METHUEN — Voters will have a chance to elect six School Committee members on Nov. 8.
Eight candidates are running for the six spots, including three incumbents.
The Eagle-Tribune asked the eight candidates to answer four questions. Here is what they had to say:
Candidates for Methuen School Committee
Choose six for two-year term
Age: (answer left blank)
Address: (answer left blank)
Occupation: Stay-at-home mom. former small business owner, small business manager, special needs case manager.
Education: Methuen High School graduate
Personal: Married to John Batal, four children, three enrolled at Marsh Grammar School.
With a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall next year, where will you look to cut?: I will look to consolidate with the city side wherever possible, eliminate any duplication of services, and last but not least before any layoffs of personnel, I would support a salary freeze starting from top down.
What is the biggest weakness of the School Department and how will you work to improve it?: in my opinion, the biggest weakness is the curriculum. Teachers are being mandated to teach to the test rather than teaching a basic elementary education. Members of the School Committee blame the state for this problem. we have some local control, I suggest we use it.
Does the superintendent deserve a near perfect performance evaluation?: it would be unfair for me to attempt to answer this question, as I have not worked with her. I can say she has always been responsive to me in answering any of my concerns.
Do you support giving a raise for teachers in their next contract? if so, what would you consider a fair raise in these trying economic times?: not at this point in time. with a projected $2 million shortfall just for this year, it would be irresponsible to consider any salary increases without massive layoffs which is something I’m not ready to accept.
Name: Evan Joseph Chaisson*
Address: 106 Sevoian Drive
Occupation: Assistant home delivery manager at The Salem News.
Education: Methuen High School
Personal: Parents James and Kimberly Chaisson, sister Stephanie.
With a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall next year, where will you look to cut?: Cutting energy is where I would look first. we need to install energy management systems in all of our buildings. Bundling services with other municipalities, e.g. electric, natural gas could save us thousands. Consolidation with the city side would help as well. Methuen residency enforcement policy needs to expand.
What is the biggest weakness of the School Department and how will you work to improve it?: more grants, and more money are the Methuen school district’s biggest needs. This year has been tough with cutbacks in grants and funding from the state and federal governments. we need to continue to focus on providing a quality education for all Methuen students, and only Methuen students.
Does the superintendent deserve a near perfect performance evaluation?: I believe this superintendent has done a tremendous job moving Methuen in the right direction. Successful negotiations with three unions, resulting in zero percent raises, a balanced budget, and increase in test scores across the district — this was done in the hardest economy Methuen has seen since the great depression.
Do you support giving a raise for teachers in their next contract? if so, what would you consider a fair raise in these trying economic times?: since I’m on the negotiation team for the School Committee, I’m unable to answer this question at this time.
Name: Mary Jean Fawcett
Address: 344 Pelham St.
Occupation: Assistant executive director for the New England League of Middle Schools
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, Lowell State College; master’s degree in Reading/Lang Acquisition, Lowell University; master’s degree in Educational Management, Lesley College; graduate work in Educational Leadership, UMASS Lowell and UMASS Boston.
Personal: Married to Thomas Fawcett for 38 years, two children, Thomas and Johanna.
With a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall next year, where will you look to cut?: my top priority is to maintain reasonable class size. not having the budget figures and the input from the superintendent and her administrative team, it’s not appropriate at this time, for me to identify specific cuts. Every aspect of the budget must be under review for potential cost savings.
What is the biggest weakness of the School Department and how will you work to improve it?: I would like the School Department to review its middle level program (grades five-eight). Current research indicates that middle level (grade six) is the place to identify students at risk for dropping out of school. Effective middle level practices would support and improve student success at the high school.
Does the superintendent deserve a near perfect performance evaluation?: The superintendent appears to be doing a fine job. not having been part of the process, not knowing the evaluation tool used and the standards, goals, and expectations that were assessed, I cannot put a specific rating on her performance.
Do you support giving a raise for teachers in their next contract? if so, what would you consider a fair raise in these trying economic times?: yes, I believe teachers and, in fact, all municipal employees should be fairly compensated for their work and their efforts to keep current in their fields. however, given the present serious financial crisis, a raise is something that will be determined through the negotiation process, which is currently taking place.
Name: mark Graziano
Address: 51 Riverview Blvd.
Occupation: Director of finance and operations, The Pike School
Education: University of Massachusetts Lowell, bachelor’s degree in Finance and Marketing; Colorado State University, MBA
Personal: Wife, Alison Forsythe Graziano; children, 11-month-year-old twins, Brody and Bailey.
With a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall next year, where will you look to cut?: my focus when looking at the budget would be to maintain current class sizes. To accomplish this, I would look at opportunities to consolidate redundant school and municipal services, increase alternative revenue sources and grant funding, and also look at group purchasing opportunities with the city and neighboring communities.
What is the biggest weakness of the School Department and how will you work to improve it?: The biggest weakness is lack of funding. appropriate funding will allow us to expand and grow programs at each school, while at the same time reducing or maintaining class size. I will work to create a long-term strategic plan in order to be a more proactive school district.
Does the superintendent deserve a near perfect performance evaluation?: Based on my conversations with residents, the superintendent has done a great job. however, to give a near perfect score I feel our schools need to be near perfect in standardized testing, dropout rate, and four-year high school graduation rate, which are currently at or below the state average.
Do you support giving a raise for teachers in their next contract? if so, what would you consider a fair raise in these trying economic times?: I support an increase to salaries but only if it means not cutting staff or programs that would directly affect the children or put an unfair tax burden to those on fixed incomes. a fair increase would be equal to that of what the rest of the municipal employees receive.
Name: Barbara Pierog Grondine*
Age: (answer left blank)
Address: 4 Moody Ave.
Occupation: Retired school psychologist
Education: bachelor’s degree in Education, Lowell University; master’s degree in Counseling/Psychology, Salem State College.
Personal: 47-year resident of Methuen. Husband Thomas. Children: Susan E. Grondine Dauwer, Thomas, Michael and David. five grandchildren. Board of Directors for several charitable organizations.
With a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall next year, where will you look to cut?: we have to ensure that the money we do have is put to effective use. I will work with the superintendent and her administration to determine future cuts, if any. one area I will fight for is retaining our classroom teachers and the integrity of our class size.
What is the biggest weakness of the School Department and how will you work to improve it?: Space. with an ever-increasing school population we will need to look at how best to use the facilities we now have. we need to take a proactive approach to ensure that our schools use this scarce resource efficiently to provide a quality education for all our students.
Does the superintendent deserve a near perfect performance evaluation?: yes. The superintendent’s commitment to ensure that all children will excel has been one of her strongest assets. Her communication and management skills served her well when dealing with the many unforeseeable crises she has encountered her first year. Her leadership has contributed to our continued excellence as a school system.
Do you support giving a raise for teachers in their next contract? if so, what would you consider a fair raise in these trying economic times?: Because we are now in mediation with the union, it would be inappropriate to discuss any aspects of the current negotiations. I would hope that all parties can find common ground for a fair and acceptable contract during these trying times.
Name: Lynne M. Hajjar Kumm
Address: 180 Old Ferry Drive
Occupation: Currently stay-at-home mom. Previously employed as an inside sales representative at 3M Health Information Systems and a product manager at Alcatel Lucent.
Education: Graduate of Methuen High, bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from UMASS Lowell.
Personal: Lifelong resident of Methuen. Husband Timothy of 16 years. Twin sons Joshua and Jonathan are fifth-grade students at Comprehensive Grammar School.
With a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall next year, where will you look to cut?: we must find ways to reduce the large deficit without impacting students. Consolidation of duplicate city/school functions and organizations such as building operations, grounds/fields maintenance and IT, as well as moving school employees to the state insurance program (GIC) would provide significant cost savings.
What is the biggest weakness of the School Department and how will you work to improve it?: a more balanced funding approach is needed. Besides helping at-risk students improve, the seventh- and eighth-grade foreign language and the gifted and talented program should be reinstated, so every child reaches their highest potential. we must strive for excellence through top-notch instruction and appropriate reward and recognition.
Does the superintendent deserve a near perfect performance evaluation?: although I am happy with Superintendent Judith Scannell’s progress so far, there is always room for improvement. Scannell inherited some serious challenges and has made outstanding progress in a short time. I hope to have the opportunity to work with her.
Do you support giving a raise for teachers in their next contract? if so, what would you consider a fair raise in these trying economic times?: It’s not prudent to offer raises during this economic crisis. Nineteen teachers were lost in 2010 because union leadership wouldn’t accept a 5 percent raise cap. ‘I don’t want to see schools negatively affected by larger classes and limited resources. we must keep students the priority during all contract negotiations.
Address: (answer left blank)
Occupation: Pediatric dental assistant
Education: Northern Essex Community College, degree in dental assisting. UMASS Boston, teacher’s training program — vocational. Pediatric dental continuing education courses for the past 17 years.
Personal: Three children that went through Methuen school system, Kenny, Nicholas and Natalie. former city councilor, community development board, president of the Public Safety Commission.
With a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall next year, where will you look to cut?: I will work with the superintendent to identify areas of potential savings, but we’ll be faced with difficult choices. I will strive to avoid cuts to direct services to our students in the classroom. Our core mission is classroom instruction, and that is where we should focus our scarce resources.
What is the biggest weakness of the School Department and how will you work to improve it?: There is general consensus that improving test scores for our subgroups is an area requiring improvement. we must focus additional resources toward that goal, as well as doing an evaluation of our current efforts with the goal of bringing greater proficiency to our subgroups and achieving overall proficiency under NCLB.
Does the superintendent deserve a near perfect performance evaluation?: Superintendent Scannell has done an outstanding job, and from my perspective deserves very high marks. The process of evaluating the superintendent is ongoing, and one of the School Committee’s most important functions. I will evaluate the superintendent’s job performance honestly, and would be willing to offer constructive criticism if warranted.
Do you support giving a raise for teachers in their next contract? if so, what would you consider a fair raise in these trying economic times?: I value the service of our teachers, and believe they should be fairly compensated. But with the School Department facing the loss of federal stimulus money next year, my first priority will be keeping more teachers in the system, which will make raises for next year exceedingly difficult.
Address: 95 Currier St.
Occupation: Retired teacher
Education: Bachelor’s degree in history and education from Salem State College; master’s degree in teaching and education from Salem State; M.ED in counseling from Salem State. fifteen graduate credits from University of New Hampshire.
Personal: Wife Dianne and mother Amelia Abdullah Vogler
With a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall next year, where will you look to cut?: with the loss of $1.8 million in stimulus money, the superintendent will develop a budget that first protects classroom services for regular and special needs students. Everything else is on the table for review. When the budget is given to the School Committee, programs for students are my main priority.
What is the biggest weakness of the School Department and how will you work to improve it?: There is a need to remediate all students K-8 for the MCAS, especially the subgroups. we must continue efforts to increase MCAS scores and seek volunteers to develop programs for our best students and perhaps this could be done by use of the Methuen YMCA after-school program.
Does the superintendent deserve a near perfect performance evaluation?: yes, the superintendent of schools knows the Methuen school system having risen from teacher to principal, in the Methuen school system. She knows the parents and students, and is responsive to parental concerns.
Do you support giving a raise for teachers in their next contract? if so, what would you consider a fair raise in these trying economic times?: The School Committee is currently in mediation/negotiation with the teachers’ union; thus it would be wrong to comment while negotiations are in progress.
