Question for incumbents

Question for School Committee Candidates Helen and Val:

Our schools have many wonderful qualities. But we also face a lot of problems. As experienced school committee members, what have you done to move our schools forward? What responsibility do you take for the current problems? How do you plan to solve these problems? Especially for Helen who has had an admirable 33 year run, why should voters give you another chance? I’m Not trying to knock either candidate. I voted for Val. But I think as incumbents, it’s important to give you a forum to share honestly what you feel and where you are at. It’s hard being an incumbent but that said, we need to better understand why your experience is a plus versus new and fresh ideas to solve the current problems we face or recently faced, particularly around administrative turnover and budget issues.