Chris's Vision
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Open Communication
Maintaining trust and integrity in the budget is essential. I want to engender a transparent process to produce a viable budget. As a School Committee member I will encourage forthright discussion of educational initiatives and the real impact of our choices on students.
 

Responsible Stewardship
We must deal with the practical budget constraints of today's economy. As a School Committee member I will aggressively seek out grants and collaborations to bolster our budget. I bring experience delving into financial statements, balancing budgets, and consulting on best practices.
 
Competitive Schools, Competitive Town
North Andover has a long history as an attractive community with educational excellence. I believe good schools draw businesses and investment in North Andover. As a School Committee member I will be committed to fostering shared use of town resources, and advocating for equitable State funding.

I believe three of our most significant School Committee priorities are:

1) Maintaining accreditation of the High School - We must continue to address the recommendations of NEA which include strengthening core curriculum with electives, and accelerating Advanced Placement participation.
2) Curriculum Coordination for the elementary schools - To ensure consistency and better prepare all students for Middle School.
3) Contract negotiations - fair, reasonable, and competitive to keep our teachers. The other part of this will be as hiring a permanent Superintendent with similar leadership and expertise as Dr. Marini, along with a skilled business manager.

I bring a commitment to serving our children's needs with a willingness to talk openly and honestly in this pursuit. An important part of the process will be actively seeking out talented people in North Andover and in other communities who have experience and expertise which will help our schools. This means more diligently reaching out to Merrimack College, Brooks Academy, Greater Lawrence Technical School, and other institutions to investigate cooperative opportunities.

I will reach out to School Committee members in other towns for information and perspectives. Finally, I will encourage our School Committee to work more closely with the Selectmen to find efficiencies in operating costs and means to share resources across all our municipal departments. In short, I’m a consensus builder, and a dedicated parent with children who will be in the school system for many years to come. My objective is to actively and rationally find good solutions.

 

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