To the editor:
As policies, laws, and governance change quickly on a federal level, voters must consider stability when casting their ballots this June.
I will be voting for Sarah Fox and Alison Taylor to maintain their school committee seats, and I encourage you to do the same. Both Fox and Taylor have walked through fire during their terms: instability in the Superintendent’s office, extreme budget constraints, a crumbling DOE, a teacher’s union strike, and a Flag Policy with no real good guy/bad guy, just old-fashioned, peace-keeping policy. Both Fox and Taylor have shown up, again and again, to think, work, and challenge sometimes unimaginable external pressures on behalf of the school children of Marblehead. Note – not on behalf of their OWN children – on behalf of ALL the children. This is an essential ingredient to success on any committee – both women leave the personal and political at the door.
After such trials by fire, why start experimenting with the committee? Now is not the time for testing the popularity waters or dragging national politics into the committee room. Now is the time for stability, and Fox and Taylor provide exactly that.
While other candidates have spent the year crafting lists of problems with our schools, Fox and Taylor have spent their year crafting solutions. Both Sarah Fox and Alison Taylor have consistently shown up with the utmost respect for all who come before them in their meetings, and have gone above and beyond to maintain fiscal responsibility while ensuring our kids have a safe and accessible public education. Both Fox and Taylor continue to stand up against antisemitism and shape policies that aim to make ALL students feel safe and welcomed. How rare to find two dedicated public servants who are able to put friendships, social media pressures, and often misguided outrage against them aside and simply tip their chins up and continue to work for the good of the whole district? Why swap that out now for candidates with no experience serving on school committees?
Albert Camus once said “you cannot create experience. You must undergo it.” I stand on the side of experience and stability this June 10th. Sarah Fox and Alison Taylor have undergone their experience, now we get out of the way and let them work.
Sincerely,
Colleen Nial
Bowden Street
