Scott Wadland To Run For Re-Election On School Committee

The following was submitted by Scott Wadland as a candidacy announcement for the Framingham School Committee. If you would like to submit a candidacy announcement, email samantha.mercado@patch.com

It has been my great pleasure to serve on the Framingham School Committee, first as an at-large
member and recently as the representative for District 3. So, today I am excited to announce that I will be seeking re-election to the School Committee this fall.

The past two years have been an historic time for the Framingham School Committee as we transitioned from 7 at-large members to 9 district representatives, and in the process welcomed 6 members to the Committee. While this transformation brought with it some inevitable “growing pains”, I am proud of the work that the Committee has done as a whole and pleased that I had opportunities to contribute to these successes:

• As Chair of the Policy Subcommittee I helped advance policies that allow participation in athletics regardless of gender identity, that ensure that no child is denied a school meal and embarrassed in front of their peers because of their family’s economic situation, and continue to make enriching student travel opportunities available while complying with strict ethics laws.
• As a member of two contract bargaining teams I worked closely with the Framingham Teachers Association and FPS leadership to negotiate contracts that help ensure that every student receives the same instruction regardless of teacher or school, allow for regrouping by student needs to provide for differentiated instruction and interventions, and provide time for more consistent “check-ins” at the start of the day and “check-outs” at the end of the day which improve social and emotional wellness.
• As a representative to the Fuller Middle School Building Committee I helped make sure that the community had ample opportunities to become informed about this critical project, and as a co-founder of the “Yes for Fuller” campaign I helped formulate the strategy which led to a 6-to-1 margin of victory and a demonstrated commitment to education by the voters of Framingham.

But, despite these successes there remains (as always) more work to be done. If re-elected this fall, my goals for the next two years are to:

• Build off of the recent demographic study to make sure that we have a long-term facilities strategy which is data-driven, is economically sound and moves towards correcting the current imbalance between where the majority of our students live (south of Route 9) and where the majority of our schools are (north of Route 9).
• Begin work towards a district-wide Early Childhood Education program which will help close the achievement gap for those students who right now don’t have the opportunity to participate in structured learning before Kindergarten.
• Improve our use of data (beyond financial and student performance information) to address operational challenges (such our current busing situation) in a more timely and effective manner.

I look forward to this great opportunity to continue my service to the City of Framingham, and I respectfully ask for your continued support this fall.
Scott Wadland