North Andover Candidate Profile: Kevin Dube for School Committee

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — North Andover will have two contested races in the March 24 town election: School Committee and Board of Selectmen. North Andover Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles over the coming weeks.

Kevin Dube is running for election to the School Committee. He faces two incumbents, Helen Nevell Pickard and Holly Vietzke Lynch. There are two available seats. Dube is a certified public accountant and a software engineer.

Are you running for office in North Andover? Contact Christopher Huffaker at chris.huffaker@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to North Andover Patch.

Previously on Patch: Nine File To Run In North Andover Annual Town Election

Kevin Dube

Age (as of Election Day)

50

Position Sought

School Committee

Party Affiliation

Republican

Family

Wife-Jennifer
Children:
Makenna 14
Jessica 12

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No.

Education

Salem State University 1991, Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Accounting Concentration
Bentley University 1996 Master of Science in Taxation

Occupation

Licensed Certified Public Accountant, License #18497
Currently employed as a software engineer/manager in an IT firm

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

None

Campaign website

electdube.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I have been heavily involved in volunteering throughout my children’s education. I have been a room parent, library volunteer and assisted in the Math Olympiad. I was one of the initial parent volunteers that brought the math enrichment program to Franklin as well. These saw me coming into the school several hours per week.

I am seeking office as the volunteer opportunities afforded in elementary schools are substantially less now. I still want to help keep our schools as excellent as they are, and this is the best way I believe I can do that.

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

School safety. Last year’s terrible revelations regarding the High School administrations use of “safety plans” that limited the rights and movements of the victims is a huge factor in my decision to run. As a parent of two daughters, it was simply unacceptable to me that someone employed by our school district thought that was an acceptable solution in the aftermath of such a terrible and traumatic crime. Our school committee needs to be more knowledgeable about the policies being put forth by the superintendents they hire and more proactive in communicating to administrators the expectations not only of the school committee, but the town as a whole. If we’re hearing about awful stories like this in the news, they’ve failed at their job.

The need to improve safety in our schools doesn’t just stop here, though. As it stands, vaping is a virtual epidemic in the halls of our schools. Nationally, the last two years has seen vaping amongst school age students increase 135 percent. Almost 30 percent of High School age kids are now vaping. It’s common knowledge amongst parents that there are bathrooms in the both the Middle School and High School that are known as the “Vape rooms” that students are forced to avoid. This is an immediate problem that needs to be addressed.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have a background in business as well as accounting that will allow me to lend a differing perspective to the challenges facing North Andover Public Schools. The Town’s education expenditure recently passed the momentous threshold of being over 50 percent of our entire municipal budget. The School Committee simply must be more discerning in the way it spends the money.

Our town JUST completed construction on a new Early Childhood Education Center, and its already abundantly clear to both parents and teachers that its inadequate both functionally and aesthetically. Our School Committee members can’t be afraid to speak up when a bad plan is put forward. If I see a bad idea, I’ll make sure everyone knows.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

The school committee’s job is to hold the superintendent accountable. They cannot be afraid to exercise their authority over the administrators they hire to run our schools. The committee needs to be more active in setting the policies and expectations throughout the district. The school committee must not simply be a rubber stamp for the agenda of the superintendent.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

Accessibility and Transparency. As a member of the school committee, I will go to a PTO meeting for each school every year to connect with the parents and faculty concerning the day to day issues facing their schools and students. I will also make sure the public is appraised in lay terms the issues being addressed by the school committee and putting the budget into transparent terms.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have run two small businesses, managed up to 30 people at a time, and advised CEOs of companies with orders magnitude more employees than that. I understand complex systems and that there are often no simple solutions to the complex problems of large organizations. I understand that all members of such organization are members of a team, but the role of team members is not to be cheerleaders, but rather as contributors of differing thoughts and opinions to create a whole greater than the individual parts.

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