Candidate Profile: Susan McCready For Andover School Committee

ANDOVER, MA — Andover's town election is March 23. Andover Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles over the coming weeks.

Susan McCready is running for re-election to the School Committee. Just two people filed for two seats on the committee — McCready and her fellow incumbent Tracey Spruce.

McCready has been on the School Committee since 2015.

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

Previously on Patch: Andover Election 2021 Voter Guide: How And When To Vote

Susan McCready

Age (as of Election Day)

54

Position Sought

Andover School Committee Member

Family

My husband David, and I live with our daughter Kate (freshman @ AHS) and dog Gracie in my childhood home.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

None

Education

BA Economics - The George Washington University
MBA & MS-MIS - The University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business

Occupation

Currently at home full-time and engaged in volunteer service including the School Committee. I am a former business professional in financial services, technology, & commercial banking.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

School Committee (2015, 2018)

Campaign website

susan4andoversc.org

Why are you seeking elective office?

I had been thinking about a third term because of my deep involvement in the West Elementary Shawsheen Preschool project, district policy, and continued improvements to district communications. School facilities and district communications improvements were 2 of the driving reasons that I first ran in 2015. We have made good progress in both areas, but I’d like to continue my contribution to these and hopefully see them come to fruition.

Equally, the School Committee is in the process of hiring a new superintendent for the district and in the midst of evaluating the safe and supportive full-time return of our students and staff to our school buildings. If ever there was a time for experience and demonstrated commitment to this service, it is now.

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

The current, pressing issue is the return of our students, teachers, and staff to classrooms full-time both safely and supportively. As I have been doing since the pandemic started, I am committed to understanding the issues, listening to both our district administration and my constituents, and then making thoughtful decisions on behalf of our students.

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

There is a steep learning curve for anyone new to a school committee service; I have heard the first year on a school committee described as akin to drinking out of a fire hose. During a pandemic, having experience and established town and school relationships out of the gate sets me apart from any others who have never held this office. My experience includes 5 years of district policy leadership, service on the West Elementary/Shawsheen Preschool building committee, participation in school district budgeting, planning, and the necessary processes of a public body.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

As a local official during an unprecedented crisis, I believe that the Andover School Committee worked within its authority and evaluated educator recommendations to determine the best possible options for APS students. As a district I believe we could have done better to communicate within our school buildings and out to our parents and families during the initial stages and at critical pivot points. If re-elected, I intend to continue promoting timely, clear, and effective communications improvements for APS.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

COVID-19

In-person learning is clearly the most ideal model for the educational, social-emotional and mental well-being of our children. I supported a hybrid model opening at the beginning of this school year to provide some opportunity for in-person experiences while being mindful of the necessity for safety of everyone in our school buildings. While we all aspire to a return to normalcy, there are many challenges to doing so. I remain committed to continuing these vital conversations on the committee, supporting the administration as they explore options and work toward overcoming the challenges to getting our students back to the "all-in" model.

NEW APS SUPERINTENDENT

A primary role of a school committee is the appointment of a new superintendent. The committee is actively engaged in the search process for a leader to guide our highly performing district, bring fresh perspective, and embrace the values that APS holds dear. As a member with almost 6 years of service, an active parent participant in the district, and a resident that values the continuation of high quality education for which Andover is historically known, I look forward to being a member of the committee making this next appointment.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

As a member of the Committee's policy subcommittee, I was proud to work with our administration and members of the Cultural Climate Committee (C3) to define the district's new Educational Equity Policy. This is just a first step in ensuring EVERYONE in the APS community feels a sense of belonging and has access to attaining individual success.

Celebrating our differences, promoting diversity through curriculum, staff development, and hiring practices, and actively addressing our weaknesses is work that we must all do as a school community. I value the district's commitment to this work and will do my part to support it.

APS FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS

I have been committed to working for school facility improvements throughout my service. The School Committee and its subcommittees are steering a prudent course to evaluate and bring facility renovation or replacement options to the community for their consideration.

The West Elementary Shawsheen Preschool Building Committee is partnering with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to build a new West and a new Shawsheen Preschool on the same site. The project is in the Schematic Design phase, swiftly moving toward MSBA Board approval in April 2021 and securing community support for project funding shortly thereafter. As a member of this building committee, it is thrilling to see a new West Elementary and Shawsheen Preschool steadily becoming a reality.

However, we cannot forget that our district, like so many others in the Commonwealth has many aging school facilities. I endorsed creation of the AHS Facility Study Committee in 2017 to study and recommend updates to AHS building systems, relieve overcrowding, and improve instructional programming opportunities. I supported an MSBA SOI submission in 2019 and a resubmission in 2020. As the building that houses ALL of our district’s students and the flagship of our district, we MUST continue to work toward solutions for Andover High School.

COMMUNICATIONS: PARENT & COMMUNITY OUTREACH EFFORTS

I supported the hiring of a district Communications Director in 2018. We've been able to make some initial advancements in the improvement to our communications but there is more work to be done. Proactive, timely, relevant, and engaging communication is integral to effective relationships between the district and its parents/families, especially in these times of COVID-19. I will continue to make active communication a priority of the School Committee.

CHANGING SCHOOL START TIMES

The science shows that middle and high school age students continue to require significant sleep to support appropriate and healthy brain development. The School Committee along with the School Start Times Steering Committee and the SST Parent Advisory Committee have extensively studied the issues and options that would enable these students to begin school at a later time than the current 7:45am start. I look forward to continuing these discussions and determining how the district may support later start times for physical and mental well-being of our adolescent students.

PARENT/CONSTITUENT INPUT

Community engagement is paramount to sound decision-making, and I remain committed to gathering input from parents, students, staff, and all stakeholders in our district. I am committed to being accessible and a communicative committee member. While the public health crisis makes it difficult for any in-person meetings to occur, I continue to support the School Committee's virtual informal forums, which I view as a valuable opportunity to engage and connect with my constituents outside of a more restrictive School Committee meeting along with other small group meetings and telephone conversations.

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

I have served as both a leader and active member of the committee throughout my tenure. During this time I have been a partner between the town and school department on consensus budgets since FY16; supported the reduction of the full day kindergarten tuition fee with full elimination implemented in 2020-2021; supported investments in Andover’s language based learning programs both for special education and general education resulting in a reduction of out-of-district placements, improvements in MCAS results, and increased personalized instruction; supported adoption of the 7+H Schedule at Andover High School in 2018-2019 to promote continuity of instruction across the academic year and provide more personalization and connection with students; added learning time to the student day beginning in 2019-2020; as a member of the policy subcommittee, facilitated the Andover School Committee’s comprehensive review of the district’s policy manual and implemented it as an online, searchable manual to enable improved accessibility to the district's policies; supported social-emotional learning, universal design for learning, and student mental health initiatives to ensure our students feel safe, secure, and well positioned to access the curriculum; served on the West Elementary Shawsheen Preschool building committee toward its current status of awaiting MSBA board approval in April 2021; and selection and hiring of excellent district leaders including the addition of a Communications Director position in 2018 to support improvements to responsiveness, timeliness, and thoroughness of communications.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

There are always at least 2 sides to every situation. Listening to and considering all sides is critical to effective decision making.

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

I've never been a single issue candidate and I'm proud of my service as a committee member seeking out partnership, constructive dialogue, and keeping our students and their education at the forefront of my actions and decisions.

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