Shrewsbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Rajesh Velagapudi, School Committee

SHREWSBURY, MA — Shrewsbury's 2023 school committee race will be a contest between an incumbent and two challengers for two seats on the board.

Incumbent Sandy Fryc, who first won a school committee seat in 2011, is running to keep her seat in 2023. But incumbent Jason Palitsch is bowing out after serving two terms. Candidates Rachel Sharifipour and Rajesh Velagapudi have both filed to run in 2023.

To help voters get to know the 2023 candidates, Shrewsbury Patch sent each one a questionnaire ahead of the May 2 election. Here's how Velagapudi responded:

Relevant experience:

Since we called Shrewsbury “home” in 2009, I have volunteered in several school and town committees (listed below). I feel strongly about giving back to the community by sharing transferable skills and knowledge to improve society. I have always enjoyed working with my fellow committee members and residents.

• Community Preservation Committee (2021-24)
• Library Strategic Planning Advisory Committee (2022-23)
• School Redistricting Committee (2020-21)
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force (2020-21)
• SPS Colonial Fund Advisory Group (2019-20)

My experiences from Harvard Medical teaching hospitals and at biotech companies in fostering strategic collaborations and implementing growth strategies will be a unique skill set I will bring to complement the current committee.

Why are you running for a school committee seat this year?

With the changing public educational landscape, we need to bring 21st-century competencies to students through early exposure to career paths and skill development to be successful when they graduate. Both the pandemic and the Assabet Valley fallout pressed the importance of being nimble in our approach to provide a continuous opportunity funnel for our students to get hands-on training in their chosen field (STEAM or Vocational).

My experiences from Harvard Medical teaching hospitals and at biotechnology companies in fostering strategic collaborations to develop research innovations into therapeutic products will be a unique skill set I will bring to complement the current committee.

I am excited to share my transferrable skills in developing an action plan, and I can make an immediate impact, drawing from my professional and personal experience.

Giving back to the community empowers a sense of belonging for me.

What's one thing you'd like to achieve in 2023 if elected to the school committee?

The fallout of the Assabet Valley policy is critically impacting over 100 students who anticipate leveraging the hands-on vocational training. To address the need for technical education, my primary focus is to promote early career awareness in students by creating vocational, STEAM, and essential life skill training opportunities.

I plan to leverage the local ecosystem to develop internships and training programs to foster innovation, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills early in their careers.

For Vocational Training, the focus is on mitigating the impact of Assabet Valley policy change on the students with a two-pronged approach.

Short term: Collaborating with institutions like Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) and Worcester Tech., become a member (or leverage existing members) of the Innovation Pathways program and WPI, to name a few.

Long-term: Advocating at both State and District levels to improve access to existing regional technical schools and expand collaborations with similar need school districts.

What's one thing lacking in Shrewsbury schools that you would like to see change?

Proactive planning for future growth and development with a holistic review of our current capacity limitations and developing a roadmap for future growth.

• Students, teachers, parents, and guardians are currently experiencing critical space constraints in our High School (immediate need), limiting the course offerings and straining teachers and students.
• We will start to experience limitations in our elementary schools and very soon in the Middle Schools.
• Aligning the School and Town’s strategic priorities enables us to build a robust Action Plan that is nimble for changing needs and continuous improvements.
• Active communications with all stakeholders help develop a roadmap with minimized impact on taxpayers and maximize student performance and academic outcomes.
• Proactive planning enables us to be financially diligent by exploring all potential funding sources to minimize the tax burden on the community.
• Better class size improves the course offering and increases teacher-student engagement, providing excellent education/training opportunities to current and future generations with 21st-century skills.

What's something the district does well, and how would you support that as a member of the committee?

We continue open and honest communication with all the stakeholders. We must also proactively communicate with parents, caregivers, teachers, and taxpayers about district policies, strategic priorities, and progress on action plans at regular intervals. The 1:1 workshop between School Committee and Select Board is an excellent channel to share expectations on budget and capital expenses, enabling us to be proactive rather than reactive on financial needs. Proactive planning allows us to be financially diligent by exploring all potential funding sources to minimize the tax burden on the community. We can prioritize investments balancing the school and town's critical needs by developing a robust long-term growth and development roadmap. The taxpayers get a max return on investment (ROI), and students are provided with 21st-century skills and internships to excel academically. I firmly believe that “the best schools enable sustainable growth and development of our community.”