Letter to the Editor: Meet School Committee Candidate Alan Vervaeke

To The Editor:

My name is Alan Vervaeke and I am a candidate for School Committee in Danvers. I wanted to take a moment to let your readers know a bit about me, and about my considerations for the position of School Committee member.

I have lived in Danvers since late 2008, when I married the woman of my dreams. We have seven children between us, and my four step-sons (John, Jeff, Jim, and Jason Burke) all went through Danvers Public Schools. The youngest – Jason - is a sophomore at the high school now. While I may not have grown up in Danvers, nor lived in Danvers for decades, my concern for the schools is that of any parent – to have the best education possible for my child and every other child. I temper that with my personal concern that we be respectful and cognizant of who is actually paying for all of this – the Danvers taxpayer. I don’t believe that I or anyone else need to be born and raised here to truly be effective in this position. In fact, my objectivity is a strength as I am unafraid to speak my mind and challenge conventional wisdom.

My own three children (Samantha, Abby, and Charlie) live in a different school district where I served on School Committee for seven and one-half years. One is a high school junior, and the other two are in middle school. I originally ran for School Committee there in 1999 to have a direct impact on their educational future, and I ended up realizing that I wanted to do that for every child, while also being careful with the money the communities were sending us.  I have been through the gamut of school committee experiences, including large building projects, budgets, contract negotiations, lobbying our legislators, and building bridges with the community. This experience will allow me to hit the ground running without the learning curve that others may require.

I am a ten year Navy veteran who travelled the world after I left home at 17. I have been on every ocean and 6 of the 7 continents, but I have lived here in Massachusetts the majority of my life since I was stationed at South Weymouth Naval Air Station in the mid-1980’s. I have worked in the computer software field since 1988, and currently am employed at Hanscom Air Force Base supporting operations there. My entire life has been about service, from serving my country to the towns I have lived in, and to my customers at work. And it is specifically my experiences from around the world that give me such a rock solid appreciation for what we have here in Danvers. I take nothing for granted.

I ran for School Committee here in Danvers three years ago, when I saw that there were no candidates other than the incumbents, and that there were areas of weakness in the District that I thought the School Committee should be paying more attention to such as special education, test scores, and opportunities for revenue. I lost that election, but my outlook has not changed. I believe that the School Committee does not provide enough outreach to the taxpayers in Danvers who support the system. Their policy points more to supporting educators and parents and those directly involved in the educational process. This seems counter-intuitive to me, since every taxpayer pays for the nearly $100 million debt for the high school and middle school, and pays for the budget every year. I would like to see far more proactive communication with all residents. Danvers Public Schools ranks at the mid-point of all school districts in the State, and it can do better by all of us working together. There are certainly lots of fantastic things in regards to Danvers Public Schools, but we all know there is always room for improvement in any endeavor.

In the past two years, I have Co-Chaired the Danvers Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) which in and of itself is unique as I do not have a special needs child in Danvers. However, working with my co-Chair and the Administration and building upon the foundation laid by previous Chairs, we continued to expand SEPAC. I have also worked hard to empower this same organization in other school districts, and we share our presentations here with every other district on the North Shore. I want to continue to provide support to the special education community at a time when the State has reduced its investment to these families. Our greatest strengths come from assisting those with the greatest need. I have worked closely with the Administration, the School Committee, and the individual schools in this regard, and I look forward to the continuing opportunity to do so. I have also served as a Town Meeting Member for Precinct 7.

In conclusion, my goals are to bring my experience in all things School Committee to the job. To communicate more to all taxpayers, to continue to improve the systems from within, to work closely with the budget to eliminate those items that are not completely necessary so that we have the funds to pay for those things that are, and to work at the State level to ensure that we don’t get stuck paying for unfunded mandates from the State – like homeless transportation.

I sincerely ask you to consider casting your vote for me on May 1^st. You can find my campaign page on Facebook (Alan Vervaeke for School Committee) where you can feel free and open to comment at any time, and I hope that you will share your enthusiasm with your friends and family here in Danvers. I promise you that no candidate will work harder for you than I will, and that I will always respond to any and all requests and communications. You have my word.

Thank you very much for the consideration.

Alan Vervaeke

35 Cherry Street