Wakefield Election Profiles: Amy Leeman, School Committee

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The following candidate profile is from Amy Leeman, who is running for School Committee.

Your name: Amy Leeman

Age, as of April. 1, 2021: 48

Town of residence: Wakefield, MA

Position sought: School Committee - 3 Year

Party affiliation: Unenrolled

Family: I have lived in Wakefield for 14 years with my husband Gerard. Our two daughters are currently enrolled in the Wakefield Public Schools, our oldest is a Galvin Middle School student, and our youngest is a Walton Elementary School student. We are proud to call Wakefield our home.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government, including the Town of Wakefield or Wakefield Public Schools?: My husband, Gerard Leeman, is an appointed member of the Wakefield Finance Committee.

Education: BS in Management/Marketing Concentration from UMASS Boston

Occupation: School Committee Candidate

Previous or current elected or appointed office: None

Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/Amy-Leeman-for-Wakefield-School-Committee

You are running because:

I, like many parents, grew to understand the impacts of the decisions made by the School Committee and School Administration on the student experience. I have immersed myself in several topics of education policy in Massachusetts and Wakefield such as the school funding (a/k/a Chapter 70), equitable support for special education students, and resource allocation among the District's elementary schools. I have interacted with and sought input from our legislative delegation, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and viewed, attended or spoke at several Wakefield School Committee meetings. I have also served on or monitored principal or staff search committees. With these many years of targeted contributions to the District I feel I've developed a broad and deep understanding of what the District's goals should be. Serving as a member of the School Committee and collaborating with my colleagues is the most effective means to advocate for meaningful improvement.

What is the single most pressing issue facing the school committee, and what do you intend to do about it:

Though the return to normal or near-normal school operations after the pandemic is the most pressing issue, the community needs to be aware that it's causing several other individual operational challenges for public school systems in Massachusetts. Wakefield is no different. Because of the disruptions of the past year the WPS budget has been challenged by revenue loss at the same time as substantial additional expenditures were required. These additional expenditures include enhanced cleanliness and spacing measures, additional teachers for remote learners that will continue in part into the next year, connectivity capabilities, etc.. The district is also now contending with the fact that students came through the remote period with a degree of learning loss and now must strategize how to return them to the right baseline in an equitable way. The period we are entering now is also likely to see a heightened need to support special education students. These challenges require School Committee members to remain curious and engaged on a broad set of topics. I bring a broad awareness to the Committee and background of effective prioritization.

What are key differences between you and your opponents in this race:

I don't have enough basis to compare myself to my opponent but hope the answers to this profile and my other public statements will give the voter the information they need to perform their comparisons.

What other issues make up your campaign platform:

We are expecting to proceed through the Massachusetts School Building Authority process to build a new Wakefield Memorial High School. I would like voters to know that as a School Committee member I recognize that my role is not limited to contributing to the MSBA process but also to breed a sense of transparency and understanding about the strategy the District will take to construct a facility that meets students' modern learning needs and, thus, delivers taxpayer value to the whole of Wakefield. My approach to this issue, and role of School Committee member more generally, will be to breed a sense of shared vision and build a broad coalition of support for enhancements to the Wakefield student experience from application, through design proposal to Town Meeting and hopefully, through to construction oversight and commissioning.

What accomplishments and experiences would you cite as evidence you can handle this job:

The experiences I have as a mother of a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder on an IEP and a neurotypical child who thrives in the classroom, makes me sensitive to the fact that Wakefield families bring a variety of needs to the District for the Administration and Committee to balance. To be a well informed and engaged parent I learned how to identify and use public resources such as those provided by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the Massachusetts Advocates for Children and even our State House delegation. I am ready to contribute my energy and lessons learned to date to the District's mission statement.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and the position:

Though some would call my race "uncontested" because there are two candidates for two seats, I hope voters recognize public engagements like this are evidence of my want to foster the engaged, transparent relationship I will strive to maintain with the students, parents, teachers and Wakefield voters, generally during my term of service on the School Committee. I ask for your vote on April 27 for one of the two available three-year School Committee seats on the ballot.

Thank you for reading.