Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/tag/school-committee/page/23/)
Candace Miller is running for a seat on the School Committee. The Watertown Election will be held on Nov. 3. 1) What inspired you to run for School Committee? Since my daughter’s first day at the Lowell Elementary in 2008, I have been active in Watertown Public Schools.
Julie McMahon is running for reelection to the School Committee. The Watertown Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3. 1) What inspired you to run for School Committee? Originally, I made the decision to run for school committee 4 years ago.
Kendra Foley is running for a seat on the School Committee. The election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3. 1) What inspired you to run for School Committee? I am running for School Committee because I value education – for my three young children, for the children and families in Watertown and for the health and vibrancy of our town.
Michael Shepard is running for reelection to the School Committee. The election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3. 1) What inspired you to run for School Committee? When I first ran for school committee in 2011, I was drawn to four main issues which I felt needed to be addressed: resolving the teacher’s contract, budget concerns, appointing a new superintendent and expanding special education programming.
Editor,
I am writing to express my support for the incumbents in the School Committee race; Eileen Hsu-Balzer, Michael Shepard and Julie McMahon. Thanks to their hard work, together with the rest of the School Committee members, the Watertown school district is in a much better place than it was four short years ago. In 2011, contract negotiations between the Watertown Educators Association (WEA), the School Committee and School Administration were at an impasse and teachers had been working without a contract for two years. Teachers were working to rule, and frustration on all sides was high. After the election, two new voices joined the discussion – Ms. McMahon and Mr. Shepard – and both sides resumed negotiations.
There’s a hot race for School Committee on the Watertown Town Election ballot, with five people running for three seats. What issue would you like to hear their opinions on? The candidates will take part in two School Committee Candidate Forums hosted by the Watertown Education Foundation and Watertown News. The organizers are gathering questions from Watertown parents and residents. What is the biggest issue facing the Watertown Schools?
Come learn about the five candidates for Watertown School Committee at two upcoming candidate forums.
The five candidates are incumbents Eileen Hsu-Balzer, Julie McMahon and Michael Shepard, and challengers Candace Miller and Kendra Foley. They are running for three seats in the Nov. 3 Town Election. The first will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15 from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Watertown Free Public Library in the Watertown Savings Bank Room.
The School Committee submitted its evaluation of Watertown Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald, and she got high marks.
Fitzgerald received the one of the two highest marks from all seven School Committee members on the five district goals and several other categories required by the state to be included in the evaluation, said School Committee Chairwoman Eileen Hsu-Balzer at Monday’s School Committee meeting. Hsu-Balzer read out comments made by the School Committee, but did not attribute them. The full evaluation is available in the Watertown Public Schools Central Offices in the Phillips Building. “Under leadership of Dr. Fitzgerald, the Watertown Public Schools continue to move in a positive direction … It is a very exciting time for the Watertown Public Schools,” a School Committee wrote.