Shrewsbury 2023 Election Profile: Rachel Sharifipour, School Committee

SHREWSBURY, MA — Shrewsbury's 2023 school committee race will be a contest between an incumbent and two challengers for two seats on the board.

Incumbent Sandy Fryc, who first won a school committee seat in 2011, is running to keep her seat in 2023. But incumbent Jason Palitsch is bowing out after serving two terms. Candidates Rachel Sharifipour and Rajesh Velagapudi have both filed to run in 2023.

To help voters get to know the 2023 candidates, Shrewsbury Patch sent each one a questionnaire ahead of the May 2 election. Here's how Sharifipour responded:

Relevant experience

I am an active volunteer in our community, with a particular focus on our schools. I am the current President of the Beal PTO, after having previously served as Secretary and Co-President of the Paton PTO, as well as Treasurer and President of the Parker Road PTO. Over the last few years, I have participated as a parent representative on several hiring committees to fill positions across our district. In 2021, I committed myself as a Volunteer Organizing Lead to help secure the successful operational override to meet our town’s educational and municipal needs. I earned my Bachelor's Degree in History from UMass Amherst in 2006 and my Master’s Degree, also in History, from Boston College in 2008.

Although I originally had planned to become a high school History teacher, life had a funny way of working itself out and I have worked in healthcare since 2012 in practice management. In my work, I have overseen a number of ambulatory outpatient clinics including Cardiology, Geriatrics, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, and OB/GYN. This work has involved managing departmental budgets, negotiating physician contracts, day to day management of employees, as well as working with and listening to patients and their families on a variety of issues.

Why are you running for a school committee seat this year?

I am running for school committee this year because:

• I care deeply about the Shrewsbury Public Schools as a parent of three children in the school system, as a volunteer and as a resident of our town.
• Every student deserves an equal opportunity to the high-quality education Shrewsbury Public Schools has to offer. We are so fortunate to have the leadership we do in town with our School Committee and Superintendent. We must ensure that every child be given the chance to succeed regardless of ability, income level or English proficiency. We need to work together to eliminate inequities in student performance and we also must work together to ensure that the mental and emotional health needs of our students are met.
• I am committed to pursuing vocational opportunities for students with the loss of access to Assabet Valley because all students deserve access to the education that will best help them achieve their highest potential.
• We must be able to balance the needs of our students and staff with a fiscal responsibility that we owe to the taxpayers of the community.
• Our students cannot thrive unless the staff of our schools are supported to the fullest extent possible. Our collective success is dependent on their ability to educate and have access to the tools, professional development, and a healthy work-life balance.

What's one thing you'd like to achieve in 2023 if elected to the school committee?

With the increased demand for vocational and technical opportunities, the loss of seats at Assabet for our students makes the need for expanded opportunities in Shrewsbury more pressing. I will be a strong advocate to further partnerships with area businesses and colleges to provide opportunities for job shadowing, internships and skills training.

I am also committed to working to find vocational opportunities for students within our schools. Our school district has already been forward thinking with this and is looking into exploring a program (Innovation Career Pathways) which is made to give students the coursework, as well as experience and opportunities they would receive attending vocational school but within a more traditional high school setting. Shrewsbury Public Schools will not be able to replicate the current vocational school model but we can certainly mitigate the effects on our students. What complicates this, and also needs to be a focus at the same time, is the spacing needs issue that we are currently facing at the high school. Our ability to expand with new courses and classrooms is severely restricted.

What's one thing lacking in Shrewsbury schools that you would like to see change?

The district just completed a very comprehensive space needs study analyzing Pre-K through Grade 12. Not surprisingly, what came out of this study was the issue of overcrowding and lack of adequate space at the high school. We currently are hovering right around 100% space utilization of the high school and considering our enrollment projections going forward, this problem is not going to lessen any time soon. We are wholly lacking in major areas including core academic space, vocational/technology space, as well as special education space. Our ability to add any new courses or programming (vocational or not) is severely restricted by our current building spacing constraints.

What's something the district does well, and how would you support that as a member of the committee?

One area that I believe our district excels in is transparency and communication. The School Committee, along with the district, needs to make many decisions that cover a wide range of complex topics. To be able to fully understand and make an informed decision, it is crucial to hear a variety of opinions. Students, families, and staff are the best gauge of what the district does or does not need, and they are often a giant part of the solution. Different voices bring different perspectives, and we need to continue to engage the community to involve the various stakeholder groups. I would fully encourage and promote students, families, staff, and community members to get involved. We should look at creative ways for community engagement, as well as identify where there may be barriers in place where families or community members feel they aren’t able to lend their voice.

More on the 2023 Shrewsbury School Committee race:

• Shrewsbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Rajesh Velagapudi, School Committee
• Shrewsbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Sandy Fryc, School Committee