Eight passionate and motivated candidates faced off in a candidate forum for Bristol members of the regional School Committee, held last Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Roger Williams University. The evening got started with the candidates’ opening statements.

“I’m running for school committee for two primary reasons,” said Tony Morettini. “The first is to return accountability and transparency in all our proceedings and to ensure we stay in our lane and stop the overreach.” As an endorsed “gun sense” candidate, Morettini said he will work overtime to ensure our students and teachers are kept safe from gun violence. “If we fail here nothing else matters,” he said.

A lifelong East Bay resident, Jessica Almeida is the mother of two elementary-age children; professionally she has worked more than 15 years in the finance industry. “As a hopeful School Committee member my focus would be leadership, academic excellence, communication and transparency, financial stability and integrity,” she said. “Education is about our children and part of that is watching how we conduct ourselves.”

“I love this town and I love our community,” said Adam McGovern, a 1999 Mt. Hope graduate and father to two children in the District. As a Brown University facilities administrator, McGovern said he understands the challenges associated with balancing the academic mission versus the financial constraints. An active Cub Scout leader and flag football coach, McGovern said that if elected, he will maintain a very high level of professionalism. “I’m committed,” he said. “I’ll treat everyone with respect.”

Bill O’Dell is a 20-year veteran of the School Committee who is ready to come back after a four-year hiatus. “I know how to work with people; I know how to accomplish things,” he said, citing his success at working collaboratively with the rest of the Committee to close or rehabilitate several school buildings that were sub-par. “I’m running now because there are a lot of parents out there who are very concerned about what's going on in the public schools right now.”

Carly Reich, the only current committee member running for reelection in Bristol, currently chairs the Policy Curriculum Subcommittee and the Wellness Committee. “As a parent of two kids in the district, I have a vested interest in the experiences and achievements of our students and meaningful relationships with our educators and decision makers,” she said. “As a mental health professional, I know we as humans are better versions of ourselves when we feel valued and will continue to advocate for the needs and safety of all of our students and staff.”

An educator with a broad range of professional experience from early childhood to college prep, locally and internationally, Margaret Elise Richards is the mother of three children in district schools. “That's not to say that I'm an expert on all things education,” she said of her broad background in education and policy. “I know enough to know what I don't know, and how to reach out and ask for help when making decisions…I have the skills and experience that are needed to help bring our board together and usher in a new wave of transparency, accountability, and trust.”

Brian Bradshaw’s is another familiar face, having served on the School Committee previously, from 2016 to 2020. “It was a challenging four-year term,” he said. “But I really enjoyed watching our students doing what they loved to do, whether that was in the science fair or the athletic fields or on the stage. So it's been hard to watch the current school committee take the focus away from our children and their accomplishments. The current school committee has not given our children examples of good governance.”

“I feel I am uniquely qualified to serve on the Committee,” said Richard Ruggiero, citing his many years in both education and town government. “If elected my goal is for each and every student to have the opportunity to fully develop their potential…I firmly believe in focusing on the basics of reading, writing, and mathematics. I also believe in a strong civics education program to prepare students to become informed participants in our democracy…I will stay true to my principal practice of listening to all before weighing in on any given topic as demonstrated throughout my tenure on the Town Council and join finance committee. My decisions will always be based on what is in the best interest of the students and the entire school community.”

Priorities for the upcoming term
Moderator Ethan Hartley of East Bay Media Group, which co-sponsored the Forum along with the League of Women Voters, asked all the candidates to share what their top priorities would be over the next four years.

For Morettini, safety, transparency and accountability got top billing. Almeida seconded transparency, and mentioned communication as well. “I do think parents have a right to know what's going on in the classroom…and as of right now, I don't think that's very clear and open to the parents.”

“I think right now there's a strong perception that the School Committee is split,” said McGovern, noting that when he reviewed the last two years of meeting minutes, members actually see eye to eye far more often than not, with 80% of the votes being unanimous. “We will talk about a host of issues that as a community we're split on but I think if we can improve our communication we can get closer on finding a common solution,” he said.

O’Dell mentioned that, in conversations with former members of the faculty and staff, a lack of cooperation and respect from and among the members of the School Committee was often cited as a reason for leaving. “The School Committee is out of control — these are the things that they were telling me,” he said. “The school committee needs to learn to behave now….and you respect each other at the end of the day, you shake hands and that's it.”

For Reich, the mental health of our students is an urgent priority. “We’ve had many more children being diagnosed with anxiety since even before the pandemic; the same thing with major depression episodes,” she said. “There have been a lot of kids that have not been able to achieve or able to get the help that they needed. I think this goes hand in hand with learning loss.” And it’s not just the students that Reich is concerned about — teachers need support as well.

“My first priority would be maintaining a sense of agility responding to the ongoing needs of our students,” said Richards. “I have heard a lot from concerned parents as well as social workers and others working in the schools about the needs of students who were already having learning differences.” She also cited unifying the School Committee as a top priority.

Bradshaw would like to reestablish the School Committee’s trust within the community. “I think that's something that over the last few years has been lost,” he said. “When we look at how the School Committee acts at some points in time, those positive role models haven't always shone through.” Like Morettini, he also mentioned school safety as a top priority, as well as moving forward with the construction of a new High School.

For Ruggiero, an improved curriculum, more extracurricular opportunities, and a reduction of class size to foster individualized instruction would be his top priorities out of the gate.

Candidates weighed in on a range of issues
From asking what is needed to promote a healthy working relationship with the current school administration, School Committee overreach was a common and near-universal theme. “We have to get back to doing what school committees do and let the administration do what they are supposed to do,” said Bradshaw. Improving proficiency scores was another area of concern, with candidates largely agreeing on a wide range of variables from pandemic learning loss to the need for extra support for students and faculty to tackling the problem of chronic absenteeism. Equity issues, the career and technical education program, retention, facilities, culture, morale, discipline, and the importance of giving students a seat at the table were among the many issues raised during the roughly 90-minute conversation.