Candidate Profile: Paulette Van der Kloot, School Committee

MEDFORD, MA — Paulette Van der Kloot is one of 14 candidates running for School Committee in the Sept. 14 preliminary election, which will whittle down the field of candidates ahead of the municipal election in November. There will also be a preliminary election for the mayor's race.

Medford Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles over the coming weeks.

Van der Kloot has served on the School Committee for 32 years. She is retired from her role as supervisor of high school volunteers at Winchester Hospital.

Van der Kloot and her husband Bob have three daughters, Kate, Megan and Elizabeth, and three grandchildren, Harry, Charlie and Ezra.

Are you running for office in Medford? Contact Alex Newman at alex.newman@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to Medford Patch.

Age (as of Election Day)

65

Position Sought

Medford School Committee

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

My husband Bob and I are parents to Kate, Megan and Elizabeth. We are now grandparents to Harry (7), Charlie (5) and Ezra 3.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Kitkland (Hamilton) College. BA
Cambridge College, Masters in Education.
Attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

Occupation

Retired. Formerly worked at Winchester Hospital as the Superviose of High School Volunteers.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Incumbent, 32 years, Medford School Committee

Campaign website

None, please email me at pvanderkloot@gmail.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

These past two years have been an extraordinarily turbulent time. The pandemic demands rapid responses to circumstances that continue to evolve. Additionally, political and circumstances have rocked our nation and our community and challenge us to find ways to communicate and understand each other while focusing on our number one priority, our students. I bring a calm, knowledgeable voice to the Medford School Committee. I seek to bring people together so that we can build a better, stronger educational system for all our students.

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

The most pressing issue is the social and emotional welfare of our students so that they are ready and able to learn. Imagine the new Kindergartner who clenches his hands because he is afraid of germs. Or, the once seventh grader who suddenly is starting her freshman year at Medford High. Children are resilitent but each child will need to have individualized support to ensure they can be successful both in the short and long term. As a school committee member, I support the hiring of our Re-engagement Specialist Team. I always have fought for arts education and now it becomes particularly critical as we rebuild programs that were suspended or substantially lessened because of Covid. Siilarly, we need to support activies, such as clubs and sports where our students have opportunities to practice teamwork and leadership which will contribute to both their confidence and physical and mental well-being. The most important thing is to fully focus on the growth and well-being of our students.

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

I started as a young mother and now I am a grandmother. I have shown extraordinary commitment to the children of Medford. I have had the opportunity to see our students struggle and succeed, to go through rough times but to overcome and grow into wonderful contributing adults. I have a vast amount of institutional knowledge and understand what came before. At all times though, my attention is focused on making our school system better, stronger and more equitable.

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

I think we did the best we could do under very challenging circumstances. Our testing programs were very successful and were held up as a model to the state. Many of our students returned to school much earlier than other districts. Many of our teachers were amazing and our administrators worked tirelessly. Still, not all students benefitted from remote learning and some families struggled mightily. Our improved communication to families, our expanded resources and our experience will certainly help us this year. It is also essential to keep the school committee meetings focused on the educational issues that will most improve our student learning and well-being.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

1. Continued upkeep of the air filters and other instructional improvements that were made this year to ensure their continued effectiveness.
2. Support common sense measures that will protect the health and well-being of our students and school personnel.
3. Continued support for the expansion of after school care opportunities.
4. Careful monitoring or our technology to insure that our investments this year and our one to one device implementation remains strong and improvements are ongoing and anticipate changing needs.
5. Contact negotiations with all bargaining groups that meet the intricacies of these difficult times.
6. Strong fiscal responsible budget management and oversight of the pandemic funding the district received.
7. Advocating for those programs, such as band and theater, which have been most impacted by Covid restrictions but bring our students great joy and feelings of accomplishment.
8. Making sure that the process to review the future of the Medford High complex is undertaken in a thorough and professional manner and results in a plan for going forward for either renovation or rebuilding Medford High School.
9. Support for our vocational technical programs including the Construction Academy which includes carpentry, electrical and construction and craft laborers. This program was just awarded over $350,000 from the state.
10. As the chair of the curriculum sub-committee, I will continue the important work of curriculum review. We need to offer our students rigorous academic content while at the same time providing social-emotional supports for our students. In order to meet the needs of our diverse learners, we need to choose programs that are developmentally appropriate, cognitively challenging, engaging and which promote critical thinking. This work must be done through an equitable lens so that EVERY student can achieve at a high level and find joy in learning.

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

I have brought passion and commitment to this postiion for 32 years. Now in this turbulant time, I will continue to work to improve education in Medford. I am independent and will reach out to every citizen in the hopes of bringing our community together for our kids.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

My mom always said: Never give up! Each day, each year on the School Committee is dedicated to the continuous improvement of learning opportunities for our children.

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

My voice on the school committee is one of common sense, institutional knowledge and unity. Please "Give a Hoot, Vote Van der Kloot!"