing Monday night teaching commitment at Montserrat College of Art, and I chose to honor that commitment because my students are relying on me to be there. My name is David Polito. I've spent the past decade serving this community on the Hamilton Wenham Regional School Committee, working directly on contract negotiations, budget development, capital planning and policy making. Those are the core responsibilities of the role and they require both experience and continuity. I'm also the only candidate currently working in education. I've taught at the middle school, high school and college levels, including in the post Covid environment, which has reshaped how students learn what they need and what modern classrooms and school facilities should look like to support them. My academic background is in educational leadership, curriculum and instruction, and my professional work is focused on helping students translate their education into real world skills and professional pathways. I'm running because I bring a decade of direct experience in this work, along with the current working understanding of education as it exists today, and I'm prepared to contribute immediately. Thank you. 00:37:56,530 S2: And now on to our first question. And Mr. Berger will start with you. 00:38:00,530 S9: Sure. 00:38:01,210 S2: After last year's rejection of the school consolidation proposal, what specific next steps should the school committee take on elementary school facilities, and what would you want done differently before asking voters to consider any future plan? 00:38:19,010 S8: Well, I think I would like to echo a lot of what Jeff had said in that we have to look at each of the facilities, we have to look at prioritizing what those repairs, refurbishments, renovations are, and then also look at the rest of the budget as well. The items that I identified somewhere in the middle, there has to be the ability for this town to upgrade the facilities and provide good education at a reasonable cost, and as was also noted, that there is a a growing portion of our population that is older and is on fixed incomes. We have to be respectful for all of the taxpayers and how we go about providing education, but also upgrading these facilities. So I'd have to look at each of these sites. We'd have to understand those and then prioritize what would be the best outcomes. Now it's not rocket science, it's facilities. And that's how I would approach it. 00:39:34,909 S6: Thank you. 00:39:36,869 S2: Um, Mr. Reid, you're next. 00:39:40,630 S9: So just to dive into that, I agree with a lot of what the other candidates are speaking about. I've spent the last three weeks touring each facility in depth. I did this two years ago, as well as part of the Strategic Planning Committee, and a year before that as well. So I've seen firsthand just where the facilities are in terms of just overall what's happening in each one we have. And it's no fault of the current committee, the previous committee or anyone prior. It's just we've kicked the can down the road on a lot of maintenance issues and always just continue to put them off. And we've talked. Everybody's talking about cost growing and things of that nature. We need to come up with a proper plan to look at what needs to be fixed today, what needs to be fixed tomorrow, and what can be again, pushed down a little bit until we can get them to a budgetary agreement to what we need to put off. I also do believe we need to really look very hard at the Cutler site. I do believe we need to rebuild that school. If you haven't toured that school. Please reach out to Eric. And for that school, there are some significant concerns in that building that need to be addressed immediately from accessibility all the way through to safety. Their safety concerns across all of our elementary schools. There are things that have been pointed out to me from other teachers, parents across the board that we really need to get a handle on ensuring those schools again. You'll see it firsthand the significant amount of work that we have in front of us. I agree. We need to bridge the gap between the taxpayers that are on fixed income. We have a lot of them here in Hamilton, one of them, and they can't take a significant tax increase just because we have pushed maintenance off in certain areas. We need to come up with a plan. We need to socialize this plan. We need to look at how we can be fiscally responsible. And we also need to look at where we can lock in potential savings costs by. Is it better to maintain or is it better to actually replace the color sight? We need to really look at that. I'm not saying consolidation won't be very clear on that. Consolidation is very different than replacing an aging school that is well outlived its useful cycle at this point. 00:41:41,909 S6: Thank you. 00:41:43,349 S2: And, Miss Burke. 00:41:45,590 S7: Could you repeat the question for me, please? 00:41:48,550 S2: After last year's rejection of the school consolidation proposal, what specific next steps should the school committee take on elementary school facilities, and what would you want done differently before asking voters to consider any future plan? 00:42:04,590 S7: Thank you. Um, I would repeat what other people have already said, but I would add to that, um, one of the things that I think absolutely has to happen, being a resident of Wenham is when a under the regional agreement has to have. Each town has to have a school in the town. And under the plan that did not pass, the Buca school is going to be pre-K to K. And that's not an elementary school, that's pre-K to K, that's not allowing the women kids to go to elementary school for all of elementary. So that would be one thing that I would say definitely has to happen. I also, I agree with what Tom said. I have been in all the schools and there was some major issues. Um, something that has to change is from right now on, we need to pick up maintenance. There's just no maintenance has happened in so many little maintenance. I should not say none have. It hasn't happened. We need a maintenance plan, and somebody needs to be observing what's happening and what's not happening. If there's a bathroom that doesn't have a sink to wash your hands, then put a sink in. You don't need to rip off the wing of the building because there's a bathroom with no sink. So I just think things need to be looked at from a different perspective. And as someone said, I don't remember who said it. This is not brain surgery. I don't think they said brain surgery, but these are buildings. This is like in your own house, what you do if something's happening in your house, if there was a leak in my house. And my young children who are now adults, want a beautiful playground set in the backyard, I would first fix the leak in my roof. Before I built that, let's say $3,000 playground for my children in the backyard and I the parallel to that is we did the sports fields, which really needed to be done. I get that, but we should have fixed that roof at the high school ten years ago. 00:44:06,360 S6: Thank you. 00:44:09,039 S2: On to our next question, and we'll start with you, Mr. Reed. What role to the School Committee play in ensuring schools are safe and inclusive for all students, including LGBTQ students? 00:44:22,440 S9: That's a great question. I'm going to quote Ted Lasso here, just because I think it's one of the best quotes that correlates to this. Let's be curious, not judgmental, which implies we have to teach empathy, understanding different personas, different perspectives, different points of view. It's really important that we help our children understand how to be empathetic, how to understand other people's viewpoints and embrace them and work with them and communicate with them. Uh, school supposed to be a safe place for everyone. Right? It should be the safest place that a child goes through, because we don't know what's going on in their home life. And school may be the only escape they get where it is calming and safe for them. So I believe we need to work very hard to ensure that our children, from every background, every area of life, feel included, feel respected, feel heard. That's one of the biggest things is feel heard about their feelings and about the things that they're thinking about. So I believe that school committees take an active role in helping guide the district and where that all goes. And I think that, again, it's incredibly important for these students to feel heard and respected and understood as they navigate their day to day lives, particularly in the elementary and all the way through to the high school. 00:45:38,809 S6: Thank you. 00:45:40,050 S2: Uh, Miss Burt. 00:45:43,130 S7: Thank you. Um, as an educator, I would say that, um, the school committee's role is really clear to me and has been for many years. Students, all students, whoever they are, need to feel like they fit in at this school. And if they fit, fine, if they have a place to fit wherever that place might be, they do better. And when they don't have a place to fit, they don't do well academically often. So someone might be what kids like to call a band geek. So if you're a band geek, you fit in with the band and then that's your role, or so we can take that across all aspects of the question that you just asked. Um, it's important for the school committee to have good school, good teachers, great teachers. Um, we need academics, but we also need the extracurricular things. We need sports, we need music, we need art, we need drama. We need places for all students to fit in, to feel like people appreciate them, that they are being treated, that they are as important as everyone else, and that they are being respected maybe in their particular role. And some people, you know, somebody that's a great person in drama gets respect there. Um, and I'm not trying to get off the question of, um, of the students and all the students, but and the school committee's role is, I think, to make sure we have enough places for kids to feel good about themselves. 00:47:19,269 S6: Thank you. 00:47:20,389 S2: And, mister, I. 00:47:27,429 S2: Hope you're muted. 00:47:32,780 S8: There we go. I guess we kind of jump to a conclusion, and I first wanted to find out if the. From the committee, from the school, the principal's. Is there a problem? Where is the problem? And how does that exist and why? So just to say that we'd want to make everything nice, warm and fuzzy is great, but we've got to find out what the issues are. Not assuming that they already exist, and then try to find a solution for that assumption. So that's where I would start as the committee and working with the principals to understand that. And then it's just pure common sense of no one likes a bully. I don't care what shape, form, whatever, and no one likes to be bullied. So that's what I would start with and then try to address. Um, I just want to have one little rebuttal on what Tom might have said earlier on. You know, we kicked the can down the road as a town, but also the town had leaders, and the leaders need to take some responsibility for where we are today. So getting back to what maybe Jeff said, we do need a reset and fresh faces to get in, to be able to look at these and move positively with the community. That's all I want to say. Thank you. 00:49:00,079 S6: Thank you. 00:49:02,039 S2: And to our final question, and, Miss Burt, we'll start with you. What do you see as the most important issue facing the district over the next three years? And what qualities or experience would you bring to help address it? 00:49:17,599 S2: And you're muted. 00:49:22,199 S7: I was trying to keep with the rules. Keeping my mute on. Okay. The most important issue is clearly what are we doing to the with the schools, you know, renovations, what we're doing. We've talked about that the schools all need help and the finance and the issue with the state is a huge issue. I'm not sure we can fix that, but I think, um, several of our legislators are working on it, but that's always a slow fix. Um, financially, we need to consider everyone in our community. We have a growing elder community, people on fixed incomes, you know, that cannot take a lot of huge hits and overrides. Um, so I think it's finances, but also we need safe schools. I was I'm distressed to hear that. I can't remember who said it, but I'm sure it's true that, you know, we I mean, that we may have to cut some safety issues if this override doesn't pass. That's a little bit frightening for all of us in life. Today, we want our children to be safe everywhere, particularly in our schools, and we need to figure out financially how can we do that? I'm not sure that the answer is that we have to just cut more teachers. I think we can look at other things that can be reduced to help with that financial issue, to maintain safety, to maintain the excellent schools. I having looked, I think there are other areas that can be reduced other than faculty, and I think that's the biggest issue we have to deal with. We want to keep our faculty. We want to keep small, small classes, great schools. But we need to fix those schools and we need to have good, safe schools. Thank you. 00:51:03,809 S6: Thank you. 00:51:05,449 S2: Mr. Burger. 00:51:12,889 S8: Sorry. My bad. Can you repeat the question, please? 00:51:16,889 S2: What do you see as the most important issue facing the district over the next three years? And what qualities or experience would you bring to help address it? 00:51:25,519 S8: Well, I think all of us here, whether the three year candidates or the two year candidates, touched upon the budget school, um, conditions, if you will. Um, I try to lay out in my opening statement where we would go initially and analyze the expenses. If we're spending millions and millions of dollars, we need to be able to look at the categories and understand what they would provide and where that goes. And how does that support our teachers and the teacher support? Um, resources? I'm a proponent of low class sizes, getting the teachers in, keeping the teachers and looking for other avenues from the budget to be able to repair our schools and upgrade our student outcomes for the rankings. 00:52:29,219 S2: And last but not least, Mr. Reed. 00:52:31,780 S9: Thank you. I think everybody's kind of touched upon the same theme, right. It's it's budget. It's school repairs. I also think we need to start to look at the evolving, changing world because it's constantly evolving of our student needs as they're coming in. There are different needs that children coming into town need. There's a lot of services that we already provide, which is outstanding, and that's going to continue to evolve and grow, uh, potentially as new families move into town. One of the prime reasons I moved into town in 2020 was for the schools. I think most candidates would agree that that's why most people move into town is is for the school system. That was a big driver for me and my family and the services and the way the schools are set up, small class sizes. I want to maintain as much of that as we possibly can. And I think that starts with what everybody's already said. We've got to really look at the budget. See where we're spending, but also at the same time, prepare for the evolving change of the future. What are the student's future needs? And there is a lot of things that are coming down the pipe that we need to look at. Unfortunately, we talked at great length here about the state funding and the problems there. That's another thing that we also need to be, over the next three years, working hard with our state legislation to figure out how we can help guide what we need from them and make sure that they understand we need that level of budgetary guidance from them on their side as well, and continue to fight that fight. So my honest opinion is just like everybody else is. We need to really look at the budget. We need to really look at what we can do today, tomorrow, over the next three years and focus hard on again, continuing to provide this outstanding educational services to our students and respecting the taxpayers. So those are the two things, I think a priority over the next three years. 00:54:14,610 S6: Thank you. 00:54:15,929 S2: And now we'll go to closing statements and we'll start with you, Mr. Burger. 00:54:22,590 S2: And you want to. 00:54:23,429 S8: Talk about you? Yes. Um, I would want to see if the community can heal a little bit after the last year and three votes. That would be very important, I think, to all of the residents of both towns and the leaders of the town. So the ability to communicate what's going on not only identify we know the problems, the buildings and and the budget, but we need to be able to bridge that gap and put out information that is succinct, can be understood, and addresses the variety of residents that we have from their age or student population, etc. so that's what I would like to do in my last statement, is, I would hope that the League of Women Voters here tonight, what things I can bring to bear on the School Committee for Hamilton and Women. Thank you. 00:55:39,980 S6: Thank you. 00:55:41,579 S2: Next, Mr. Reid. 00:55:45,380 S9: Thank you. First, I want to obviously thank the League of Women Voters for this opportunity, for all of us to come and communicate a little bit about, you know, what we're all about and our viewpoints and thoughts on where we need to go next. I also want to thank everyone for watching, and I hope I can secure your vote by basically stating, you know, everybody knows what we need to do. It's around building facilities, higher education, bringing stronger educational values into the classroom, making sure our students are set for success and continuing to showcase that Hamilton Wynnum is the place to go. If you want the best education for your students as they grow throughout their lives. I firmly believe that. I hope that my background in understanding contracts and things of that nature lends a lot here, but also my ability to bring the community back together. I spent a lot of time in a lot of broken teams throughout corporate America, bringing things back together and working hard. I think that we are a little bit tired between the numerous votes and all the things that we went through, uh, to really get to where we are, which is, you know, square one, right, where the cost of inaction is more costly than action at this point. And I'd like to see us come together as a community by listening, by understanding everyone's viewpoint, by bridging the gap between our schools and our school needs and our other community and our aging community here within Hamilton, Wenham, and bringing that all together so everyone can see how we're going to do this, why we want to do it, why it's important, and hopefully do it in a respectful manner, in a listening manner where taxpayers feel heard, feel understood, and we're not just, you know, throwing overrides constantly at them and increasing tax bills. It's about respect, communication and driving forward as one team. Hamilton one across the board, everyone from students, taxpayers, across the board to be one unit working to drive this home. Thank you. 00:57:36,909 S6: Thank you, Miss Byrd. 00:57:42,909 S6: Thank you. 00:57:44,070 S7: I want to thank the League of Women Voters again very much for doing this tonight. It is clear everyone in town is paying attention. They're asking questions, is speaking up coming from a shared commitment to doing what's right for our students. And we need to rebuild trust. That just isn't trust. Um, I agree that we we've had division because of the no votes. Um, and that needs to be healed. We need to work on that. We don't all have to agree, but common purpose matters. This has been. This town's been my home for most of my life. It's where I raised my family, where my children grew up and went to school. And I've seen the impacts our schools have, not just in the classroom for the students, but in everything extracurricular the town supports has always supported the schools and all the all the activities. It is a challenging time. We have tough decisions ahead and there are different perspectives on how to move forward. But I really believe that we really at the core, we all want the same thing. We want strong schools, responsible decision making and a community we can be proud of. If I have the opportunity to serve, I will approach this role carefully, respectfully and with a genuine willingness to listen. I think the listening part needs to be if I'm a member of school committee and someone emails me, I will answer that email. As an educator, I answer, I can't tell you how many emails every single day and dozens. So I have emailed several different committees, not just a school committee and never got get responses. And that's just not acceptable. Trust is built on communication, so I think finding common ground and making thoughtful decisions, but also opening up the trust because at the end of the day, this isn't about me or just one group. It's about all of us and about our students who are counting on us to get this done right. And I ask for your vote to do that. 00:59:49,519 S6: Thank you. 00:59:51,599 S2: And now I'll read David Alito's closing statement. Thank you again for the opportunity to be part of this process. The work in front of the district is complex and highly detailed. It involves infrastructure planning, long term capital decisions and budgets that require careful analysis well beyond the surface level. Meaningful cost savings, responsible investments and sustainable growth are not immediately visible. They are found within the details, and identifying them requires experience working through those specifics over time. There is a natural appeal to the idea of starting fresh. In practice, this work depends on a clear understanding of how the system operates, where the pressure points are, and how decisions carry forward over multiple years. I bring ten years of direct experience doing this work, and the ability to step in without a learning curve, with a clear understanding about the challenges and the opportunities ahead. I appreciate your time and consideration and I respectfully ask for your support. And now back to you, Jane. 01:00:58,980 S6: Great. 01:00:59,900 S1: So the league thanks the candidates for participating this evening. And a special thanks to you, Amy. Our moderator. We recognize that our time here was short, and we encourage voters who have follow up questions to contact the candidates directly. This video will be posted on the league's website and on YouTube, and will be provided to HW cam for additional distribution. If you want to learn more about our local league, please reach out to us on our website. Remember, for Windham residents, their annual town meeting will be held on Thursday, April 9th at 6 p.m. at Gordon College. And for Hamilton residents, their annual town meeting will be held on Saturday, April 11th at 9 a.m. at the Hamilton Windham High School auditorium. We also want to encourage you to vote in the local elections, which will be held on Thursday, April 16th from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.. Thank you for watching.