Wakefield Election Profiles: Kevin Piskadlo, School Committee

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The following candidate profile is from Kevin Piskadlo, who is running for School Committee.

Age, as of April 1, 2021: 46

Town of residence: Wakefield, Massachusetts

Position sought: School Committee - 2 Year Seat

Party affiliation: Democrat

Family: Single. One nephew at the Doyle School and moving onto kindergarten at Dolbeare in the fall and one nephew who will be a Duckling in January.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government, including the Town of Wakefield or Wakefield Public Schools?: Brother John J. Piskadlo (WMHS Class of 1989) is a Legislative Assistant for Florida State Senator Tina Scott Polsky.

Education: Ph.D.- University of Massachusetts Boston, MS- Miami University (OH), BA- Catholic University

Occupation: Associate Vice President and Dean of Students, Stonehill College

Previous or current elected or appointed office: School Committee Member 2007-2013 (Chair, 2010- 2011 ; Vice Chair 2009-2010)

Campaign website: facebook.com/PiskadloCommittee

You are running because:

My decision to run for School Committee again was not one that I took lightly, knowing from personal experience the extensive amount of time and commitment required to be a productive and successful SC member. The year-long pandemic, however, has profoundly affected the education of students at all levels. I saw, first-hand, the impact it was having on my own students at Stonehill College and worried about the affect it would have on my young niece and nephews.

With four of seven School Committee seats open, and the possibility that the outcome could result in a majority of members who have never served one day on the SC as we start to emerge from the global pandemic and face a number of unprecedented challenges, I thought that it was important to once again raise my hand and offer to assist my beloved hometown. I believe that my prior School Committee and current professional educational experiences make me uniquely qualified to meet these challenges. Additionally, the two-year seat provides me with just enough time to influence the issues I care most about: the safe return to learning, addressing learning loss, ensuring the social and emotional needs of our students, supporting faculty and staff, and moving forward with a high school project. I have meaningful experience in all these areas through my prior service, as a College Dean and faculty member, and as a Ph.D. in education where my published research has focused on teaching and learning.

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

The most immediate pressing issue facing the School Committee is the return to in-person learning while COVID-19 continues to spread and impact our lives. This complicated and untested process, one that has never been attempted before, will require careful planning to mitigate risk, assessing and then addressing potential student learning loss, focusing on the physical and mental health needs of our students, supporting faculty and staff in their work, engaging students who have continued to thrive, and collaborating with students and families who have decided to remain remote for the remainder of the school year.

Professionally, as an Associate Vice President and Dean of Students at Stonehill College, I have devoted hundreds of hours over the past year organizing and implementing delivery of in person living and learning opportunities for our students and supported their mental health needs, both directly as their Dean and indirectly through my oversight of Stonehill’s Counseling Services Office. I have continued to teach collegiate courses throughout the pandemic, in-person, hybrid, and remote. This provides me with an unrivaled depth of experience and a trove of lessons to draw on as we continue the full-time return to school that is starting this month and prepare for the fall.

As a member of the School Committee, this will require work in a number of different areas including: crafting new polices to respond to post COVID-19 learning and school system administration, supporting a budget that will address post COVID priorities, working collaboratively with our labor unions, and creating an effective communication strategy to share important information and updates with school families and the community at large.

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

This is a unique election in that there are three separate School Committee elections taking place on April 27th . For the two-year seat, there are stark differences between me and my opponent that are revealed in our impetus for seeking office, in the depth of our COVID-19 work experiences, in our School Committee acumen, in our formal academic training in education, and in our ability to contribute on day one.

We know that the uncontested three-year seats will bring two great, new members to the Committee. I respectfully suggest that voters consider pairing them with someone like myself who brings an experienced and proven hand to the table without the steep but requisite learning curve that all new members experience.

What other issues make up your campaign platform:

Student mental health and wellbeing: When I was on the School Committee, we started to invest money and other resources to support the emotional wellbeing of our students and the importance of properly supporting student mental health has only increased since. I not only see this in our community, but every day in my work. As a Dean of Students, one of my main responsibilities is to develop, implement, and assess programs and initiatives to assure an integrated student experience that fosters student personal growth and development. This includes students’ mental health and I do this directly through chairing our Institution’s Behavioral Intervention and Care Team, one-on-one meetings with students as their Dean, collaborating with families to coordinate mental health care, and indirectly through my direct supervision of the Counseling Services Office.

High School Project and Other Facilities: I was a member of the School Committee through much of the Galvin process and I hope to use this experience and the knowledge I gained as a way to contribute to the High School project. Like I did then, I fully support a new or renovated high school that meets the needs of our students not only now but in the future as well. This includes appropriate labs and STEM spaces, cutting edge technology, performance and athletics spaces, service areas (e.g. counseling and other support services) and flexible classrooms that allow for the implementation of learner-centered pedagogies. The latter is what I researched when I earned my Ph.D. and I am committed to these practices. The evidence is clear in study after study that when done well, they result in deeper, more meaningful learning.

I also learned from the Galvin process how critical it is that the School Committee and other elected leaders are unified and that engaging the community throughout the entire process is an incredibly important. The SC plays a significant role in building the trust that is necessary to encourage voters to support a project like this, especially when it will result in a tax increase that does not impact everyone equally (e.g. a working professional vs. a senior on a fixed income). We continue to pay off the Galvin Middle School, will have a new vocational school built that will be paid for by member districts, and then the high school. We need to be sensitive to this financial reality when coming up with the appropriate way to present the project to the community and encourage town wide support. Additionally, a long-range planning process focused on our physical plant is necessary as we look at the growing facility needs across the district. The historic Greenwood School, as well as capacity issues at other elementary schools across town, need to be carefully planned for as our facilities continue to age and potential demographic changes emerge as new housing continues to be built.

Communication: The WMHS logo debate highlighted how challenging communication can be and the impact it can have on how individuals come to understand an issue. Social media, which all too often contributes to misinformation, can be successfully leveraged when done right. I utilize various social media platforms in my work to frequently communicate with the campus community, families, friends of the College, and to meet students literally and figuratively where they are. I have students at Stonehill following and/or engaging with me there, commenting on post or liking a picture, that would potentially never interact with me otherwise. I think it is something that the School Committee can better utilize.

There are some great examples of this with several Town Councilors, but fewer, if any, with the School Committee.

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

Having the privilege of serving my neighbors and, most importantly, Wakefield students as a School Committee member from 2007-2013 was an incredibly challenging and rewarding experience. When I was first elected, I pledged to provide independent thought, leadership, creative ideas and a voice for all residents and I believe I fulfilled that pledge to the best of my ability during my two terms. Most significantly, my SC colleagues selected me for various leadership positions, including serving as SC Chair, SC Vice-Chair, and the Chair of the Superintendent Search Committee that ultimately resulted in the appointment of two outstanding Wakefield Public Schools Superintendents, Dr. Stephen Zrike and Dr. Kim Smith. Additionally, I authored a new district-wide field trip policy, crafted a superintendent’s evaluation tool, advocated for and proposed an advertising policy for athletics, served on multiple Principal search committees, was appointed as the inaugural Chair of the Wakefield Academy Board of Trustees, and worked extensively on the new Galvin Middle School project. During my tenure, the SC’s ability to function effectively and remain unequivocally united in its’ vision enabled the district to continue to make progress from good to great. Throughout this process, I always remained an independent voice by evaluating each issue on its merits and voting in a way that was congruent with my values and beliefs.

In addition to serving on the School Committee, my Wakefield volunteer endeavors include being a long- time volunteer mentor in the Wakefield Adult Mentor Program, Wakefield Memorial High School Alumni Foundation Board Member, and representing WMHS alumni as a Superintendent Search Committee Member for Mr. Lyons after I had left the SC. I was a founding member of the Creative Revenue Forum with former School Committee colleagues Anthony Guardia and the late Bill Chetwynd and from this grassroots initiative, we started the Wakefield Initiative, an organization of dedicated community members, who were ultimately responsible for the Wakefield Farmer's Market, the Holiday Stroll, and boating on the lake. Together, these accomplishments and contributions not only demonstrate effective town wide leadership, but they have brought about much needed revenue to our community.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and the position: I was raised in Wakefield and am a 1993 graduate of Wakefield Memorial High School. I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Politics from The Catholic University of America in Washington DC, a Master’s Degree in higher education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Professionally, I have previously served as a member of the faculty and administration at the University of Notre Dame before returning home to join Bentley University as an Assistant Dean and Director of Undergraduate Academic Advising. Since 2012, I have been affiliated with Stonehill College. Additionally, I have been a faculty member at Salem State University for 10 years. My career as an educator, combined with my research as a scholar and faculty member in education, has given me unique insight into pertinent educational issues in general and public education in particular—a distinctive lens that is not duplicated on the committee. As such, I respectfully request your vote for the two-year seat on the School Committee on Election Day, April 27th.