To the editor:

My name is Sylvia Carolina Africano and I am running for School Committee. I believe that experienced leadership is needed to fulfill the vision of the new Westport Community Schools that are in the making.

Our schools need a transparent, decisive, and experienced voice to advocate for the education of our children. We need conscientious and invested people to serve on our school committee to guide the policies and operations in our district.

The Westport schools face a number of challenges. There are vital decisions that will need to be made in the coming years. The new school reconfiguration and building will need a concerted effort from the school’s leadership to develop first rate educational programs and opportunities to accompany the new structure.

The district is under new management this year, starting with the superintendent and the principals in all of the schools. We need to build on the momentum of this energized leadership. With the opening of our new building, and the restructuring of all of our schools, we need to maximize the opportunity and potential that we have for the future of our students and our community.

The campground adjacent to the Westport Community Schools’ new projected building complex will potentially be available for purchase to the town. I am supportive of this opportunity to accommodate additional athletic fields and other resources that were not feasible in the present site plan.

Since 2003, my husband Craig Dutra and I have had our five children attending Westport schools with my oldest daughter having graduated in 2006 from WHS. We have been actively engaged politically and civically in the community since our arrival. Before becoming a School Committee member, I was on the Westport Elementary School Council. I then served as a School Committee member for six years from 2012 to 2018. This has given me a great deal of hands-on experience and insight in providing policy and budgetary direction for the school district. I was also part of a coordinated effort to seek new leadership for our district. After a one-year hiatus, I am ready to devote myself to promoting the Westport schools alongside the Westport community. This will encourage future growth and advancement of the educational opportunities for all of the students and members of the community.

I am a graduate and active alumnus of Brown University and the UMass School of Law. I was a teacher at Greater New Bedford RVTHS and served as an Adjunct faculty member at UMass Law. I am a Senior Attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services and the Northeast Regional Vice President of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers.

I have been engaged in nonprofit organizations throughout my life, having served as a board member of the YWCA of Southern Massachusetts, the Women’s Center of New Bedford, the MCAD Commission in New Bedford, and the United Way of New Bedford.

I have been endorsed by the UAW.

Carolina Africano

Westport