Roundup: Three Candidates Run For Open School Committee Seat

ANDOVER, MA — The race for the open seat on the Andover School Committee has heated up in the last week, with Thursday's candidate forum and a second coming up two weeks later. Amy Hafensteiner, Shishan Wang and Lauren Conoscenti have worked so far to differentiate themselves using their backgrounds, perspectives, and positions on some key issues.

All three candidates have responded to questionnaires from Andover Patch as well as answering questions at the forum. A selection of their answers is below. See links below for more from their profiles or their responses to audience questions at the forum.

Previously on Patch:

Nine Candidates In 2020 Andover Town Election

School Committee Candidates On Start Times, Mental Health, More

Andover Candidate Profile: Lauren Conoscenti For School Committee

Andover Candidate Profile: Amy Hafensteiner For School Committee

Andover Candidate Profile: Shishan Wang For School Committee

Shishan Wang

At the candidate forum, Wang, a research scientist, argued his scientific background prepared him to study deeply issues before the Committee. He ran for the Committee in 2019 and touts that two of his proposals from that campaign have been put into place: free full-day kindergarten and an operational Special Education Parent Advisory Council.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is the need to build a prosperous STEM career program with a strong athletic culture. Sports are essential to build student health, improve school performance and cope with stress. Also, one third of the children in the US is overweight or obese, and this number continues to rise. We need strong athletic programs for student health and well-being. Furthermore, I have heard many stressful stories with the low market demand for the non-STEM degree. In contrast, STEM program can open up more job opportunities with a much higher salary. We have a responsibility to offer our children a better STEM environment and prepare them for a STEM career if desired.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

1. Build a prosperous STEM career program with a strong athletic culture
2. Improve school meal program
3. Budget due diligence - evaluate and improve school facility efficiency

Mental health issues among Andover students

"There are many solutions to this," Wang said. He called for increasing the number of counselors and noted that with better sleep — potentially due to a change to secondary school start times — would also improve mental health.

School start times

Wang said everyone in the district agrees that sleep deprivation is an issue, and what the district needed to agree on is what schedule is best. He favored the Lexington school schedule: middle school starts at 8 a.m., high school at 8:30, and elementary schools at 9 a.m.

Amy Hafensteiner

Hafensteiner has portrayed herself as a fresh perspective who will listen to community members. A biotech recruiter, she argues she offers particular expertise for superintendent hiring. Following a membership poll, Hafensteiner was endorsed by the Andover Education Association's executive board.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Budget priorities; I intend to listen to our constituents and hold the superintendent accountable for prioritizing the needs of our community above spending on things that are NOT priorities to our school community.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

I am a huge proponent for better communication, for engaging with our school community (including Diversity & Inclusion initiatives), and keeping on top of where we spend our money because if we waste what we have, and we don't want to ask for more, then we need to manage the budget better so we can get the resources and facilities we need.

Mental health issues among Andover students

"I want to make sure everyone has a voice and a way to communicate what's going on," Hafensteiner said. "We as a school committee need to come together to support all of our students."

School start times

Hafensteiner, who is involved with Andover: Protect All Children, an advocacy group formed in part in opposition to extreme shifts to elementary school start times, said, "We need to backpedal, think of how we got that topic."

"This is not the top priority," Hafensteiner said. "It's not that it's not important, but you have to prioritize."

Lauren Conoscenti

Conoscenti, a data scientist at Tufts University, has said her work in higher education gives her a unique understanding of what students would need to succeed in high school. She also touts her work in the community and the "positive working relationships" she has built across the town.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

When the goal is to provide a quality educational experience for Andover children, every single decision we make has downstream effects. It is up to us to make sure those effects are positive.

That said, the School Committee will be facing several significant decisions in the near future, including the hiring of a new superintendent (one of the few positions for which the School Committee has the authority to hire), making decisions about the high school and West Elementary facilities, and identifying ways to sustain educational excellence in the wake of unexpectedly low Chapter 70 funding. Working cooperatively with a range of stakeholders throughout our town and schools will be critical to ensure that the decisions we face, large and small, have favorable outcomes.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

As a data scientist, I'm passionate about using data to help initiate conversations that bring about change. I am excited to work with educators who want to explore data to better serve their students -- for example, through identifying patterns that could prompt interventions before a student fails a class, or ensuring that children are being treated equitably across demographic categories. I am also eager to help the public better understand the school budget through interactive tools that allow us to see how our money has been spent, how we compare to other towns, and the outcomes of our decisions. Andover residents are craving more budget transparency from our schools, and I bring to the table the necessary background and vision to achieve that.

As a former clinician, I value the experience of sitting down face-to-face and talking through issues. I enjoy getting to know people and learning about what matters to them most, and I approach every opportunity to connect as an opportunity to learn and grow. I will bring my open mind and empathic listening skills to every conversation, be it in the School Committee room, with parents at a coffee shop, or with a principal or teacher at one of our schools. I will work hard to be inclusive and to bring into the conversation people who have felt excluded in the past, and I will proactively seek parent and student representation on working groups.

Finally, as someone with a front-row seat to the issues in higher education, I have a unique understanding of what students need to succeed in college and the ways in which elementary, middle, and high school experiences can provide strong foundations for those next steps. In particular, mental well-being is a critical ingredient for success beyond Andover. I am invested in creating healthy environments for our children to grow. I will advocate for programming, curricula, and efforts that promote grit and resilience, civic engagement and community service, and strong positive connections between students and faculty/staff.

I am committed to helping our schools flourish at every level, and I look forward to working to bring positive, sustainable change to Andover.

Mental health issues among Andover students

Conoscenti called for more school counselors and for programming to improve "school connectedness": "Having strong relationships between educators and students have been shown to have an incredible benefit for academic outcomes, mental health outcomes and social-emotional outcomes."

School start times

Conoscenti, who prepared an analysis of the school start times survey for the School Committee last year, argued the School Committee needed to "research this issue thoroughly, flexibly, with an open mind."

"As an elementary school mom, I completely understand the concerns of our elementary parents, but I also vividly remember being a high school student, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, not able to sleep," Conoscenti said. "I understand that what we're asking them to do is not compatible with their biology.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.