Worcester Candidate Profile: John Trobaugh For School Committee

WORCESTER, MA — John Trobaugh is one of 11 people running for a seat on the Worcester School Committee. Four of the candidates are incumbents running to keep their seats — minus a fifth, Brian O'Connell, who died earlier this month.

Trobaugh, 50, is a diversity manager at UMass Medical School, and has two sons in Worcester schools. He's running to increase parent engagement in school affairs, and touts his experience at UMass and as an artist as skills he can put to work for the district.

Here's how he answered the Patch candidate questionnaire.

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

Lack of parent/family engagement as well as community engagement. We need an evidence based engagement plan that allows for two-way communication and shared decision making. Parents especially must be key stakeholders to build trust and feel ownership. If parents were engaged in the decision making process, we would not have had the debacles seen with comprehensive sex ed, Doherty High rebuild and transportation contract. No one solution will satisfy everyone, but if you as a parent were part of the decision making process, then you would not be protesting and fighting the decision you helped make.

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

I am the only dad with children in the Worcester Public Schools. I believe I am the only candidate was graduated from a vocational program and certainly the only one that became an EMT in high school. I went to a community college after that to become an EMT-II so that I could work eventually in medical research. I'm the only artist that specializes in communication. And I'm the only diversity professional. I'm the only one who has done community engaged education research and community engaged curriculum redesign. I am a systems thinker and a bridge builder. When I see something is not working or mistakes are being made, especially repeatedly, I automatically think what is wrong with the system to allow this to happen. I also know all the candidates and current members and believe that we can find common ground to ensure our children get what they need.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community?

The school committee has failed to heed the voice of the parents. There are no parents with children currently in WPS, but we need make an effort to ensure the diversity of our systems parents are reflected in the decision making process. That is why we started with 13 candidates for six positions and at least five of us are current parents in WPS. This lack of parent and community engagement is reflected in the lack of transparency in the schools. The discipline documentation and rates vary widely different from school to school. This needs to change and it will if parents were actually a key stakeholder in the WPS. In addition, we need to hold the school committee, as well as the administration and each school accountable for parent and community engagement - using an evidence based plan that is fully funded. At a minimum, take seriously the City Wide Parent Planning Advisory Council (CPPAC). I feel is is part of our job to amplify the voice of our parents and community.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

My top priority is to empower our school to give our students the best possible education. To do this we must listen to our parents. Our Citywide Parent Planning Advisory Council (CPPAC) recommends 6 major areas of equity and parity in our schools.

1. Equity across schools for a digital solution to coordinate grades and parent communication - we need a unified electronic student record where parents can reliably find out what is happening in our student's classroom, but also the school and district.
2. Equity across schools for lunch time. There is no state law guaranteeing a certain time allotment for lunch but the public health officials recommend 25 minutes, but some school have 15 and some have 25. The parents do not blame the principal, but feel if there are too many students in the building to allow for adequate lunch time, then there are too many students in that building.
3. Equity across school for recess time. Now there is a state law for this, unfortunately, our parents report the schools are not following this law - in some schools (the Deputy Superintendent said there were space considerations at those schools at a recent CPPAC meeting). It is ironic, however, at some schools the recess time it longer than the children have to actually eat their lunch.
4. Equity across schools in parent/student communications. The CPPAC reports that some schools have no regular communication with parents whereas other schools have monthly if not more communication by way of newsletter or email. Our parents crave engagement for our schools.
5. Equity across schools in involvement is site councils. Site council were envisioned as a parental oversight of each school. CVPPAC reports (and I have seen it as well) that some site council only have one or two parents on it. They also report that when there are more on it, they are sometimes hand picked by the principal as someone who would be in alignment and agree with current and future plans. In effect, this becomes a rubber stamp and further erodes trust in our system.
6. Equity across school to use email as a method of communication for parents. This somewhat overlaps the others above, but essentially the CPPAC recommended that email become one of the standard ways of communication with parents. If we had a unified electronic student record, I would hope this would be a feature that parents could receive communications regarding their child, but also anything relevant to their students class room, but also for the school and the district.

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

I believe my experience as a parent is important so that I have an idea of what parents believe is best. This doesn't replace the need for continuous parent engagement so that we can create a culture of continuous improvement. My experience in the publishing industry (and my degrees) helped me understand that just because you have information you know a community needs, doesn't mean they will accept it. The communication must match what the community says they need, in the words they use to describe it. In addition, my work in diversity (as well as my current studies in educational leadership) allows me to see how to change a system and its culture - especially for those in our community who have been historically underrepresented or excluded from the decision making process. We have seen so much discourse about diversity and representation in this year's run because our community demands it.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Listen, but be an active listener. To listen we must understand but we must also communicated to the speaker how we understand what they have communicated.

Be positive. We must approach reform from a positive lens. What can we do with what we have allows us to go further than if we just lament what we do not have.

Build bridges. When we treat people uncivilly, it hurts us all. We may approach it differently, but in the end we all want what is best for our students. It is our job to find out how what we want matches their interest.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

My husband and I moved here over a decade ago for a job, but we stayed because it is great place to live and raise our children. We believe in public education and that we want to live in the community that we work. We are lucky enough to be able to do both in Worcester. It's big enough to be a city and small enough so that I can make a difference. I want to leave this world a better place than I left it and feel that I've been able to in Worcester. I noticed that the Municipal Equality Index (HRC) was low, in the 50s compared to where I thought we should have ranked, so I brought it ti the attention of the new city manager and mayor. I told them if they just filled the forms out correctly, they probably could get it up to a 70 and then we could work together to improve from there. They said, let's go for 100 and, working with the council and community partners, they did it! The MEI was published the following cycle and Worcester got a full page as the most dramatic shift they had ever seen. And even thought the rules change each year, the city has maintained its perfect score.

I know that there are evidence based engagement programs that work. When they work, the attendance rates go up, the graduation rates go up, the discipline rates go down. Parents report higher trust and satisfaction in the system and are willing to volunteer and lobby their elected officials to support the schools at higher rates. Schools become more innovative and adaptive because parents are there to guide them. The administration becomes compelled to cut programs that are not important so they can add programs that the community needs. It as sense it helps our school stay ahead of the curve. Let's work together to make Worcester the best place to get and education for all our children.