School Committee deep dive: AB Education Association questions

Town Elections are this coming Tuesday, April 28. For more general voting information, see Town’s Elections and Voting page. For information about School Committee candidates, read on.

The Acton Boxborough Education Association (ABEA) is the teachers union that represents the educators in the AB Regional School District. To help voters choose the best School Board candidates, they ask each candidate a series of questions.

In addition, you can read more about each candidate, including links to each candidate’s website, in last week’s Acton Exchange: Meet the candidates: Part 1, Contested races.

For even more information, the following recordings are also available:

• League of Women Voters Acton Area Candidate Forum Recording [39:04 mark]
• Acton Democratic Town Committee Forum Recording

And finally, see School Committee deep dive: AB Special Ed Parent Advisory Council questions.

This year, the questions for each candidate are:

1. Why are you running for School Committee? Are there any particular issues that inspired you to run?
2. What ideas do you have to help support students and educators with the AB Forward reorganization?
3. What are some of your ideas to ensure that our district can attract and retain qualified and talented educators?
4. Unless current economic trends change, our towns are likely to face continued fiscal pressure in the coming years. Would you be willing to support an operating override in the near future? If not, what ideas do you have to help make sure our school district has the revenue our students and educators need?

The answers for each candidate are presented here in alphabetical order.

Dennis Burianek

Question 1: No matter what role I have taken on in both my professional and personal activities, my goal is to strive for the common good, treat everyone with respect, and act with honesty and integrity. I desire a seat on the Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee to serve the community and ensure that our students, faculty, and administrators all are able to reach their full potential and have access to the services and resources needed to achieve those goals. Working with our young people through sports and Scouting brings me hope for the next generation of leaders in our community.

I thrive in environments where teams of people need to come together and solve difficult and complex problems. Through my participation on the AB Forward Steering Committee and my conversations with my friends and members of the community, I realized that my background as an engineer, a project manager, and a leader have given me a set of skills that I can use to give back to the community. For AB Forward, there was a large amount of data, research from the consultants, and input from the community. In a situation where there was no “good” answer, I was able to work with my fellow committee members to sift through the details and provide a recommendation to the full school committee. If elected, I hope I can use my talents to manage these and any future issues that are brought before the committee.

Question 2: The recent shift in elementary schools was driven by an aging infrastructure, declining enrollment, and increasing external budget pressures. It is essential that we come together as a community to demonstrate to our children how we can work together to build new school communities that reflect the values and objectives of our towns. Our kids are resilient and will adapt if we lead the way.

As I read through the community feedback, listened to the debates, and considered the options for elementary configuration, it was clear to me that everyone loved their school and school community. There was no easy way to identify any one community to bear the brunt of the changes. Now as we move forward, we have an opportunity to take what everyone loved about their previous school and combine them into something stronger and better.

Specifically, the new School Committee can help the new elementary school communities build these new traditions and trust between the children, their teachers, and the administration. We need to provide our educators with time and resources to get to know their new schools, their new staff and new students. This can be in the form of front loaded professional services days early next academic year and opportunities to meet and connect with students between now and next fall. We need to provide our students with opportunities to meet new friends and make the connections necessary for positive educational and emotional outcomes.

Question 3: Students are the key outcome and the main focus for the school district. However, the engine that drives those outcomes are the educators and staff that are continuous from generation to generation. I recognize that student outcomes are maximized when families, students, and educators work together to understand each individual student’s talents and needs. I have had children go through every level in the AB school systems from preK-12 and have seen both positive and negative aspects in the experiences of my own children and that of their friends and classmates. I believe we need to amplify our strengths such as community involvement in our schools and address weaknesses where our front-line educators feel like many of the scaffolds they have had for years have been slowly eroded by changing requirements, more complicated situations, and the removal of key support by assistants and specialists. In fact, it was the teachers and administrators that served with me on AB Forward that had the largest impact on my recommendations.

Now as a community, and a School Committee should I be elected, we need to find ways to build back the supports our educators need. The consolidation of the schools should allow us the budgetary flexibility to replace some of the staff and specialists we have lost over the past few years. We need to look for ways to combine services and potentially build programs for special education in-district to lower costs and give every student the support and services they need to reach their potential. We need to hire and retain our highest quality teachers as they will set the example going forward.

One of the key roles of the School Committee is to select the superintendent. With Mr. Light’s announcement of his departure, the next School Committee will be charged with hiring a replacement. We should look for a candidate who has exceptional listening and interpersonal skills to learn about our community from the students, teachers, and parents. The candidate should have the humility to inherit an existing restructuring plan and not feel the need to start over with their own vision and path forward. Lastly, the new superintendent must have demonstrated support for our educators and for taking on innovative ideas to confront the budget constraints we are facing in the ABRSD.

Question 4: The last five years have been very challenging. Acton’s limited commercial base, rising health care costs, decreasing state aid, and necessary capital investments have all contributed to our current state. The next School Committee will have to work closely with both towns to understand the path forward to a more sustainable budget model that allows us to hire and develop high quality educators: the main reason for our successful student outcomes.

While it is difficult to predict the future and understand the full financial picture for the future, I believe that many, if not most people moved to Acton because of the schools. I would be in favor of a future override in order to make sure we can attract the highest quality educators and provide the best outcomes for our students. In addition, for people who own their homes, the impact of declining property values should our school systems performance decline will far outweigh any increase in taxes the override would bring.

Tori Campbell (incumbent)

Question 1: What drives me hasn’t changed since I first ran in 2023: a deep belief that every student deserves the opportunity to become their best self, and that strong public schools are how we make that possible.

I’m running again because of my commitment to this belief and the people I’ve had the privilege to serve alongside: our students, families, educators, administrators, community members, and fellow Committee members. I have a passion for collaborative problem-solving and I deeply value teamwork. When public discourse is polarized and resources are strained, it’s more important than ever to stay grounded in our shared “why” and do the hard work of solving problems together.

My perspective is shaped by both experience and daily connection to students. As a 20-year military veteran, I have a deep background in policy, budget, strategic planning, and making tough decisions under pressure. In my work with local youth and families through Scouting, I see both the pride students take in their learning and the moments when they struggle and need more support. And, as an educator with two education master’s degrees from HGSE and eight years in classrooms from middle school to West Point, I understand how School Committee decisions play out in real classrooms.

On the Committee, I’ve paired that perspective with a commitment to thoughtful, data-informed decision-making. I believe it is essential to understand the greater context before making assumptions about what local data means. I’ve used education research and databases to analyze enrollment trends, funding formulas, student outcomes, and community feedback to test assumptions, identify where we follow broader trends and where we are different — and then ask why. My approach helped us advocate effectively to preserve about 80 educator positions through a successful override and secure over $700,000 in additional state funding through testimony to Commonwealth officials — an effort many educators supported. Thank you.

Just as important as what we achieve is how we do the work. As chair of the Elementary Budget Task Force, a member of the AB Forward Steering Committee, and now School Committee Chair, I’ve focused on creating space for respectful, fact-based dialogue, especially when perspectives differ. Those groups reached strong consensus not because the work was easy, but because people stayed engaged, listened, and remained committed to a shared outcome. The feedback educators shared during the work of the Elementary Budget Task Force changed the way I approached AB Forward — and while that has not been easy, knowing how much the tone of the conversation mattered grounded me in how I approached every gathering. Again, thank you. I can only imagine how hard it has been to care for the students in front of you while the process of planning for the future was going on simultaneously.

The decisions we’ve made this year have been difficult, and they are impacting our entire community — and many of you, personally. Consistency matters in this moment so we can provide a stable foundation for the AB Forward implementation and selections of a new superintendent. This year, five of eleven School Committee seats are on the ballot, including three of the seven members from Acton. I am the only Acton incumbent. I am committed to providing the experience, continuity, and steady leadership this moment requires.

Question 2: We often think about AB Forward’s reorganization in structural terms, and to a certain extent, that is true. The status quo was familiar and comfortable, but five years of budget shortfalls was impacting learning and teaching environments; without structural changes, our high-quality education system was in danger. With falling enrollment, we needed to bring elementary educators and students together across locations, schedules, cultures, and leadership so that we could better meet students’ needs and balance the load across educators. And, AB Forward’s success is about so much more than consolidating to address declining enrollment and using taxpayer dollars effectively.

Our AB Forward Strategic Plan defines what matters most for our entire district: high-quality education, responsive support for educators, welcoming and inclusive communities, and sustainable district systems. What we need next is to execute it well, focusing on what will make it successful: relationships between students, educators, and families. Our process included far more community engagement than typically seen in districts of any size, and it built shared understanding even as it asked much of educators, administrators, students, and families. At this moment, what our district needs most is stability, focus, and space to heal.

My immediate priority is ensuring students, educators, and families have what they need to make this transition successful. That starts now with protecting educator time for thoughtful student placement and collaboration so class lists can be finalized by June. Pairing educator knowledge with universal screening and family input is one of the most powerful tools we have. As School Committee Chair, I have worked to ensure timelines, resources, and expectations support educators in doing this work well.

Looking ahead, relationship-building will be key. Across classrooms, buildings, buses, playgrounds, and family events, we must invest time to know each other and create strong, inclusive communities together. Although it is not typically School Committee-level work (i.e. policy and budget), I advocated for School Committee efforts to support creating relationship-building opportunities over the summer because it is a gap no one else is yet prepared to fill. I see this role transitioning back to PTOs once fully established.

We also need clear measures of success. Strengthening MTSS is central. The reorganization creates opportunities — through larger, grade-aligned teams and more flexible schedules — to bring together students with similar needs during flex blocks or interventions, ensuring more students get the support or enrichment they need. Deliberate collaboration and data-driven decision-making will be critical in realizing this potential. And, data will also help us see when we need to reach out more or differently to strengthen the relationships that make learning possible.

Supporting educators is equally important. This transition places significant demands on staff, and we must listen, monitor impact, and adjust as needed. Strong district leadership and accountability will be essential, and I will continue to urge administrators to track not only completion of tasks, but whether they achieve their intended outcomes. I know we have asked you to complete many surveys this year; please keep sharing your feedback, it makes a difference.

And, we need to come together to hire our next superintendent. I am hoping to find a leader who will learn and hold the multiple perspectives of our community, who will commit to implementing the AB Forward Strategic Plan deliberately, thoughtfully, and with openness to making the small adjustments that are essential to successfully translating a plan into reality. And, I hope to find someone with strengths in community-building who can help us remember the values we hold in common and lead us in reaching them together.

At the highest level, bringing our community together through responsible, stable leadership to support this effort is critical. Supporting AB Forward is not compatible with actions that destabilize it. Voting down the district budget at Town Meeting would create a multi-million-dollar gap, force unplanned staff cuts, and put the entire transition at risk. That kind of disruption would hurt students and educators alike.

As a community, our focus should shift outwards: we must continue to communicate our concerns about inadequate funding education to our state legislators. And, we must also do our best with the hand that we have been dealt. At this moment, the School Committee’s job is to implement the decisions made through a thoughtful, collaborative process that supports healing and relationship-building. Doing so with focus, consistency, and commitment ensures students, educators, and families can thrive through this transition.

Question 3: This question hits close to home. At my own school, I see the frustration of losing talented colleagues because the demands of the work have become more challenging in recent years. I know this isn’t unique to my experience. Here at AB, it’s also clear how deeply our community values its educators and recognizes what you do for our students. Thank you for your dedication, commitment, and your passion for education.

Acton-Boxborough has one of the strongest reputations for educational excellence in the Commonwealth, and that reputation will continue to attract top talent. It’s important to tell our story: the vibrancy of our schools, the diversity of our community, how hard we work to stay ahead of budget pressures, and the human side of teaching here. Podcasts, social media, and educator testimonials help prospective teachers understand what makes AB special, and many current educators already help recruit colleagues from other districts.

Attracting talent is only part of the work. Retaining excellent educators requires attention to working conditions, professional support, and the resources needed to do the job well. As a sitting School Committee member during an ongoing negotiations year, I will focus my remarks on these broader priorities rather than contract specifics.

From experience on both sides of the bargaining table, I know that fair, supportive, and predictable working conditions are central to keeping educators engaged and successful. And, we must pair these efforts with responsible financial stewardship and long-term planning. I acknowledge that striking this balance is challenging for us all.

Over the past few years, I appreciate how we have collaborated to make decisions that — while difficult — have served as a buffer to sudden, unplanned change. By proactively planning to manage budget shortfalls, we have avoided the kind of sudden staffing crises seen in districts such as Lexington, which recently confronted last-minute cuts of 65 positions and faces closing 1-2 elementary schools, or Westford and Belmont, where failed overrides forced significant reductions in staff. I believe our approach to long-term planning puts us ahead of many other districts, and that will help us both attract talented educators and provide pathways for them to contribute to making AB their home in the long run.

At the end of the day, people stay where they feel supported, respected, and able to do their best work. If we stay focused on those fundamentals, I am confident that AB will continue to be a place where great educators want to teach and where they can thrive.

Question 4: When the time comes in Acton or Boxborough, I will be there to support an override for our schools (and likely our towns, as well). We still have some untaxed levy capacity in Acton (~$1.2M), so I am hopeful we have a few more years, but I also recognize that there’s just not much left to cut without significant increases in class sizes or cutting back necessary services. We’re very close to the limit of what we can cut without significant negative impacts to the quality of education in AB.

As a three-year member of the Budget Subcommittee and the Acton Leadership Group, I have analyzed budget drivers in depth and compared our district to peers. While we spend less per pupil than the state average, our students graduate among the most accomplished and best-prepared young adults in the Commonwealth.

We have worked hard to maintain this balance of educational excellence and fiscal responsibility. Since 2023, we have cut a net 43 positions, focusing on administration and non-student-facing roles, and moved to more stable insurance plans to offset rising costs. Consolidating our schools into three buildings will save $17 million over the next ten years, in addition to over $50 million in capital costs to support an aging building. This protects classroom teaching and student supports while better addressing an increasingly complex student population.

However, we are at the limit of smart savings without impacting quality. Class sizes are at — or exceeding — School Committee guidelines, and we have underinvested in facility maintenance, curriculum, and digital subscriptions by 25-33% compared to peer districts. Some positions, like custodial and front office staff, had to be restored because previous cuts went too deep. Educators are increasingly stretched, with fewer colleagues to support students in need.

I supported the override in 2023 and, as a private citizen, was a proud member of Together for Acton. I have also led legislative advocacy campaigns that brought in over $700,000 in state funding for 2025 and 2026. Working closely with Select Board and Finance Committee members, I understand the difficult decisions our communities face in sustaining public services while keeping taxes manageable, especially for seniors on fixed incomes. I am proud of how members of both towns’ Select Boards and Finance Committees boards came together at a Commonwealth hearing to advocate for a fairer assessment of our communities’ ability to pay. We have exhausted internal options to reduce costs; we must continue our advocacy efforts to increase revenue.

The AB Forward initiative has been incredibly challenging from start to finish. Planning, collaboration, and implementation have required extraordinary effort from administrators, teachers, staff, families, and students. When the time comes, I will tell voters it is time for our community to show support, by providing the resources necessary to sustain excellence, ensure educators have what they need, and help every student succeed.

Daniel Carroll

Mr. Carroll did not submit responses to the ABEA questionnaire.

Jacob Fay

Question 1: I’m running because this is a pivotal moment for Acton-Boxborough, and I have a unique combination of relevant experience to bring to it. I’m a former middle school history teacher. I’ve earned a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education specifically focused on education policy and school reorganization — the very challenge this district is navigating right now. I’ve co-written two books on the complex ethical judgments that undergird educational decision-making, both in the classroom and at varying levels of policy. And I have two kids in AB elementary classrooms today, which means this work is deeply personal to me, not just professional.

I also care deeply about the Acton community. I coach youth sports and I just finished my tenure as the President of the Pats Hill Recreation Club.

I believe there are three challenges that will define this Committee’s next term: overseeing the AB Forward transition effectively so we can capitalize on the flexibility and opportunities reorganization affords the district; stabilizing a budget under real long-term pressure so that we can continue to support exceptional educators and maintain important direct student services; and hiring the right superintendent to lead this district for the next decade. All three require clear thinking and honest communication with the community. That’s what I’m offering.

Question 2: The School Committee’s most important contribution here is moving expediently and communicating clearly — starting with ensuring that teacher and student placements are resolved as early as possible so that educators can begin building relationships with their new colleagues and communities before the school year begins. Uncertainty is one of the hardest things to work through, and the Committee can set a policy expectation that the administration minimizes it.

Beyond that, I’d want the Committee to actively support the community-building work that makes a school feel like home: supporting PTAs and school councils at the newly configured schools, funding and encouraging summer events that bring families together before the first day, and creating space and time for collaboration time between educators who may not have worked together before. Perhaps most importantly, I’d want to invite community-driven proposals — from families, educators, and students — to help build the identity of each school.

But we need to get placements done first. Then we can build.

Question 3: Educators know better than anyone what makes a school worth staying in. My job on the Committee would be to make sure policy and resources back that up. And as a former teacher, I have a real sense of what it means to feel respected and supported. My door will always be open to AB educators.

Attracting and retaining educators starts with compensation. I want to ensure that AB remains competitive — benchmarking against comparable districts, prioritizing salary steps where we’re most likely to lose people, and advocating at the state level for stronger Chapter 70 funding that gives us more room to do that.

But compensation is only part of it. I want to pursue policies that protect stable class sizes and honestly reckon with what’s being asked of educators today — the increasing complexity of truly inclusive classrooms, and the social and technological shifts that keep changing the nature of job. To me, that means professional development that’s educator-driven rather than district-mandated, and working with the superintendent to build real time and space for collaborative peer learning and mentorship.

I think that the superintendent search matters enormously here. The leader I want to hire is someone with a demonstrated record of supporting and retaining strong teachers, and is someone educators trust and would want to work for.

Question 4: Yes, if the conditions warrant it, I would support an operating override. I think it’s important to be honest with the AB community about why that support has to be grounded in a clear-eyed understanding of the fiscal situation. An override is a significant ask of Acton and Boxborough residents, and it will only succeed — and only be right to ask for — if the district has demonstrated that it has scrutinized every other option first, protected classrooms and direct student services above all else, and can show voters what’s concretely at stake if the override fails.

The more important question — beyond just supporting an override — is whether this Committee will be honest with the community about the real tradeoffs ahead, build the trust needed for residents to say yes when asked, and make sure that a yes actually protects what it promises to protect — the educators and programs that make AB exceptional. This is what I can commit to working toward if elected to the School Committee.

Diego Represa

Question 1: I am running for School Committee because there are multiple complicated challenges that our school district is facing, which require a holistic approach in order to find adequate solutions. I think that I can bring some solutions at the same time that help drive a structured rational process with clearly defined goals and engaging the right stakeholders. In particular, the inputs from the educators have to be the foundation not only for the decisions made by the School Committee, but also for the policies being developed. Educators are the people working with our kids, so they have the best understanding of what is needed to help educate our children.

We as the School Committee need to focus again on conversations around education, to the specific challenges that kids and teachers are facing every day. For example, how to develop educational policies that address the challenges being created by new technologies like phones, AI, and screen-based learning.

The new reorganization of the Elementary School System has changed the paradigm of how the district has operated for decades. To be consistent with the new system, where open enrollment is not an option for us as parents anymore, the School Committee has the duty to ensure consistent methodologies, values, and goals across all the three new elementary schools.

Finally, the School Committee has the obligation with our town to develop a realistic long-term plan that solves the budget issue within our current economic constraints. The AB Forward reorganization has helped to reduce the issue, but there is still more work to be done.

Question 2: The best way for the School Committee to support our students in this challenging process is by supporting parents and teachers. Parents have lost trust on the School Committee through the process, and we need to reestablish it by improving the consistency across the different schools, so the parents can be confident again about the quality of the school where their kid has been placed. Parent involvement in the schools has been a key contributor to the success of our school district in the past, and re-building that trust to engage them again will be a fundamental aspect to safeguard the education of the kids in our districts in the upcoming years.

The other important foundation of the ABRSD was the bottom-up approach where teachers were able to work with flexibility and were given the opportunity to propose ideas, having the School Committee as the element that helped catalyze those ideas to improve the educational system. Giving back that opportunity to the educators again as this new school system is built up will be necessary to not only support the educators, but also to get them excited for the unique opportunity in front of them to shape education in Acton and Boxborough for years to come.

Question 3: One of the key aspects to attract and retain educators is to offer a stable work environment. In particular, to be able to develop a long-term budget plan to ensure that expectations for the next few years are clearly defined, and each budget season is not associated with firing season.

Another important aspect is to prove not only with words, but also with actions, that the School Committee listens and takes into consideration the inputs from the educators, whose daily experience with the kids offers an invaluable input to our School District.

We also need to ensure that the educators have the right tools to develop their work, as well as the adequate opportunities to develop professionally.

Question 4: A realistic long-term plan well supported within the current budget constraints is fundamental to bring back stability. An increase in stability rebuilds trust, which improves the engagement from parents, educators, and the town in general. Our town was never distinguished for being among the wealthiest towns in the state, but the engagement from the community is what made up for the lack of resources. Having a robust plan sets a common goal so everyone is pulling in the right direction improving efficiency. A well-established plan provides a clear direction helping identity earlier enough deviations to be addressed before they become more expensive. A plan improves development of preventing actions instead of a more reactive philosophy.

I don’t think that our community can afford another operating override considering the economic challenges that our economy is facing right now; we were not a rich town, and we are still not a rich town. We need to focus on the basics to understand where to focus our limited resources, while at the same time bringing new ideas to increase our resources. For example, our schools and facilities are empty 50 percent of their life; could we increase their utilization? There is a high demand from parents for after school activities, weekend sports, summer camps…could we rent our spaces to provide these services to our community to increase revenues to our school district? This is only one idea, but I am sure that there are a lot of different ideas out there in our community, which utilized properly would help to close the gap in the budget.

Let’s build a solid plan, bring back stability, and rebuild trust, to become one team again able to find the creative solutions needed to continue educating kids for generations to come.

Natasha Sikorski-Onken

Question 1: I am running because I believe our district is at a crossroads that requires proactive, transparent, and high-stakes financial stewardship. Like many in the community, my deep engagement with the AB Forward process stemmed from a place of frustration — not just with the outcomes, but with the process itself.

My involvement began in 2022 when my eldest son started kindergarten at the new Boardwalk campus. Seeing a state-of-the-art facility underutilized while student enrollment trended downward was a wake-up call. Following the 2024 override, I dedicated myself to understanding the fiscal complexities facing ABRSD. I was struck by how often the conversation devolved into short-term finger-pointing rather than the long-term, strategic problem-solving required to navigate both local and state-level challenges.

Three core issues shape my platform:

• Thoughtful Leadership Through District Change: To me this includes both true transparency and healing the community fractures. While meetings are open, there is a significant gap between making information available and truly reading in the public. Many neighbors felt blindsided by the district’s restructuring because the communication lacked clarity and proactive engagement. I want to shift our culture from passive disclosure to active community partnership. The recent restructuring also unfortunately pitted elementary schools against one another, creating a divide that was largely avoidable. This loss of trust among families is a massive obstacle to the future support the district will inevitably need. I am running to restore that trust through clear messaging, consistent directives, and a commitment to treating every school as a vital part of a unified district.
• Protect and Strengthen Educational Excellence: ABRSD is known for its strong schools, dedicated educators and engaged families. One of the most important responsibilities of the School Committee is protecting the district’s ability to deliver high-quality education in the midst of the evolving needs of students. The aim should be to protect what makes the district strong while recognizing and responding to areas where improvement is needed.
• Financial Stewardship and Accountability: The narrow margin of the recent override signaled a community frustrated by rising costs. Learning later that year that the incoming Douglas kindergarten class would be reduced to only two sections — further underutilizing a building taxpayers specifically funded — felt like a breach of good faith. We cannot sustainably ask for more investment without demonstrating rigorous due diligence in how we use the assets we already have.

Question 2: The reorganization has brought a heavy sense of loss and frustration to our community, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that this transition is especially demanding for our educators. At the same time, it presents an opportunity to build a more unified district if we are intentional about how we support both students and staff. My approach focuses on proactive connection, meaningful support, and continuous listening:

• Empowering School Identities: While each school has unique traditions, they share a core commitment to our students. At Douglas, I participated in a principal-led initiative to strengthen inclusivity during this transition. We developed a Welcome Brochure, shared with the superintendent and School Committee this past February, to help turn anxiety into curiosity. Expanding this district-wide would give families access to staff introductions, campus maps, and traditions that will continue, helping students feel a sense of belonging before day one.
• Facilitating Early Connections: We shouldn’t wait until September to build community. District-supported open houses, similar to the Kindergarten model, would allow students to meet educators and staff in advance. PTO-led meetups can complement this work, but should remain optional and community-driven, not an added expectation on educators. These efforts can shorten the transition period so teachers can focus on instruction sooner this upcoming fall.
• Prioritizing Meaningful Educator Support: The success of this transition depends on our teachers, and we need to match that with real support. This includes providing dedicated, structured time, built into the schedule, for new teams to collaborate, plan, and align before the school year begins. We should also be mindful of workload and avoid adding new initiatives during this transition period. Supporting educators through this change will be critical not only for student success, but for retention.
• Maintaining an Active and Accountable Feedback Loop: Support cannot end once school starts. We need a clear and ongoing feedback process where educators and families can raise concerns and where the district is prepared to act on that feedback in real time. Identifying issues early and addressing them quickly is essential to rebuilding trust and ensuring long-term stability.

Question 3: Attracting and retaining top-tier talent starts with a culture of transparency and professional trust. In my experience, high-performing teams don’t happen by accident; they are built through intentional leadership that recognizes every educator as a subject-matter expert and valuable asset.

To ensure ABRSD remains a destination for the best teachers, I propose focusing on:

• Valuing Educator Expertise: We hire educators for their specialized qualifications, and we must honor that by actively seeking their input on the decisions that affect their classrooms. While leadership must occasionally make difficult or unpopular choices, those decisions are better supported when staff feel their experiences have been heard and respected, rather than dismissed.
• A Culture of Mutual Respect: Retention is driven by how an individual feels valued within their organization. If educators feel their professional opinions are discounted, morale and loyalty erode. We must foster an environment where leadership demonstrates appreciation for the team’s daily dedication, which in turn inspires reciprocal respect and commitment to the district.
• Strategic Leadership Selection: This is a top-down priority, which is why the selection of our next superintendent is the most critical lever for change. We need a leader who will define a culture of collaboration and empowerment, someone who understands that the success of our students is inextricably linked to the professional satisfaction and stability of our staff.

Question 4: Yes, I would support an override, but with a critical caveat: we must first rebuild the foundational trust between the district and the taxpayers. Support for an override is earned through demonstrated fiscal discipline and clear, proactive communication. Before asking for more, the district must prove it has exhausted every internal efficiency.

To secure the revenue the district needs while respecting the taxpayer, I propose the

following:

• Prioritizing Cost-Effective Reorganization: While I support increasing elementary school efficiency, I believe the reorganization model selected may be one of the most expensive ways to achieve those savings. We must account for the long-term hidden costs – such as the recurring expense of redrawing geographic lines and the operational challenges of unequal building utilization. True stewardship means choosing the most sustainable path, not just the most immediate one.
• Data-Driven Leadership: Strong leadership requires following the data, even when it challenges previous assumptions. We cannot afford to dismiss new information because it necessitates a pivot. I will advocate for a School Committee that remains agile and objective, ensuring that our financial strategy evolves as our enrollment and economic trends change.
• Expanding the Revenue Base: We must look beyond the individual homeowner. I want to leverage the expertise within Acton and Boxborough to explore ways to strengthen our commercial tax base. Reducing our over-reliance on residential property taxes is essential for the long-term health of our schools and our towns.
• Demonstrating Due Diligence: To pass a successful override, leadership must clearly show the community the specific steps taken to avoid it. We need to move away from short-sighted decisions and toward a multi-year strategic plan that the public can actually see, understand, and trust.