001area and I'm happy to welcome those of you here and those of you who are watching on TV and those of you who will watch the recording between now in the election uh Welcome to our 2024 municipal election candidates forum for the town of Acton and as we begin we want to thank the uh Acton Town manager and Municipal properties and uh Acton TV for coming together to make this broadcast possible for us um and most especially to thank our league committee who put this together led by Lori Cooney Marilyn Peterson Janet adachi Alyssa Robinson um Christina richli is back there thank you all for coming and and putting this together um we'd also like to acknowledge the candidates and who join us this evening um and for coming home coming out to run for
002office coming out that was a bad choice of words sorry um Coming forward to run for office in a year when there have been extreme fiscal challenges you have stimulated important conversations among the voters and we hope they are energized and we hope they will come to vote we wish you all very good luck um the league has a long tradition of providing nonpartisan voter education and services particularly at the local level and we are fortunate to have an accomplished veteran with us tonight who is moderating again for acting Nancy Broach from broomal I'm sorry from Sudbury Nancy thank you Pat yes good it is working um let me add my welcome and again emphasize that I live in Sudbury so I have no skin in this game I don't know these people and I'm
003not voting for them so uh this is a nonpartisan moderating job before we start let me briefly review The Format and the rules for tonight's Forum candidates in the contested race school committee will make a two-minute opening statement then be asked four to six questions as time permits plus a rapid fire SE yes or no section and then give a two-minute closing statement the opening statements will be in the order the candidates appear on the ballot and the closing statements in reverse order for the question and answer period I will call on the candidates in random order candidates will have 90 seconds to answer each question they may not interrupt each other and may not make personal references about the other candidates uh we're not going to have rebuttal tonight just to allow a chance
004for some from additional questions if there's some other point you want to make that's what your closing statement's good for uh there is a timer in the front row uh who will hold up a 15 second warning and then a stop you can finish your thought and then please uh stop the league asked the community to submit questions by email and develop the questions we'll be asking tonight in based in part on those questions that were most frequently submitted to cover what people really want to know we're T also taking written questions from the audience that's here tonight if they want to we encourage you to contact the candidates directly if your question wasn't included in the discussion tonight and following this Forum there's a meet and greet for all the candidates in this room
005for those who may watch this program later on television just a note that we we recorded it on April 10th so any relevant events that occur after that date will not be addressed tonight now we'll begin with the candidates for school committee who are sitting already up there I don't have to call them up and we'll start with your opening statements of two minutes each first uh Benjamin Blumenthal thank you madam moderator good evening everyone my name is Benjamin Blumenthal having called to act in home since 2010 I've had the privilege of witnessing our Town's growth firsthand with over two decades of experience in government Finance I bring a seasoned perspective to the table understanding the intricate balance between fiscal responsibility and investing in our children's future my commitment extends beyond the numbers it's about
006ensuring that our schools Thrive as nurturing environments where every child can flourish as a parent and a professional I recognize the importance of our educational programs and needing to meet the diverse needs of our students I will Advocate tirelessly for policies that prioritize Wellness equity and engagement thank you thank you Mr Schwarz two minutes thank you Nancy thank you to the league for having me I appreciate it high I'm Andrew Schwarz I uh am a proud parent of four boys in the district there's my camera oh there's my camera proud parent of four boys in the district and honored to be a current elected member of the act in boxboro Regional School District school committee I believe that we're at an incredible inflection point here uh for Learning and want to help the avsd continue
007to be a place where our kids can find their own success our families lived in Acton for the past six years I'm originally from Cincinnati I GR graduated from Rollins College and professionally I'm a director of metaverse engineering at Nike it's a real job I promise it's where I run a team of designers and developers activating Innovation through Sports my background is in strategic Consulting but really I just find I like finding solutions to nagging problems I've owned my own businesses established and run Innovation Labs I've been an adviser for startups I've worked in the agency entertainment and nonprofit worlds but I'm running for reelection because there's more that I want to do for our students the teachers and our Community the way that schools contribute to our lives has changed in the last few
008years more than just the shift in how students learn or what tools they use the evolving emotional landscape for kids in a postco world has added additional complexities to education school committee provides Direction policy and guidance to direct to to the district to address these complexities I've learned quickly that the role of the school Committee Member is not to run classrooms or drive departments but to help Focus the district to address those issues and as a Committee Member I've been able to take action for voices that would otherwise have been drowned out my outside job at school committee is focused on giving people that I work with the space for them to be amazing means pushing away the distractions and making room for their achievements school can be this way too school can be where
009students are excited by both what and how they learn with teachers and staff and administration that work together to shape the environment I was originally inspired to get involved by thinking about how I could bringing this approach to the district and we can create environments that bring together everything it means to be a full person and help the students find their space to be amazing again thank you for having me here Mr fitzgeral thank you my name is Jason Fitzgerald and I'm running for school committee because I have a deep seated belief in public education and the importance that it has in the Community Education is the unique way in which each generation builds upon the knowledge and wisdom imparted to it by the previous generation and society as a whole can improve I would
010like to be a part of the school committee to help shape the future of the act in boxboro school district in a way that empowers our teachers and our students I have four kids in the district two in the high school one in junior high and one in Douglas Elementary and my wife also works at Douglas Elementary as a teachers's assistant since 2020 my children have all struggled at times but I've seen their teachers and staff rally and support them celebrating successes and embracing the lessons learned from fail I I personally have worn many hats as a volunteer with youth from coach to scoutm Sunday school teacher and after school program lead and those glimpses of interaction compared to the impact that teachers can have have shown me how important it is for our Educators
011to have a strong and capable school committee that also respects the financial contributions that this town makes for our school system thank you thank you now we'll go to the questions in random order and you will have 90 seconds to answer each question so the first question and it'll go first to Mr Fitzgerald even with a budget override in 2024 there are structural issues to be solved what are three top things you would want to change uh in the school system to address the structural issues going forward three things in 90 seconds is not a lot of time um I think the first thing we need to look at is open enrollment I think uh I think the community is ready to um look look at the the cost associated with that the there is
012a variety of different things that impacts but I um as the curriculum has become more normalized among the elementary schools I think it's time that we look at Cost savings where appropriate with open enrollment that that was the first thing um beyond that I I think we need to to use the boardwalk campus more I mean we've spent a a lot of money putting putting that building to putting that building up we spent a lot of taxpayer dollars on that so uh I think that building's a little bit underutilized there are two schools in there and three schools including the Carol Huer program um but I think that we need to look at more ways to use that facility as far as the third thing I mean then um we have to look at you
013know I I don't um I guess the third thing I I would look at we're going to have to figure out something to do with the programs and the school at um I'm sorry Conan uh that buildings old we know that we just went through this with Gates and Douglas as I said I I was in the Douglas building so I know what the building looks like um and it's going to cost taxpayer dollars to figure that out so I think we have areas where we need to work on with those those are the three first things I would look at thank you Mr Blumenthal thank you madam moderator over the past several years we as a budget committee have had the hard task of making Cuts we've made Cuts this year we've made Cuts
014in the previous years at this point in time we cannot cut anymore and in order to look at ways that we can you know address the structural issues of our budget really need to come from outside the district that means looking at the Chapter 70 funding and seeing how we as residents of Acton can really engage our elected officials in order for them to do the work that's necessary in order to free up more funding within our state budget secondly as a financial person working at a Municipal light department I guess I can say without saying too much I would encourage at looking at additional grant funding I do know that the federal government and our state government here in the Commonwealth do have funding a available and we need to exhaust every Avenue in
015order to identify additional revenue and funding in order to address um some of these structural deficits that we have within our budget an example is most recently at one of the school committee meetings there was funding identified for the tennis courts that's the type of areas that we're looking at and lastly again working with our legislature to to identify earmarks and other funding available in order to help close some of the budget caps thank you thank you Mr Schwarz thank you um I I am also a part of the budget subcommittee on the the um school committee and of the three things the budget is something that's been worked on all year not just this budget we're starting to work on next budget it's been very Dil diligent it's been very focused we've pulled as
016much as can be pulled and by we I really mean the the committee expressing to the district and administration the need to be a ble to pull back as many funds as possible we're at a point where cutting more causes greater damage than anything else we could do so I think that while we need to look at how we're spending and keep a close eye on that that first point is to focus on Revenue one of the first conversations I had with a current at the time incumbent School Committee Member was that Acton has a revenue problem we don't have enough people that are owning businesses here we don't have a tax base that's diverse enough understanding that ecomic development which is outside the purview of the school committee is an important thing another thing
017to look at is how State funds are being brought into the district the current chapter the current Chapter 70 allows the minimum amount of money coming into our district we are not the only district with this type of budget problem you're seeing this happen in dozens of towns around Massachusetts the definition of an affluent town is Shifting as I've got 15 seconds left I'll say the last thing is to look at how we can manage other efficiencies to be able to allow us to be able to use new ideas and Technologies to be able to be more focused on ensuring that we're living up to our budget guidelines thank you thank you and I think you've touched a little bit on the next question all of you but let me uh but we'll go ahead
018with it anyway and it goes uh to Mr Schwarz first this time the question is what budget experience have you had in a job or a volunteer capacity that makes you ready to provide constructive put into an approximately one $5 million annual budget what tactics have you used to prioritize budget items Mr Schwarz thank you I went through a bit of my resume earlier I have been an entrepreneur and owned my own companies and sold my own companies to other organizations so I have I know what it's like to have to bootstrap and use every dollar for every moment and be focused not only on making sure the work is done but that the lights stay on I've also inside of other jobs I've been managed teams up to 300 people where I would have
019to have control over the p&l of the organization I constantly am working within various budgetary confines to try to find ways of being able to do this in my everyday life I work with nonprofits in funding I've been on the board of directors for other school and organizations that have had funding issues similar to this and it's a piece of my professional career that I've been been active in for the last guess 30 years I am aware of the many issues that come in trying to find these Solutions but I'm also aware of many of the solutions that can work my colleague mentioned that finding grants as an example for the tennis courts is one finding outside funding is another way of doing it looking at how we can incorporate other organizations other community groups
020other governmental sources to be able to help us as a piece of it and finally I I do think that it's important for us to look as a community at how we could become more attractive for larger businesses and organizations to come into the town to be able to affect our tax base thank you Mr Fitzgerald um yeah I I definitely do not have the experience running a school committee and developing School budgets that that uh the gentleman here do but that being said um I have worked uh as the closest I've come to it as a treasurer for the uh Douglas PTO and we have a budget we set up every year and we have to make sure that uh we don't overspend and we don't and we spend appropriately and that we put
021our resources um where they where they most need to go the the key takeaway thing I think that is most important that I do know is that if we're going to spend $ one doar that dollar is not being spent somewhere else um so that's that that's uh simple enough on paper but I think it's often overlooked that we're we're we have to maintain spending as much as we as we do uh the income um the other thing is in previous in a previous capacity I was a uh consultant for many years for different Contracting firms and we would you know we would put bids out uh we would have big projects that we would to run um I was integral developing those estimates and making sure that we didn't overrun on projects so I
022I have run budgets I've run projects that that have to meet budgets um and I do understand that you know have to at the end of the day account for all the money that's being spent thank you thank you Mr Blumenthal thank you my current role is that I am the Director of Finance and Accounting for a large municipality cannot say the name unfortunately and currently I manage over a budget of $108 million in terms of operating budget and another $30 million in capital budgets I have over 20 years of experience previous to which I worked at the MBTA overseeing uh Federal funding coming in and my experience is really within Municipal and government funding one of the ways that I manage budgets at work is that we do quarterly reviews of our balance sheets
023we look at the revenue we look at the expenses and we see where we're you know trending any given time most recently I looked at the overtime costs in the last quarter from January through March and seeing why our overtime uh costs had had escalated it was due to storms back in January the point being is that every year we do a recast of the budget so that we're able to manage our our Revenue coming in and plan accordingly for our expenses that same same type of diligence I know that our school administration does on a given any given period of time on a weekly basis they continue to do the work that is necessary to manage the budget that we passed annually and therefore uh the work that they do continues to exemplify the
024work that needs to be done here in Acton thank you the next question and this one will go first to Mr blumthal Acton is made up of many different demographic populations with different needs and opinions how would you propose to hear everyone's voice not just the ones that speak the loudest Mr blumthal having lived in this community since 2010 I value the input that our fellow actonians um give I believe in diversity equity and inclusion I feel that it's important that even though there may be voices that are very loud that may say one thing there are other voices who may be afraid to come up and speak in terms of issues that are going on within our schools that means protecting uh our LGBT TQ uh plus youth that means addressing issues of iniquity
025whether it's wealth or wealth disparities in our schools ensuring that our students feel comfortable and safe coming to our schools is absolutely important for the well-being and the future of our our community so therefore I believe in supporting diversity equity and inclusion within our schools thank you thank you Mr Schwarz thank you you know one of the best parts about being an act and is how many different cultures are here how many people from so many different countries how many different religions how many different points of view there are it's one of the things that D that drove me here I grew up in Cincinnati there were two cultures there was Reds and Bengals but here in in Acton we have people from all over the world and they all have fabulous points of view
026everyone deserves respect up to the point when they step on somebody else's respect we are here today on a day that the District had off to commemorate a Mubarak it was today when we are showing how we are open to the many cultures that live here how do I here I talk to people um I am involved in my kids schools I'm involved with our kids sports I'm involved in the community I talk too much and am happy to talk to people so what I'm always just kind of listening and I think it's important to keep your ears open it's not just for the things that you agree with so I'll watch watch the things that are said online and I'll see the arguments that are happening and I'll look for the opportunities to do
027it but one of the things that's been very valuable in all of that listening is how we as members of the school committee are able to turn those questions that are in the public into action one of the reasons I got involved in this is that I realized I had questions and I thought if I have questions I should try to find the solutions I try to do that with the voices that I hear and I try to do that with the questions that are brought to me thank you thank you and Mr fitzgeral would you remind repeating the question for me certainly um actant is made up of many different demographic populations with different needs and opinions how would you propose to hear everyone's voice not just the ones that speak the loudest well
028uh I I think it's important to be involved I think it's important to um get out from behind the desk and I think it's important as Andrew said to to be engaged I think it's important to meet the kids where they are uh go to the soccer field go to the baseball field go to the Scout meetings I think those things are invaluable and because there you will you'll meet the other parents I think uh we have a unique opportunity with uh the the the migrant families that have come to um the minute man in and I've been so touched to see the community reach out to them and welcome them and we had the wel welcoming dinner was just a really cool thing to do i' I've seen other um a lot of office
029hours that are happening and I'm I'm my heart's warmed to see that people are reaching out and opening up and and being available so I we definitely need to see that stuff continue um the social media presence it is what it is but I think that is a small subset it's a loud subset but I think it's a small subset I think the the hardest voices to hear are the ones that we aren't hearing and I think that's a problem um I I recently went to a this uh CPAC meeting last week and um there was a survey that was sent out and 22 families um I don't know if that normal I I I don't have a lot of experience with CPAC but 22 respondents to a survey out of town this size that
030seems low to me so we need to do better about we definitely need to do better we need to do more Outreach need to find out what's happening from the people that we don't hear from thank you the next question and it will go first to Mr Schwarz given the cost per pupil for Minute Man vocational Tech what are your thoughts on how vocational education fits in into the overall curriculum and are there Alternatives we should be providing that's a great question because what we think of as vocational has changed over the course of the last 30 20 years it's not just about the skills you need to learn to do jobs you use with your hands it's now how do we deal with engineering how do we use math how do we use ideas
031how do we build things how do we build our future the relationship that we have with Minuteman is one that's very expensive for the district and one of the things that we've been working on in the the high school building a steam lab building an innovation lab looking to find ways of being able to bring those same types of um say physical science-based not gym but physical science-based um Concepts into the schools to be able to allow the kids to do it through our high school I think that there's a a need for a change with a lot of the ways that funding happens if Minute Man per student is at one level act in per student should be at least comparable and the state's not living up to that because of various other issues
032that are in works and while we are spending a lot with men and man we are spending a lot per student we should find a way to be able to spend as much or close to it for the kids who aren't choosing minute man thank you Mr Blumenthal thank you m man is a valuable asset within our community and while the expenses are eye openening let's just say that much minute man and other schools like that other vocational schools provide skilled labor force a skilled labor force that is necessary for organizations like mine to function for example meterk where I work we have meterk we have Engineers we have linemen and we have other individuals having a direct link for students who want to go into fields and trade and the trades Minuteman provides a
033necessary link for them to go from from the schools to the union halls and then into the uh well paying jobs such as um electricians and wien and wire women and meterk it is programs like that that are so critical to our infrastructure here in Massachusetts that we certainly need to ensure that we protect that Pipeline and find additional ways to fund it whether it's through working with our um our legislators to identifying outside funding that can come in and help offset those costs thank you thank you Mr Fitzgerald uh so short answer is yes we need to have minute man and I think we need to continue to support that program um I I would like to see more of those programs be brought in house they are expensive um but I know then
034we're spending more money in the district but I I I don't know how I don't know how we can continue to justify these costs and um the these programs are are invaluable but they're not open to everybody and we have a lot of students in acting who would be better suited at a school like Minute Man a vocational school so there's a very small window where they can apply or they can attempt to get in there there's a lottery and there not a lot of kids get through there so um it's a it's a it's an awkward program for us to be a part of it in we should be better able to help more students that would be better served by that type of program we are in an affluent community and so I
035don't know I don't understand why this has become um such a bone or like an in such a problem every year that we have a lot of people that are really conf about minute man if it's a vocational program that provides value then we should support it but if we can provide that support and that same education to students otherwise without the same level of cost then we then we need to look at that and we need to address it but it can't we can't be having the same cycle every year where we have these same conversation and nothing changes thank you thank you I'm going to go now to some of the questions that have been submitted by people in the audience uh the first one this one will go first to Mr fitzgeral
036the year budget turn backs replenish the excess and deficiency fund what role should school committee play in managing yearend spending well I think just like any of the other budgetary uh costs and and Analysis that the school committee needs to do um it needs to provide a a check for the administration and another set of eyes on on the costs money coming in money coming out the school committee is what is who is elected by the community to fulfill that role so I think it's yes I think the school committee should be a part of that decision and a part of how that money is allocated and I think it's as simple as that thank you Mr blumthal so the turnback is a key budgetary item which helps fund our excess and deficiency funds it's
037kind of like our safety net every year when we have a little bit of money um that turnback money then goes into that end fund that end fund for the last several years has been critical in terms of uh balancing our budget however due to inflation cost uh tied to health insurance um along with special education costs We have basically depleted our emergency Reserve funds our end funds so making sure that we manage the budget having those turn backs and then managing over those funds is necessary but that can only be done with the override we do not have enough Revenue coming in to offset our expenses and therefore we are managing a Tighter and Tighter budget every year where we cannot really depend on those turn backs to fund that end fund thank you
038thank you Mr Schwarz Ben did a really nice job of explaining how they work I think one of the other things to think about is that a turnback is based on a goal that's set when you originally set the budget budget there's a minimum there's a floor there's a ceiling there's a certain amount of flow that you want to have inside the budget that you can build to because that allows you to have that extra safety net if costs rise during the year that are that you don't expect it also allows you to be able to place the money that you're not spending due to good governance due to other due diligence due to the other um say cost suppression you're trying to find so that you can then keep using that budget on a
039year-to-year basis in the same way if you don't spend everything in your own paycheck every two weeks or whenever you get your paycheck you can put money in the bank that is not due to poor management that's due to better management than expected at the onset of the paycheck a budget turn back going to end a budget turn back at all as planned for allows you the space from issues to arise and allows you the opportunity to save for next year's issues I think that's the the the role of the community the committee is to set the minimum and maximum targets and to over the course of the Year approve payments review every bill that goes through on my way here today I had another set of of warrants that I had to approve after
040going through them to ensure that it was right our job is due diligence good governance the better diligence the better governance the higher turn back and the better opportunity we have to serve next year thank you the next question from the audience and it'll go first to Mr Schwarz what does the term parents rights mean to you how would you apply that definition to your work on the school committee that's a great question for not only what it actually is but for the dog whistles that come with it parents rights as an as a movement in the country is being used as a talking point to provide more control over school's teaching to parents but mostly around cultural Hot Topics so to me when I hear somebody say what a parents rights means it's not
041how can I make sure my kid isn't hurt on the the Playfield or how can I make sure that I know what's happening inside the my my kids classes with their homework or that I have the ability to speak to my teacher most of the folks who use the term parents rights are using it as a way to talk about books they don't want in the library or top ICS they don't want taught and that's difficult because it is a part of this larger culture War that's happening to me as a parent who is involved the right that I have is to know what's going on in the school the right that I have is to ensure that my kids are are learning what they are supposed to be learning and doing the work that
042they're supposed to do and that I have an ability to connect with my my administration of my schools and the teachers that are there but I I would expect that the term parents rights as provided through the larger cultural lens is grander than that and I would tend to focus on the idea that as a committee we set policy for how our district approaches curriculum we don't set curriculum thank you for your time thank you Mr Fitzgerald yeah I think I'm going to duve tail right off that the school the school committee's job is not to set curriculum but um and the teacher's job is not to raise my children right the teacher's job is to educate my children our our our teachers don't want to be in the middle of this right so we
043need to support that it's a partnership at the end of the day I am responsible for my child what they do what they experience and and what they're ready for and if my child is not ready for a subject matter and that could be for many reasons um if my child is not capable of handling something right um and my child needs uh extra help with reading or extra help with with their math program right it it is not the teacher's responsibility to bear that alone right it's a partnership between the teachers and the parents the parents at the end of the day they they have to provide and make sure that their child is fed sheltered clothed th those sorts of things and and yes there's there's a lot of cultural connotation with this
044but I think we're leaving out the fact that this is a partnership between the teachers and the parents and the teachers should not be bearing this alone and they should not be bearing the responsibility to uh raise our children and make decisions that are going to affect them outside of their education right teachers want to teach that's what they went to school for studied for and that's what they're driven by thank thank you Mr blo thank you as Andrew was saying essentially and the the parents Rights Movement is really a movement that adversely impacts students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds in disadvantaged families it's a means of essentially pigeon holing certain groups of individuals and making them feel lesser we've seen this time and time again again citing Andrew um where curriculum is being attacked
045books are being attacked books are being called into question and what it does is it adversely impacts the psyche of our students who are you know lgbtq students who are uh individuals of color who are black and brown individuals who face all sorts of racism bigotry and xenophobia on a daily basis and this movement serves to isolate them and further denigrate them our job as school committee is to empower and lift up students through our partners in the schools through the administration through our teachers not to set dogmatic examples which adversely impact our students and really take a toll on their mental and we their mental wealth mental health and well-being thank you thank you do one more question from the audience and then we'll do the rapid fire section so this one uh goes
046first to Mr Blumenthal can you share the ways that you would support the district's work to address the social emotional learning of students so each and every year we as school committee set goals uh that the superintendent uh has to follow and those goals are tied to literally social and emotional Equity within the community this is every from you know um uh some of the programs that we have like the um cartwheel Carousel cartwheel program I can't remember the name off the top of my head unfortunately but these programs such as this along with other wraparound programs help um embolden our students and help students like my own son who has an IEP who has issues on a day-to-day basis and those programs that we are supporting at the school committee level have a have
047an impact that helps up uplift our students and ensure that their social and emotional uh well-being is taken care of thank you Mr Schwarz I think if it comes down for me to one word and that word is respect and it's to give respect to all of the kids so that they know they can be their authentic selves and to demand the children to demand the students demand the teachers the Administration to give that respect back the idea is that if everyone expects respect from everyone else around them they will then be able to have the space to be phenomenal they'll be able to be authentic they'll be able to work their way through the development of their social and emotional lives social emotional learning is about acceptance of who you are and where you
048come from and what you want to be and what you've been it is about knowing that some kids are coming from homes that have um you know problems in them some kids are coming from homes that don't have issues some kids are coming from atypical you know Norman Rockwell Homes kids coming from multiple countries kids coming from multiple C cultures everyone demands everyone deserves the opportunity to be themselves and to get respect for it and creating an environment where they're able to grow through that is where we are able to be in the schools to help the kids learn best when you're you are able to push away the distractions of being worried of other people making fun of you for who you are you're able to learn more and be better thank you thank
049you Mr Fitzgerald yeah so I think I think we don't give our kids enough credit I think our kids know how to be kids and they know how to function and I think we have do a a great job they're awesome kids when I've worked with these kidss in ball field or in an academic program at school they they take to it they they know how to be kids and they know how to be successful I think this is something that the community does and the school system and the academic staff at AB does very well right they celebrate the kids for who they are and I think they give them the self-confidence they need so I think we just need to continue on that and we need to educate our kids and we need
050to put Education First and let these kids thrive through education um I think that many of the kids uh are are looking for more education and that can also be problematic if it's they're they're taking on too much so we need to work with them and we we have a large and capable uh counseling staff so we need to lean on them we we need to be have that staff be in communication with our children that's what they're there for so they they can give us the feedback on where our kids need to be picked up we also need to do a better job of reaching out to the vulnerable communities uh we have you know just like every other community in the country right now we have an absentee problem right so we need
051to figure out how to solve those types of things and um and I think that's what we need to do we need to educate and provide a place where our kids can can feel conf confident in themselves and in their education and that's what that's what they'll Thrive okay now we go to your favorite the rapid fire round these are five questions uh please respond with only yes no or no opinion is as much as you want to no elaborating they'll still be asked in random order um and here we go should the Regional School District provide all day kindergarten no matter the cost Mr Fitzgerald no Mr Blumenthal yes Mr Schwarz yes rapid fire number two Acton has always had the policy of allowing parents to choose the elementary school for their kids is
052it time to change that tradition Mr Schwarz no Mr Fitzgerald yes Mr Blumenthal no number three would you consider opening up the school system to students from other districts Mr Blumenthal yes Mr Schwarz yeah m Mr Fitzgerald yes number four do you support a police resource officer in the High School Mr Schwarz was the third question on that third answer no opinion I have an opinion or pass pass Mr Blumenthal no opinion Mr Fitzgerald yes last one would you agree to hold office hours as a means of opening Communications with constituents if elected Mr Blumenthal wholeheartedly yes that's two words Mr Fitzgerald yes Mr Schwarz absolutely and now we go to your two-minute closing statements starting with Mr Fitzgerald uh first of all I want to thank the League of Women Voters for this forum
053and for their commitment to our community in other ways I've lived in Acton since 2001 having been introduced to Acton as an employe in a small tech company in the Old School Street corporations Park several years before that I'm 48 years young and I've spent more than half my life as part of this town and I'm proud of so many things about our community certainly it has changed over the years and the school is no different new demands have Arisen and new challenges with them but I have seen our community Embrace these challenges as opportunities now I would like to step up and take my turn in giving back I would like to use my time and energy and support of our teachers and our students and serve on the school committee I hope that
054you will vote for me on April 30 30th thank you Mr Schwarz thank you and thanks for having us the League of Women Voters Nancy thank you for your time gentlemen it's been a pleasure being on the de with you um and thank you for the rapid fire questions as well it's it's always fun to play Jeopardy um when our community comes together our schools work and give kids a love of learning the tools to explore their Curiosities and environment where they can grow in incredible ways the school committee works with the community to create the foundation for those results it is an honor to be involved in the committee it has been an absolute pleasure to be involved with the committee over the course of This this term that I've had I believe the
055students and parents administrators teachers and staff are Partners in creating great learning environments your help in that Journey has been phenomenal to all of you that are here to all of you that are watching to all of you that are considering the override please pass it it's important for every aspect of our community I am thrilled to be part of this school committee organization I feel like there's still work to be done we've spent our year focused on how do we get the budget to the most manageable size possible and while we've done all of the other things we needed to do there are other things we could do that had to sit on the sidelines and these are the things that I'm very interested in how can we find ways of bringing the community
056closer to the schools how can we make the schools the center of all we do how can we put better fields on all of our grounds so that our kids are able to do more and play more and have Fuller lives there's a lot that is yet to be done and a lot of solutions yet to be found I thank you for the opportunity that I've had and I would love your vote to continue working towards it thank you thank you Mr Blumenthal thank you Nancy to the league and to you the voters who are here tonight and watching on television with a collaborative spirit and a dedication to transparency I pledge to continue to engage with parents Educators and our community to shape a vision for our schools that reflect our shared values and
057aspirations I am asking for your vote on April 30th so please together let's build a brighter future for Acton and boxboro where every child has the opportunity to succeed thank you thank you thank to all of you for participating tonight and for your willingness to run and and serve the community it's not an easy job to run for office or to be on the school committee uh I now turn the program back over to Pat Clifford to close thank you Nancy I think we all want to give a round of applause to both you and the [Applause] candidates thank you and I just have a few reminders um not so much for the audience because I think you all have this well in hand but for the people who will be watching the recorded version
058um the town election is Tuesday April 30th and in addition to the candidates for the various municipal offices the ballot includes a question on a levy limit override and if you're interested in taking a look at that language there's a sample ballot um outside here um a few deadlines to keep in mind voter registration deadline is Friday April 19th U you may register online or in person at the Town Hall all if you um there are three ways to vote the first one is by mail and if you want to do that have a ballot mail to you the application deadline is April 23rd they need to receive that in the clerk's office um you can vote in person at the town clerk's office anytime up until 12:00 on noon April 29th the day before
059the election and then of course the polls will be open at RJ gray for everybody in town on April 30th from 7: a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and if you have any questions at all on any of these administrative aspects we encourage you to reach out to the town clerk's office um there are elections for Town moderator select Board Water District Memorial Library trustee water district moderator and water district commissioner and we' have invited all of the candidates including those who are sitting with with us up in the panel to join us for coffee as we wind up this program in this room so please join us and meet your candidates if in addition to the gentleman who you recognize here the other candidates have name tags with a red lanyard and you can just introduce
060yourself and find out a little bit more about who it is that's helping us run this town thank you very much e