LWV DEBATE: School Committee Candidates Agree on Most Things

The League of Women Voters debate at the Wednesday night showed one theme among School Committee candidates: They agree on almost everything.

Incumbent Laurie Burzlaff, Andrew McDevitt and George Vozeolas are running for two open seats.

Here are a couple highlights from the debate.

1. Agreed: The candidates agreed on most things, in fact. All agreed with the decision to appoint Assistant Superintendent Kevin Hutchinson as Superintendent Chris Hottel's replacement when Hottel retires in June, although Vozeolas said the process should have been more transparent.

All three candidates said that while they would rather not have fees for participation in sports, they felt the fees were needed to address the rising costs of those programs.

The candidates agreed that the town should look into streamlining special education by sharing special education services with other communities.

All three candidates support having school staffing decisions based on merit and performance instead of seniority, although they question how such a system would be implemented now. And all three candidates support incorporating iPads into curriculum to replace textbooks.

2. Experience vs. Outsider: With the candidates being similar in beliefs and agendas, experiences may be what makes them stand out.

Burzlaff, who has worked as an attorney for several years, cited her three years of experience on the School Committee and the various initiatives the Committee has taken on in that time, as well her role as a liaison in the schools to foster better communication between parents and the Committee.

With every issue addressed, Burzlaff cited her experience on the School Committee dealing with those issues and developing programs relating to them.

McDevitt has pointed to his job as a corporate finance director as evidence of his leadership and management abilities as well as his financial skills. But at the debate, McDevitt focused on his role as an involved parent. He pointed out twice that, if elected, he will be the only member with children in the elementary schools.

"Obviously I've got a focus on elementary schools, since I have children in elementary school," McDevitt said. "I think there should be a balance on the Committee with parents with kids in each of the schools."

Vozeolas, however, positioned himself as the outsider, saying he would work against the status quo. He cited making School Committe meeting more participation-friendly as an example.

"If you’re going to challenge the status quo you’ve gotta ask questions," he said. "I’d like to see the School Committee restructure meetings to put public comment in beginning so parents can plan to attend."

Burzlaff then pointed out that the School Committee does allow public comment at the beginning of meetings as well as the end of meetings. But the beginning public comment portion is for agenda items only.

The LWV debate was broadcast live on North Andover CAM, which will air the debate several times before the election. So check out CAM for the complete debate.