Letter: Bouchard Has Shown Herself to Be Qualified for School Committee

Editor's Note: For a full collection of support letters for this candidate, click on her hyperlinked name at the bottom of this letter under "Related Topics."

To the Editor:

Two candidates are competing for one open position on the School Committee in next Tuesday’s town election. One offers for our consideration her work with PTO organizations and considerable accomplishments in promoting and fostering swimming activities in town.

Donna Bouchard, however, the other contender, is much more than a qualified candidate. She is a truly exceptional candidate. Her friends and fans, of course, know this, but her distinction and service to this town have already been recognized elsewhere by a 2011 MetroWest Daily News “Person of Distinction” award and the Wayland Public Ceremonies Committee 2012 Lydia Maria Child Award for Outstanding Public Service. And when the School Committee itself recently had the opportunity to nominate candidates for the town’s Audit Committee, its current members chose Tony Boschetto and Donna Bouchard from a lengthy list of well-qualified possibilities. These awards and distinctions are no mean accomplishments and have been for solid reasons.

Donna has honed an ability to ferret out relevant information and data, to respect them, to apply critical intelligence and analysis, and to share her findings with a larger concerned audience. She has stood equally for both financial rigor and for maintaining and enhancing the quality of our school services, one to drive the other. And she has actually demonstrated this commitment. Her efforts in pursuit of financial rigor and reform are now well-known. They have already provided great benefits to the citizens of Wayland. In addition, she has been able, working with the School Committee and Finance Committee, to bring her financial successes to bear on school matters by in fact finding ways to fund teacher retention and curriculum improvements. 

Donna’s extensive and successful public service merits her election to the School Committee. More to the point, perhaps, her talents, her energy, her intelligence, her commitment to sound financial management, and the provision of quality educational services should be embraced. Please, to continue the effective promotion of our strong school system, vote for Donna Bouchard McHarg, a truly exceptional candidate, as a member of the School Committee next Tuesday.

Edward J. Collins
Plain Road

Note: Mr. Collins is a member of the Board of Selectmen; however. this letter reflects his personal views and not that of the board as a whole.

Check out coverage of Wayland's 2013 Town Election, including all the Letters to the Editor, on our topic page, Wayland Town Election 2013.