Two Medfield SC Candidates Respond To Medfield Together Survey

Two Medfield School Committee Candidates Respond to Medfield Together Survey

With two open seats in Medfield’s School Committee up in this year's Town Election, the Medfield Together Steering Committee reached out to all four candidates with a survey. The questions welcomed each candidate to highlight their own skills, experience, and interest in addressing issues related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the public school system.

Using Medfield Together’s LISTEN-LEARN-ACT framework, these are the key takeaways from the candidates’ responses:

Incumbent Tim Knight acknowledged his own privileges, sharing in his survey response experiences he had growing up seeking out volunteer opportunities that brought self-awareness, such as working with Habitat for Humanity, food banks, and tutoring and coaching. Knight’s level of consciousness of the inequities in Medfield seems relatively high, as he points out incidents of racism, the minimal diversity of the teaching staff, and the lack of alignment regarding special education. Knight also references the DEI Task Force, the SELTask Force, and the work of librarians.

Based on these responses, Tim Knight is LISTENING to relevant social justice issues and is supportive of ongoing efforts to increase LEARNING about these issues in the district. However,what is less prevalent in Knight’s responses is direct ACTION. It sounds like Knight is committed to increasing partnership, collaboration, and communication within the schools and among the community regarding these issues. If Knight is elected, Medfield Together would like to extend support to him and the School Committee’s efforts to take more concentrated direct action based on the listening and learning they’ve been doing over the past two years.

New-to-the-race, write-in candidate Michelle Kirkby also submitted responses and highlighted some ACTION she has taken recently as PTO President of Memorial School. Kirkby created and ran the “Every Story Matters” book drive for Memorial, bringing over 700 award-winning picture books that foster awareness and inclusivity across all races and genders into early elementary classrooms. Further, Kirkby acknowledges continued LEARNING she is committed to by continually revisiting assumptions and past learnings, specifically referencing the changes Wheelock School has made in the past year to update the perspectives at the Rocky Woods Feast.

Based on these responses, Michelle Kirkby demonstrates herself to be involved in DEI work in the district based on action she has taken. Further, it sounds like Kirkby is open to continued LISTENING, as she references her willingness to engage in difficult conversations around complex DEI topics. If elected, Medfield Together encourages Kirkby to engage in meaningful listening opportunities with the community, seeking to amplify voices and perspectives in the schools that are different from her own - voices that are underrepresented, not heard, or ignored.

Three Candidates were given ten days to respond to the survey, with the exception of Michelle who had only a few days because of her late entry into the race. No other candidates responded to the request for survey responses at the time of this printing.

Rather than an endorsement, Medfield Together has instead offered these survey summaries using our LISTEN-LEARN-ACT framework to demonstrate candidates’ perspectives. We are hopeful this information allows voters with a commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives to assess their alignment with candidates’ shared values and use that information to inform their decision at the polls. Voting will take place at the Council of Aging Center, 1Icehouse Road, on Monday, March 28 from 6:00am to 8:00pm.

Learn more about Medfield Together at www.MedfieldTogether.com.