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| Name: | David Sydow |
| Office: | School Board |
| Term of Office: | 3 |
| Years Resident: | 6 |
| Contact Info: | info@daveforschoolboard.com Phone : 215-280-1159 |
| Website: | http://daveforschoolboard.com/ |
| Offices/Community Involvement: | CASA/GAL - 4 years TFS Lego League Coach - 4 years TFS Lego League Coordinator - 1 year FIRST Robotics Mentor - 4 years Youth Sports Coach - 3 years |
| Why am I Running: | Like many parents in the district, I first became interested in what was happening on the school board when I recognized how few educational hours my children were receiving this year compared to children in other districts. Prior to running, I began to look at how our district was objectively performing academically compared to both itself in previous years as well as other districts. I thought that COVID might be an anomaly, and before I ran as an advocate for change, I wanted to make sure that I was running for a position that warranted change. After doing a lot of research on my own, I started to find some disturbing trends in the district. And I also found a lot of holes in the data provided to our community, where it's impossible to determine year-over-year how well the district is doing. I feel that not even knowing how you're doing is even worse than just plain doing poorly. So, I decided to run, because I felt that we needed more people on the board with a fresh view, and more people on the board who are interested in using data to help drive decisions. |
| What do you plan on accomplishing while in Office: |
My goal is to help facilitate a culture and minset of excellence in the District. This mindset is already in our teachers, and needs to be fostered and supported at all levels in the district. Toward that end, I have a comprehensive platform on my website for more specific items that I am passionate about advocating for over the next 3 years: http://daveforschoolboard.com/my-platform. |
| Candidate Statement: | In my current job, I work as part of an international team from over 5 countries. Interacting daily with so many distinctly different cultures, personalities, and time zones has helped me to understand the value of providing clear and concise communication, and making data driven decisions. At work, I am often faced with making choices that don't have a clear cut right or wrong answer. Over the years I've learned many tools and skills to help me make effective decisions on complex and nuanced topics. I hope that voters will consider this type of experience when heading to the polls. |
| School District Articles Below were questions asked of the candidates running for School District Positions |
|
| Article 2 Accept Gifts: |
Yes |
| Comments | |
| Article 3 Support Contract |
Yes |
| Comments | |
| Article 4 Spec. Mtg A3: |
Yes |
| Comments | |
| Article 5 Ventilators |
Yes |
| Comments | |
| Article 6 Disband Budget Committee |
No |
| Comments | |
| Article 7 Budget |
Yes |
| Comments | |
| School District Non Ballot Questions Below were questions asked of all candidates |
|
| Question 1 |
What is your stance on travel and quarantine policy? Do we make up our own school
policy or do we follow what the CDC and DHHS has a current policy and keep up to date
with them.
|
| Response: | We should follow the guidelines of the DHHS and CDC. There is a simple matrix to follow, and we have not done so in this district. |
| Question 2 |
What is your stance on continuing the REAL academy for those who cannot safely
return to school or choose not to until there is a vaccine for children.
|
| Response: | The REAL academy should be continued for those who cannot return to school safely. I also believe we should look into updating and expanding REAL even after vaccinations are available for all children. I believe it could be a true differentiator in our district, but it's going to take strong stewardship to realize it's full potential. |
| Question 3 |
What is the role of the School Board and what differences do you see with their role
versus the role of administration?
|
| Response: | The school board should be setting a vision for the district, the administration should be implementing that vision. |
| Question 4 |
What are your thoughts about full-day kindergarten?
|
| Response: | I support full day kindergarten. I am in the unique position where I personally have children that have been through both full and half day kindergarten in Merrimack. Full day kindergarten prepared my youngest for first grade much better than half-day did for my two oldest. |
| Question 5 |
What are your thoughts on college and career readiness?
|
| Response: | Every student should have career readiness built into their education, regardless of their post-secondary path. The ability to critically think and effectively communicate is a positive indicator of success in any post-secondary career path. Traditional 4-year college is a requirement for well over half of the fastest growing job types in the United States, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm, so it cannot be ignored as an indicator in schools, but it must be balanced with strong Vocational programs as well. |
| Question 6 |
What are your thoughts on Vocational programs and how would you improve the
programs what we have now?
|
| Response: | Vocational programs are a key component to post-secondary careers for many students, and must be supported by the District. The relative cost of 4 year college has increased by over 100% over the past 30 years https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76, and has become prohibitive for many families. My personal experience with how the Vocational programs in Merrimack are run is limited so I cannot comment on potential improvements without having more conversations with both members of the community and key stakeholders in the district. |
| Question 7 |
What are your thoughts on ELO's (extended learning opportunities)?
|
| Response: | Any program that provides a pathway to a high school diploma should be supported, and ELO's are included in that. ELO's are another tool in the belt of School Districts to encourage and support students towards a post-secondary career path, and it's important to use them when appropriate. |
| Question 8 |
Do you find value in benchmarking us against other districts and if so, how?
|
| Response: | I do find value in this, because I believe it helps to identify areas of improvement, and it also helps to highlight the need for non-traditional solutions based on larger trends in secondary education. For example, if the year over year graduation rate of a high school decreases by 1%, that trend is disturbing in the absence of any context. However, if every other school in the area is experiencing a 5% decrease year over year decrease in graduation rate, it may indicate that there is a larger underlying issue that is not directly related to current school policies (i.e. a state or nationwide opioid crisis). As a district, having this information does not preclude working to correct a negative trend, but it provides a better indicator on how to begin to address the issue. |
| Question 9 |
Please share your thoughts on how Merrimack is currently doing working with
students who have additional and special needs, and if you see any changes that should
be made, etc.
|
| Response: | I don't have first hand experience with having a student with special needs in Merrimack, however I have spoken to some community members who do. I know that we have engagement between the Merrimack Director of Student Services and a dedicated Parent Advisory Committee for special education. A committee of dedicated parents supporting their special needs students will have much more expertise and knowledge than me to identify what, if anything, needs to be improved in the district to support our special education students. I would see my role, and the role of the board, to engage with and support the Parent Advisory Committee when asked. |
| Question 10 |
If there is a budget cut, what would you cut first?
|
| Response: | Our Superintendent salary currently ranks in the top 20% of compensation in the entire state, ahead of towns like Amherst, Milford, Derry, Hooksett, and Bedford. I have not found a single metric to indicate that our district currently performs anywhere near to that level. I would cut that salary first. https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-documents/sonh/salaries20-21.xlsx |