It’s the season for change.

The longer I have been in education the more I realize how exhausting September can be. Educators spend their summers caring for their own families in addition to preparing to support the many students assigned to them every fall. This year, the process has been exponentially more challenging and I am grateful to have settled, somewhat, into our new school routines – and I recognize the tremendous work of our teachers, custodians, and support staff that have played a part in making this happen.

As a candidate for SK School Committee, I accepted the challenge of running for public office for many reasons but one of the most significant was to respond to the many complex issues in our community in a different manner – to strengthen public engagement, to rebuild trust with our elected leaders, and to lead in a way that allows all of us to proactively address issues. This change, in my opinion, is vital to the success of our students and of our community. We have much work to do.

I hope you will join me in electing candidates, not simply by endorsement, party affiliation, or name recognition alone, but instead I ask you to consider supporting candidates with real substance - who have not just made public statements about their goals, but instead have actually demonstrated their ability to lead and serve in a way that reduces chaos and conflict. How candidates have conducted themselves during an election, or in their previous tenure in a leadership role, is critically important and what they have said, or remained silent about, is telling.

In my opinion, it is time for a change – one that welcomes back civility, professionalism, and leadership that understands their role is to govern in order to serve the greater good. I am confident that my work has prepared me to be effective in this role – as a leader, as a voice of reason, and as someone with many of the critical skills that need to be enhanced on our SC in order to be effective in the next 4 years (conflict resolution, policy development, strategic planning, budget management, and facility planning).

The work of our SC is too important. Please vote to ensure that we can, as a community, move away from the current status quo of chaos and emotionally charged decision making, and instead return to our core mission of educating our children and proactively supporting our learners in a reasoned and deliberative manner.

Please feel free to visit my website at www.melissaboydsk2020.com for my resume and links to additional information.

“Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought…when no influence is strong enough to unify people they divide. They struggle. One against one, group against group, for survival, position, and power”. And “when vision fails, direction is lost. When direction is lost, purpose may be forgotten. When purpose is forgotten, emotions rule alone." - Octavia E. Butler

Melissa Boyd
Democratic Candidate for SK School Committee
Wakefield, RI