Before I start this post, let me just say that I’m a supporter of Matthew Miller, who is running for School Committee in ward 8. It’s a contested seat that Margie Ross Decter is vacating having reached the end of her term limits. Amy Masters Ribner is also running and has some very solid backing. It will be a very interesting race.
Matthew Miller (center) with Cheryl Lappin (left) and his family.
What I like about attending kickoffs (more than the cookies… or in this case the really nice chicken salad bites) are the personal moments they can generate. Some events can be pretty straightforward with speeches from key officials* and cocktail party conversations with people involved in Newton government and advocacy. But then there are the glimpses of the person who is running.
Sunday gave us a bit of spring warmth with beautiful sunshine and deep blue skies, so Miller’s announcement happened outside of a beautiful home in Oak Hill.
The “moment” came when Miller was trying to lay out this platform, but his 2nd-grade son did what kids do: playing with balloons, running around his dad, not wanting to stand still for the photo opp of holding a lawn sign. He certainly wasn’t willing to do it for too long. And Miller did what parents do: juggled the multi-dimensional aspects of being a working parent who is running for office, all while wearing a fabulous suit.
Even while his son wrapped his arms around Miller’s legs, he managed to deliver his opening speech and address his key issues: Making sure that Newton serves every child equally, dealing with the budget challenges that face our district and helping educate the whole child, academically, socially and emotionally.
After taking a moment to negotiate with his son to hold a sign, he joked “Compromise is something I bring to the table.” We all laughed a bit knowingly.
We’ve all been there. It’s what life is today, there just aren’t stark lines between work and home, it’s all interconnected.
*Electeds at this event included Cheryl Lappin (who handled introductions), Ted Hess-Mahan, Susan Albright, Deb Crossley, Jay Harney, Amy Sangiolo (who has her own big campaign to run), David Kalis and Alison Leary.
Where does Matthew stand on high school start times? His website doesn’t even mention the issue.
I will let Matthew speak for himself, but the decision has been made. They are going to move the high school start time to 8:30 am in the academic year 2018-2019 or 2019-2020 at the latest. The two high school principals have been charged with aligning North and South to begin and end at the same time of day. Whether I agree or not, this charge is now a minimum of 12 months away to complete. Matthew was not on the committee at the time of this decision. Here is the district’s announcement:
DISTRICT RECOMMENDATION – MARCH 2017
The feedback was clear. There is support for a later start time, but that support is tempered by the impact to end times. End times after 3:00 p.m. create significant challenges as they encroach upon important student activities, as well as the schedules of families and faculty.
Given that we feel it is important to continue to pursue later start times, we need to take the following next steps:
Create a shorter high school day
Consider funding mechanism for later start times
Revising a high school schedule is no small task. It is an incredibly complex process that must be done thoughtfully and carefully in order to meet the needs of students and staff. This is especially complicated given the trade-offs that will need to be considered to shorten the day. To that end, we expect the process of revising our high school schedules to take two years.
To read the full recommendation and message to the community please follow this link.
The link reports this: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/cms/lib8/MA01907692/Centricity/Domain/112/Recommendation%20-%20Start%20Times%20-%203.6.17.pdf
@Jo-Louise Allen– That is not a “decision,” it’s simply an excuse that suggests high school start times may change in the future. Personally, I’m way sick of the SC’s pathetic excuses, and would like to see some new members who understand how detrimental sleep deprivation is to the health of our teen students. So when I see a candidate fail to even acknowledge the issue and pledge to do something about it, I really have to question their commitment to the health and well being of our students.
Hello everyone!
Thanks Chuck for the kind words. It was a great day and I am feeling energized.
@Mike, I am glad you brought up HSST. While I didn’t make a statement about my stance on HSST on my website, I have spoken about my thoughts on my Facebook Page and have posted a video of the public comment I gave at an earlier School Committee meeting. I have pinned it to the top of my Facebook page so you can easily locate it. https://www.facebook.com/matthewforschoolcommittee/
I am fully in support of a later HSST. I believe as leaders in public education, Newton needs to take action that is without a doubt in the best interest of the health of our children.
In terms of taking action, I am an entrepreneur by trade, having started my own business in my 20s and having founded the Newton Destination Imagination program. I plan on bringing my ability to move initiatives forward to the School Committee.
I am available to meet for coffee or discuss further. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly:
[email protected]
617-394-8833
We all know how you feel, Mike Striar, because you have been crystal clear in your thoughts on this and many other issues over the last several years. I generally respect your opinion and your passion for questioning. I was just giving you the memos that came out in March 2017. Don’t shoot the messenger. I know that Matthew has very concrete thoughts on the school start time issue. Just because you don’t see it right at this very second on his website, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have anything to say on the matter. I know Matthew will be happy to meet with you to discuss anything you want to ask about. I was just bringing you up to date on the High School Start Time memo that was distributed on March 6, 2017. Your beef is with the current SC and Superintendent, not Matthew or any other candidates who are stepping up to run this fall.
Great to see new people stepping up and running for office in Newton. Hope to see every School Committee seat contested.
Congratulations to Matthew! I believe he will bring an energetic leadership style from which we all will benefit. He has easily and quickly integrated himself into his Oakhill neighborhood with creativity and enthusiasim that is unmatched. Matthew you have my support and look forward to your membership on the Newton School Committee. A new style of leadership and new energy for a tough job!
Margie – thank you to all that you have done! We all appreciate your contributions. Matthew will have big shoes to fill…as you have been courageous in your approach to the City’s challenges.
I’m glad you’re running, Matthew, and thank you for responding. I ran for Mayor more than 10 years ago, and changing high school start times was a priority of my campaign. It’s been enormously frustrating watching the Newton School Committee mishandle this issue for all those years. Two current SC members actually misled me about their commitment to changing start times when they were candidates. The health and well being of our teenage students is compromised every day, because no one on the SC has exercised any genuine leadership on the issue of later start times. So I’d like to know specifically what approach you would personally take to facilitate changing the start time?
@Jo-Louise Allen– I apologize for inadvertently shooting the messenger. I was aiming at the actual message.
Mike is totally correct. No decision has been made, other than the decision to kick the can down the highway and think about things for another couple years. In the meantime, due to the NPS’ inability to act, as scientific studies tell us, our children will be subject to worse academic performance, higher incidence of mental health issues, higher incidence of physical health problems, and higher frequencies of automobile accidents. To what benefit?
The Empire State building was erected in 11 months, but NPS needs a decade or more to, delay the high school start time!
I am meeting with Matt in a couple of weeks. Thanks Matt. I appreciate the fact that you agree with a late high school start time. I hope you reconsider making late high school start times a priority on your website. What is more important than the health, well-being, and education of our children?