Q&A: Adria Osborne Cohen, Candidate for School Committee

On Tuesday, March 27, 2012, Acton voters will have the opportunity to elect two of three candidates running for School Committee. Candidate Adria Osborne Cohen spoke with Acton Patch about what she hopes to accomplish should she prevail.

What motivates you to seek election to the School Committee?

While earlier family and job responsibilities precluded community service involvement, I now have the time and energy to devote to activities closer to home and am currently part of the study group looking at regionalization with Boxborough on the elementary level. I ended up in Acton quite by accident in 1987 and have chosen to stay in the community even as my son has moved on to university. Whether or not we have children in the school system, we still have an obligation to consider what is going on in the lives of the next generation, and their educational activities.

Acton has an outstanding school system, and as the parent of a graduate, I have seen and experienced first-hand the ins and outs of the system. I am on the front lines of education as a first grade Spanish immersion teacher in another system, and have also taught in high school and in an English Language Learner fourth grade as well in other areas of education and business. I am motivated by all of this, and by the fact that Acton is a very pleasant place to live and journey through life. My family has benefited by its experiences in Acton and I think that I can contribute to our community by serving on the school committee both as someone who has lived here for many years, has a background in several areas, and has been involved in budgetary and regulatory work in positions I have held in the past.

 What experience do you bring to the role?

In addition to the experiences listed above, I grew up in Groton, Connecticut. After attending the University of Connecticut and earning degrees in History and Early Childhood Education, I worked for Olde Sturbridge Village, helped to manage a country inn in New Hampshire, attended graduate school to earn a master's in Teaching English As a Second Language (a choice based on a life-changing incident when my grandmother was ridiculed by a store employee as she stumbled over a new word in English), lived in Italy (my mom was born in Rome and we have many relatives there), and worked in ELL and international student advising  for a local private high school in Natick for thirteen years, including several years as a dorm parent.

In 1987, I relocated to Acton and became a homeowner, later working in a large urban school system. In 1996, I was hired by the Millis school system to begin the first one way Spanish immersion program in Massachusetts, also assisting with ELL for several years. For twenty years, I also served as the co-director of an ESL summer seminar for Japanese high school students, and spent more than a decade teaching  and designing curriculum in a heritage language Saturday program. I have one son; an AB graduate, he attends the University of Vermont.

What, in your opinion, is the biggest challenge facing the School Committee right now? How would you address it?

Budgets are always front and center in any endeavor; our challenge in Acton is how to incorporate our budgetary considerations and best educational practices  with the needs of our students, especially as mentioned in the system's Long Range Strategic Plan. In looking at our budgetary considerations and needs of students, I would explore additional outside funding sources, including one time grants for finite projects as other systems have successfully done in recent weeks.

Do you feel that the school budget should be increased, level  funded, or cut to help balance the town budget? Why?

Our school budget is somewhat like one's household budget; when one area increases, another area may have to be reduced. An overall yearly increase of some percentage may be inevitable, but within the state regulations, perhaps some creative solutions to increases should be explored, keeping in mind that some residents of all generations are finding it  difficult to afford to stay here. What could we do as a community to meet school and citizen needs?

Should Acton and Boxborough regionalize at the elementary school level? Why or why not?

As I part of the regionalization study group, it is important to remain impartial as we look at the questions.

What is your opinion of the recent developments with respect to teachers assuming more of their health insurance costs?

My understanding is that the School Committee and the educational association worked to resolve the health care cost to come up with the best solution to the  fact that we are all paying more for health insurance premiums, no matter where we work. We may have to revisit the issue at some point, but let's wait and see what happens as we enter the next round of national elections.

Should Acton’s teachers continue to receive pay increases at a higher rate than other town employees, some of whom have not received increases at all of late (police, e.g.)?

There are many aspects to the percentage increase; before venturing an opinion that may not be accurate in terms of contracts and what a teacher needs to do to earn the increase, I would defer to having a clearer understanding of the requirements.

However, that said, I am uncomfortable with  our public safety personnel not receiving raises.

Do you agree that Acton families should pay for their children to participate in school sports, drama, and music? Should these “user fees” be eliminated, decreased, or increased?

While I might not like the idea of fees from a parental viewpoint, I would defer to the policies already in place. 

*Editor's note: An interview with School Committee candidate, Deanne O’Sullivan will be posted Friday.

*Also see: Q&A: Dennis Bruce, Candidate for School Committee