To the editor:
Engaging locally to protect our way of life in Marblehead feels like one of the most hopeful things we can do right now. For this reason, and as a mother of three children in the Marblehead Public School system, I am writing to share why I will be voting for Kate Schmeckpeper for School Committee.
Kate is a thoughtful and measured leader who seeks to minimize chaos and distractions. Her platform is grounded in good governance, something that has been lacking these past several years. She is committed to empowering our school administrators to do the jobs for which they were hired, including operating the district without School Committee overreach.
Alarmingly, many steps taken by the current School Committee appear to have come straight from a well-established, national, far-right agenda—from restricting what posters and banners can be displayed in schools guised as a “flag policy” to intimidating union leaders in an attempt to weaken the organization, and now to conversations bubbling up about revising the district’s comprehensive policy for banning books—all while our teachers and administrators leave in droves and our buildings fall apart.
I asked my high schooler several months ago where the trash barrel collecting water from the leaky roof was located. She laughed and said, “It’s not one, they are everywhere.” These are not acceptable work conditions for our teachers, and this is not an acceptable learning environment for our students.
Kate’s pathway to better governance includes leading by example, fiscal responsibility, and prioritizing students and schools over politics. Kate brings experience and expertise as an attorney, a track record of working on behalf of our students and schools as a longtime volunteer, and a commitment to rebuilding public trust and repairing relations with teachers, administrators, and students who have felt unheard.
What Kate does not bring, and what is so refreshing, is an agenda. I have full confidence that Kate will be a School Committee member who listens to all of her constituents, not just those who voted for her, and who will always put the best interest of our students and schools first.
Sonja Solberg Potter
Emerald Avenue
