Board of Education Candidate: Brian Shirvell

Editor's note: Seven candidates are running for 5 seats on the Groton Board of Education on Nov. 8. Below is a Q&A with one of the candidates.

Name:  Brian M. Shirvell

Age:  56

Education:  Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and statistics, master's degree in management (concentration in operations research and statistics), master's in business administration (concentration in Finance).

Work Experience:  U.S. Navy, served in various junior officer and department head positions, achieved rank of LCDR, 1978-1989.  Sonalysts, principal analyst, 1989-2011.

Civic/Political Experience:  Groton Board of Education, 2006-2011, one year as chairperson, four years as a member of the board's Finance, Facilities, Communications, and Negotiations Committees. Previously served on the Town of Groton's Phase II School Design Committee and the Zoning Committee.  Also served on the Friends of Fitch Crew Fund Raising Committee and was a Mystic Little League Coach. 

Family:  Married, three children.

Why are you running for this office?  I have served on the Groton BOE for five years. There exist a number of important issues (facilities, deferred maintenance, finances, distribution of resources, student achievement, curriculum, contracts, etc...) facing the school district that have not yet been satisfactorily resolved or will require close monitoring going forward.  I am familiar with many of the issues and believe I can contribute to the development of policies that will foster improved outcomes.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge Groton schools face today, and what would you do to meet this challenge?  The educational needs and challenges facing our students are increasing and the resources to meet these needs and challenges are decreasing.  

The demographics of Groton are changing, residents have less financial resources and are getting older.  The percentage of students in Groton that qualify for free or reduced lunch has increased 40 percent over the past eight years.  The percentage of children entering kindergarten that have attended preschool has averaged only 65 percent for the past decade. The state average is 77 percent, and the state goal is 80 percent.  

There exists a backlog of approximately $150 million of deferred maintenance within Groton's schools and no approved plan to address these needs.  Limited resources will need to be employed even more efficiently going forward.  To do this requires change, sometimes frequently.  Changes to be considered might include: establishment of sister schools to provide more equal class sizes, more restricted course offerings, frequent changes in deployment of resources in response to school enrollment changes, involving more parents in more school initiatives, greater research for school grants, addressing school infrastructure issues in smaller steps, etc...

How would you rate the performance of the current board overall, and what, if anything, would you do differently?  The Board's performance has been average.  The Board has faced many difficult and contentious issues this past year.  The issues are complicated and the solutions presented have been even more so.  The Board's ability to communicate viable and comprehensible solutions needs to be improved.  

The facilities issues will have to be addressed in smaller steps.  The movement of teachers and changes to schedules will need to be more open and previewed earlier.  Attendance at Board meetings has been marginal, some meetings have had to be cancelled due to not having a quorum.  Less small committee meetings, more frequent committee of the whole meetings, and longer and more precise scheduling may alleviate some of the attendance issues going forward.