Candidate Profile: Andrew Lipsett For Woburn School Committee

WOBURN, MA — Woburn will have a number of contested races in the Nov. 2 municipal election, including a six-candidate race for five seats on the Woburn School Committee.

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

Incumbent Andrew Lipsett is running for re-election to the School Committee, facing Shaun O'Keeffe and fellow incumbents Patricia Chisholm, Colleen Cormier, Christopher Kisiel and Michael Mulrenan.

Lipsett is a high school history teacher and was first elected to the School Committee in 2019.

Are you running for office in Woburn? Contact Christopher Huffaker at chris.huffaker@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to Woburn Patch.

Previously on Patch: Woburn Election 2021: Mayor, Council, School Committee Candidates

Andrew Lipsett

Age (as of Election Day)

42

Position Sought

School Committee

Family

Emily Lipsett, wife
Two children, an eight-year-old (third-grader at the Malcolm White) and a three-year-old.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My wife Emily serves as a trustee of the Woburn Public Library.

Education

BA, Sarah Lawrence College, 2000
MA History, University of Toronto, 2005
MA Teaching, Simmons College, 2010

Occupation

High School History Teacher, 13 years experience

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Woburn School Committee, 2020-present

Campaign website

www.lipsettschoolcommittee.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I'm seeking re-election to Woburn's School Committee because I'm committed to our kids, to our community, and to the power and promise of public education. The work we were trying to do was interrupted by the COVID pandemic and I want to continue that important work even as we enter a new phase of this public health crisis. I want to continue to bring an on-the-ground perspective to the Committee, and a focus and commitment to our students and families who may not always have a voice in our schools or our politics.

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

Unfortunately, the most pressing issue continues to be mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic, including its effect on the well-being and academic achievement of our students. The pandemic showed us clearly where a lot of our gaps are, so supporting the school administration in its attempts to close equity gaps and provide additional supports for vulnerable students remains highest on my priority list.

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

I hope that my own experiences as a parent of a current WPS student (one of only two currently on the Committee) and as a teacher (I am the only current member who works in education directly) give me an ability to see the whole picture, both from our 5,000 foot view as Committee members and in terms of what is happening on the ground in our schools daily.

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

On balance, and limiting my answers to the actions of the Woburn Public Schools, I'm proud of how we have responded. The district was able to mobilize to provide necessities like food immediately upon closure in March of 2020, and to devise a system of getting laptops into the hands of every student quickly so that we could engage with our kids that spring. During the 2020-2021 school year we were able to avoid any major outbreaks while also increasing our family and community engagement to reach families who were struggling in a variety of ways.

Our teachers and staff worked tirelessly under difficult conditions to do right by our kids whether they were learning in-person, hybrid, or virtually. The investments we had made in our system even before the pandemic — content specialists, social-emotional support staff, weekly art and music — proved to be critical in our successes, despite some pushback as we tried to create those positions in previous budgets. While I have plenty of criticism of the state-level responses when it comes to education, I am thankful to our team for their leadership during this crisis.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

• Expanding access to before and after school care through the Woburn Public Schools: COVID showed us the degree tow which families count on schools for a number of things, including childcare. We need to make sure that we can provide options for any family that needs them, both before and after school, to support working parents who might lack alternatives.
• Building our supports for vulnerable students: Woburn's low-income population, English Learner population, and population of color are growing, and we need to be able to adjust our systems and add supports to make sure we are delivering genuine equity to students who need additional support and staff. We also need to continue work to address services for our students with disabilities, both in terms of accessibility and support.
• Capital planning: we have an opportunity with our most recent budget to create a real long-term investment plan for our buildings, including looking toward future growth and the needs of our preschool and aging buildings.
• State-level advocacy: this year has shown us even more clearly that we are not an island, and that we need to continue to engage with state decision-makers as a Committee. This includes continuing our strong relationship with Woburn's state legislators, and becoming more active in our communications with DESE, with the Governor's office, and with the public on what kind of state education policy best serves our students.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.