Salem Candidate Profile: Stephen Beauparlant For School Committee

SALEM, MA — Salem will have several contested races in this fall's election, including a 11-way race for four at-large seats on City Council. The preliminary election on Sept. 17 will thin the field of at-large city councilor candidates to eight and the field of school committee candidates to six. Salem Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Stephen Beauparlant, 41, is one of seven candidates running for three seats up for reelection on the Salem School Committee. A preliminary election on Sept. 17 will thin the field the top six vote-getters, who will move on to compete for the four seats up for reelection in the general election on Nov. 5. Beauparlant is a lab manager and has a PhD from Temple University.

Are you running for office in Salem? Contact Dave Copeland at dave.copeland@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Salem Patch.

Previously on Patch: Salem Election 2019: Here's Who's Running

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

The single most pressing issue facing our district is a near complete loss of the community's confidence. Public education is most successful when there is open and honest collaboration amongst all stakeholders (administration, teachers, students and parents). The failure to engage in candid communication related to recent events has resulted in a lack of confidence in the school administration; right or wrong, all decisions and their motivations are immediately questioned.

Communication seems like a very simple issue and therefore easy to solve. However, it is not. Communication in Salem schools is ineffective and inconsistent from the very top to the bottom. The best way to fix this is through the development of honest, non-disaster-driven conversations. Trust needs to be built in the day-to-day outreach to all stakeholders. Then when hard discussions must happen, these stakeholders will recognize the honest intent behind this outreach instead of assuming it is damage control. If elected, I plan on (with their permission) attending PTO meetings at least once a year at every school. I would encourage other committee members to join me in this endeavor to reduce the adversarial relationship that seemingly exists between the administration and the public. Additionally, I will encourage the committee to make sure all communications to the public about decisions big and small are thoughtfully done. This will give the community as much lead time as possible to digest the information, and allow the committee to address questions and concerns as they arise.

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

There are a great group of candidates running for these 3 seats and there are a lot of similarities between them. All of the newcomers are parents with children in the public school system. This representation is essential for progress, as there are no parents of SPS children on the current committee. Additionally, there are multiple candidates, like myself, with a professional background in science. I think these experiences can build a toolkit for problem solving that is beneficial to the role.

One of the things that make me a standout candidate is my ability to quickly process new data, form key follow up questions and identify potential problems so they can be immediately discussed. Far too often, problems are raised after the initial presentation and the chance for immediate discussion and dialog can be missed. My training as a postdoctoral fellow researching breast cancer was instrumental in developing this skill. I am also not afraid to speak up and be productively vocal so honest discussions can occur. One of the key tenants of my platform is communication and I've done my best to live up to that; just look at my Facebook campaign page.

Finally, in our local government (including the School Committee) there is far too often the taking sides which can blockade progress. I'm willing to work with anyone to make the progress we so essentially need in the school system. I will work, and will vote, issue by issue; I am not afraid to speak truth to power, or explain the basis of any of my decisions. If I think it is a good idea that will benefit Salem's children, I will support it.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community?

As mentioned above, I believe the development of a robust system of 2-way communication is a key failing of the current School Committee.

Another key area where I see a real need in the school system is to improve accountability within the administration. The school system is large and the issues are vast. It takes a team of dedicated individuals to manage them all. One of the School Committee's roles is to recognize problems and raise concerns to the attention of the administration, so they are addressed in a systematic manner. Do not just ask the question and then move on, but instead define an appropriate period for fact finding and follow up with a set due date in which the information should be presented.

With a system this big, it is too easy for issues to perpetually fall on the back burner and be perceived as unimportant. I do not believe the current School Committee has done a good job at this and that has lead to a series of problems with our previous Superintendent. They are in the midst of hiring a permanent replacement and without implementation of the appropriate accountability these problem could recur.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

Over the last few years, we have had an obscenely high turnover in school leadership. Every school has lost a principal, some have lost multiple. Many of these local leaders have left for parallel jobs in other districts. While I have confidence in our current school leaders, I worry that if the administrative support isn't fixed, this turnover will continue. School leadership needs to know that the administration is there to support them and they can go to them for help. The loss of seasoned school leaders is bad enough, but if our teachers begin to leave, it will be catastrophic. As I see it, these local warriors are succeeding in their jobs the best they can, but if they feel unappreciated and that they are fighting back the tide, they will move on. We need to look at current systems of teacher support and see what more can be done.

Another big concern for me is the wasted time reinventing the wheel between schools. I keep saying that public education at its best is a collaborative endeavor. This includes intra-district communication. At the budget presentation meeting, I heard about great, unique programs at each school. The obvious question to me, is why are they unique? If something has proven itself successful at one location, it should at least be considered on a broader scope. Creating intra-school dialog where they can work together on problem solving and share ideas will benefit the system as a whole.

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

One of the achievements that I am most proud of is getting my PhD. The majority of the work is in developing a research project of intellectual value based on a solid hypothesis and seeing this through to completion. There is no defined time to attain a PhD, it is based on your progress as assessed by your committee but the average is 5 years total. As is common, this was not a straight forward process for me. My initial work focused on a type of cancer but after 3 years, I had to face the prospect that my initial hypothesis was wrong and had to decide to either continue the work blindly hoping for success or re-evaluate my direction and start over on a completely different path.

I presented this difficult argument to my supervising committee and they reluctantly agreed to allow me to shift my work to neurodegenerative disease. Despite facing up to 4 more years of work, I made a very hard, but thoughtful decision based on the data at hand. I was able to convey my thought process and ideas to my stakeholders (the committee) and convince them that this was the best path forward. In the end, I graduated with my PhD with only 2 years of additional work. This process taught me a lot about myself, about thinking things through, implementing a well-thought-out plan and constantly re-evaluating it to make sure it is still the right one. These skills have proven beneficial to me throughout my life and will benefit the School Committee.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

The best advice ever shared with me was...to be honest. From my earliest memory my mother instilled within me the need to be honest. She would always say that "There is nothing I hate more than a liar." Mistakes were fine, just own up to them and do not make them worse by lying. I am by no means perfect, but I do my best to be as open and honest as I can. Right or wrong, I speak my mind. However, I am still open enough to hear other viewpoints and honest enough to admit when I'm wrong.

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

Why am I running?

We've heard "See something, say something". I believe in "See something, do something". I've seen our school system decline. I've seen leadership operate in a bubble, dictating policies and changes without honestly involving stakeholders. I've seen great teachers, principals and students leave our district for lateral positions. This drove me to do something; try to effect change. There are no SPS parents on the school committee; my voice is not represented. I want to be that voice of determined reason, driving the changes needed to turn things around.

Previously Published Salem Candidate Profiles:

Candidates for reelection are marked with an asterisk (*).

City Council, At Large

Jeff Cohen

Domingo J. Dominguez *

Ty Hapworth

George McCabe

Alice Merkl

Elaine Milo *

Conrad J. Prosniewski

Arthur Sargent *

Maribel Steadman

City Council, Ward 3

Patti Morsillo

City Council, Ward 4

Timothy Flynn *

City Council, Ward 6

Megan Riccardi

Jerry Ryan

School Committee

Beth Anne Cornell

Jim Fleming *

Donna Fritz

Kristin Pangallo