Norwood School Committee Candidates Dive Into Issues At Forum

NORWOOD, MA - The five candidates for the two School Committee seats on the ballot in the upcoming town election on April 4 shared their views on the debate over the upcoming new school start times for the next school year and other key issues at a candidates forum Monday night.

Who are the candidates, and why are they running?

Throughout the forum, incumbent Joan Giblin stressed her experience in the role as she helped the committee the district navigate the pandemic over the past two years.

"I'm proud of the work that I did during my first term," she said, noting that one of the most impactful decisions she voted on was for the override pledge. This capped non-mandated spending increases at 3.5%. She expects the operational override to be extended beyond five years.

Giblin also was on the team that negotiated five union and appointment contracts. She also worked with the committee to ensure students had computers during the pandemic while keeping all public school teachers employed. Other achievements include combining the school and town public facilities departments to save money and creating a special education stabilization fund.

Parent Mike Condon said he felt compelled to run for a seat because of the future of his three boys.

"I will put kids before politics," Condon pledged, "and support policies that strive for excellence in education for all students."

He added that the new school start time policy calling for school days to be later needs to be halted.

Tylor Tourville, like Condon, said he never expected to seek this position. But his view changed after the birth of his daughter. He also said that he believes there should be more parent voices on the School Committee.

"As I enter this race, my attitude is pretty straightforward," he said. "I want to be a strong advocate for the voice of the parents in the community when it comes to shaping the School Committee for our children."

By contrast, Katie Sibbing-Dunn, who has two children in the school system, has a history of public service in Norwood. She is a current Town Meeting member, Norwood 150 steering committee member and treasurer of the Norwood Cultural Council.

"I'm running for School Committee to deepen my commitment and do what I can to facilitate a high-quality education for all of Norwood's students," she explained. Some of her priorities include responsible budget stewardship, supporting the new middle school project, and providing an equitable education for all students.

Mark Whouley has two children who have graduated from the Norwood Public Schools, one who has a disability. He said he could bring his perspectives on the needs of traditional students as well as those with special needs to the committee.

He added that he has been talking with parents and educators about their goals for the system.

"We must work together to achieve the best possible education for all students," Whouley stressed, "and we must support our teachers. It's been a trying last two years for our students, teachers and parents."

School start time change debate

The recent change of school start times for the upcoming school year was the dominant issue of the forum.

Tourville said he has talked to parents who understand why the time change has been implemented to better coincide with optimal times for student learning. But implementing that into everyday life is the challenge for many parents. He noted that the results of the time change, if it is implemented, should be analyzed to see if test scores and other indicators improve.

Giblin said she was part of the board that unanimously approved the decision. But she was the member who made the amendment to split the implementation from the proposal due to the pandemic.

"As soon as I realized that what was being communicated was not what we understood was being communicated, I began outreach to the community," she explained. This process is how she developed the idea for a hardship survey for parents.

Sibbing-Dunn said she approved of moving the times for older students, but she "would be in support of hitting pause" because of the changes parents have endured during the pandemic.

"The question is, 'Is right now the best time?'" she said. "And if we push it forward for next year, are there going to be unintended consequences?"

Whouley said he has spoken with parents who were passionate on both sides. In his opinion, the process was flawed because the School Committee limited the time of public comment during its meetings.

"The people who were against this just wanted to be heard," he said. "They should have set up a public hearing, and you could allow for people both for and against to air out their issues."

Condon said this was an issue that he is passionate about and that "it needs to be stopped."

"From my perspective, and from not all but the overwhelming majority of folks that I've talked to, has been that the community has spoken and that the impact is very clear for them," he said.

The issue of equity

Equity was another strong issue raised during the forum.

Sibbing-Dunn said that Norwood was "ahead of the game" by conducting an equity audit. But there is still work to do to become more inclusive, she noted. She defined equity as all students the same access to opportunities.

Tourville said he favored the concept of equality over equity.

"And instead focusing on ways we can help outcomes in the schools ... how do you focus on graduation rates and test scores and keeping those nice and strong by not watering down the standards or trying to insert ideology into the conversations."

Whouley noted "how desperate teachers and parents are in the special education area and the ELL [English Language Learners] area," according to a February survey by the school department. "We need to improve services all across the board, especially for the special needs program and the ELL program."

Giblin defined equity as "making sure that each and every individual student has what they need in order to succeed." She noted that the School Committee's role is to find ways to fund what was determined to be needed in the equity audit and to provide "structural support" for teachers.

Condon brought up the issue of critical race theory, a concept that examines the intersection of race, society and law in the United States. He noted that it is different from diversity, equity inclusion because it is "making white people admit privilege before you can move forward."

"I disagree with that fundamentally and think that any form of racism is totally inappropriate and repulsive," he continued.

Communication issues between parents and the school district discussed

Communication to families, students and staff was one issue in which all candidates agreed that the district could improve.

"As far as communication, clearly overall I don't think they have done a good job over the last few years," Condon said, citing the public outcry over the changes in school start times as "a debacle."

Although the new times were approved by the School Committee last year and unanimously approved recently, some parents said they were either unaware of or concerned about the impact on their schedules and cost of child care.

Condon said the School Committee agenda school be emailed to all families. He also pledged to create surveys and polls on key topics.

"I want to be an advocate for better communication," Whouley added, suggesting that discussions occur with parents about their best platform for communication.

Tourville gave the current communications system "four out of ten stars."

"It's way too one-way communication," he said, also calling for emailed School Committee agendas as well as time for dialogue between parents and members. "And I think that could immediately be changed."

Sibbing-Dunn had a different take, noting that educators in other districts felt Norwood "went above and beyond" during its outreach during the pandemic. Virtually every meeting had in-depth reports on COVID-19 data, and there was outreach during the transition to and from remote learning.

"I think we also need to keep in mind that this is part of the strategic plan," she added. "And when you're in crisis, things get shelved. Things get tabled."

Giblin said it depends upon the time frame, noting that the school start time issue was an area in which there could have been better communication.

"I'm thrilled to hear a number of other folks talking about things that they would like to do or things that I've already started implementing, including listening sessions," she said, noting she would create a newsletter. She would also like to conduct a hardship survey to get feedback on the concerns over the new school start times.

However, pre-pandemic, Giblin noted that some parents thought the committee "was over-communicating."