Kathy Burdette Shields is running for the School Committee seat in Ward 7 that is being vacated by Matt Hills due to term limits. She doesn’t appear to have a website yet, just this Facebook page.
Kathy Burdette Shields is running for School Committee from Ward 7
by Greg Reibman | Dec 30, 2016 | Newton | 18 comments
I know next to nothing about this new candidate. But I sure am glad Matt Hills is nearly gone. I’ve lived in Newton for 55 years. Paid attention to local politics for nearly 30. Hills is hands-down the worst elected official I’ve ever seen in this city. Good riddance!!!
Trivial observation. Matt is at 25 Hobart Road and Kathy is at 55 Hobart Road. I hope there are others who take out papers for Ward 7 School Committee. Uncontested races are not healthy for the community.
I spoke with Kathy and found her to be knowledgeable about the Newton PublicSchools, and an excellent and active listener. Our conversation was informative on both sides. She has the capacity and ability to be a great addition to the school committee. It’s great to see a new generation of leaders entering the school committee races!
Wait, what? This candidate is practically next door neighbors with Matt Hills?? Does she come complete with puppet strings???
I am rejuvenated with all the young talent stepping up in this year’s elections.
Mike – meet her before making a judgement or decision. She deserves that. I have not met her yet but plan to soon.
I am eager to meet her and hear her knowledge of the Newton Public Schools. She has 3 little ones, 2 of whom attend Ward Elementary School. I am interested in learning what her knowledge is of the middle and high schools, and the district as a whole.
Why assume that they know each other and are friends, just because they live several houses apart? I’m not really friends with most of the people on my street (friendly smile and wave, but no conversations) and there are some I strongly disagree with. If the Newton public school teacher on my block were vacating a School Committee seat and I chose to run for the vacancy, it would be for how strongly I disagree with her – definitely not as a puppet!
Let’s not make assumptions just because 2 people in the same ward happen to live on the same street.
Forgive me for being skeptical, but in my opinion the current school committee is the worst school committee in memory. They have failed to take the most obvious actions to reduce epidemic levels of stress in our high schools. They continue to allow children to attend school in a space metal building called the “Shed.” They were completely caught off guard by the presence of lead in school drinking water. And their Chair, Matt Hills, has been cited by the AG for violating the state’s Open Meeting law 5 times, while engaged in a coverup of the Superintendent’s plagiarism scandal…
So the first thing I want to know from any new SC candidate, is whether or not they embrace the policies of this current school committee, or distance themselves from it. Maybe Kathy Burdette Shields will distance herself from Matt Hills. But all I know right now is they’re neighbors.
Hello! It’s nice to meet you all through this site. I am running for the Ward 7 seat for School Committee. I have two daughters who attend Ward Elementary, and a preschooler who will go in a couple of years. I’ve been very involved in the Ward PTO for the last 3 years, and I’m on the School Council. I am interested in serving on the School Committee because Newton’s school system is a very large part of what drew my husband and me here about a dozen years ago, and my kids will be in these schools for the next decade plus. Professionally, I’m a trial lawyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, where I handle cases involving investment-related fraud and misconduct. Before that, I was a partner at Choate, Hall & Stewart where I did mostly intellectual property and commercial litigation. I look forward to bringing my analytical skills and my experience in dealing with conflict resolution to this arena, and I would welcome the chance to have more detailed conversations with any of you would would like to contact me directly. You can send me a message through my Facebook page, or email me directly at [email protected].
@Mike – I’d suggest it’s more prudent to be agnostic. It’s not like they’re next door neighbors – there’s a fair distance on most streets between 25 and 55 – often a couple of blocks. And even if they are next door neighbors, I see no more reason to think they’re clones than if they lived a mile apart. Making puppet assumptions/accusations is unreasonable – it’s not like we choose our neighbors (if we did, I wouldn’t live near the people across the street from me).
IMO, it would be much more prudent to ask “what are your opinions on xyz” rather than “are you a puppet of your neighbor”.
@mgwa – Well, Happy New Year to you too.
Kind regards,
The People in the Beige House Across the Street from You
The best school committees have representatives that have up-to-date knowledge of the system at the elementary, middle, or HS level, or institutional knowledge of the system over a long period of time. In my experience, when one part of the system is over or under represented on the school committee, then another part suffers. Kathy has an excellent knowledge base of the elementary schools as they function in 2016-17 as well as an understanding of the Newton schools as a system.
@Kathy Shields– Thanks for posting, and happy new year. Would you mind pointing to at least one policy issue where you disagree with the current School Committee? Thanks for your time.
Kathy Shields, I too thank you for posting.
I’m interested in your answer to Mike Striar’s request.
And
Are you planning to set up a website which includes your positions on issues facing the SC now, issues they have faced recently and how you would handle those either differently or the same.
I’m amazed that some commenters are already either supporting or deciding against this candidate. I will reserve my opinion until I have more info. Hopefully there will be more candidates to join the race, particularly anyone who isn’t a lawyer, no offense intended.
I was surprised as well, Marti, and chock it up to a miserable ending to 2016. Kathy is an excellent candidate, but as you do, I support contested races.
Despite what Mike Striar would have you believe, there’s a diversity of opinion of the current school committee on just about every significant issue. It’s inaccurate to view the school committee as being of one mind.
What Jane and Marti said. Also, whether or not Matt Hills is supporting her (he is) is not a litmus test for me. I’m comfortable judging each candidate as an individual and always thought the local endorsement game is way overrated.
Regardless of whether or not the SC is of “one mind” on any issue, I look at their collective record which is abysmal. I stated specific reasons why I feel that way in a post above. And I think it’s perfectly appropriate to ask a new SC candidate what policies [if any] they disagree with.