| Sarah Heinonen
sheinonen@thereminder.com
Category:
LONGMEADOW — At the June 13 town election, Select Board incumbent Vineeth Shanker Hemavathi and Walter T. Gunn are again vying for the same seat on the board. Hemavathi was seated in a March special town election, in which he ran against Gunn.
Hemavathi called serving on the Select Board an “honor and privilege.” He said, “I know that I will once again have to go out and earn every single vote.” He said residents have told him they appreciate his responsiveness to constituents, willingness to listen and speak out about topics.
Hemavathi said that as one of five people on the Select Board, “Every voice counts.”
“Since my election in March, I’ve helped pass the town budget, been appointed to the Capital Planning Program working group, where we are working to make our budget process more responsive and our capital projects climate resilient, and stood with families who have for years been advocating to make all of our elementary school playgrounds [Americans with Disabilities Act] accessible, so that every child has equal access in our schools. This has all happened in less than three months, and I am so excited about what we can get done moving forward.
When asked about zoning more of Longmeadow for business to help fund the town, Hemavathi said more commercial property taxes would be “marginally” helpful to the operational budget. However, he said there were other benefits to approving zoning changes, including offering a wider selection of retail, restaurants and other businesses.
“Small businesses are a way to create community and a place for residents to get together, just as we’ve seen with One Way Brewing and The Thirsty Dog/The Kitchen,” he noted.
Gunn did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Meanwhile, three seats are open on the Longmeadow School Committee with three candidates on the ballot, including incumbent Nicole Choiniere and two new faces to the committee, Kency Gilet and Michaela Fitzgerald. Additionally, Adam Rosenblum is running as a write-in candidate.
Choiniere has already served one term on the School Committee. In those three years, she said she is “proud of how well the entire Longmeadow community worked together to ensure that our kids continued to receive an excellent education throughout.” Despite grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, the School Committee worked on curriculum, equity, and building initiatives. “I am honored to have played a role in supporting the efforts of teachers, administration, staff, and community members throughout these past three years,” she said.
Gilet said he decided to pursue a seat on the School Committee because the “dire mental health situation in our schools requires a concerted effort by our community leaders.” Gilet, who has a professional background as a licensed mental health counselor, cited statistics about suicide attempts and ideation, saying that 30% of teenage girls in the United States seriously considered attempting suicide and 12% attempted suicide. “I’m running to join the School Committee and support that effort to address the mental and emotional needs of our school community.”
Fitzgerald views herself as “an experienced and driven educator.”
She said she as running for School Committee because, “I firmly believe my background in special education, teaching English as a second language and a decade in Springfield Public Schools meeting the needs of a diverse group of learners will be an asset to the committee and to the district. Public education is for everyone, and every single student deserves access to an outstanding education. This drives me as an educator, and I will work hard to make sure this happens in our district.
Fitzgerald also has “concerns about the direction of school committees nationwide and the increasingly divisive tenor of conversation surrounding them. There is a growing lack of focus on what is conducive to building the best outcome for students and making schools places where teachers and children want to be and excel.”
She added, “I want a seat at the table so that I can utilize my classroom experience to make sure the needs of all students are considered, to keep our district a place where the best teachers want to come and establish careers, and to keep the education provided by the district a point of pride for all Longmeadow residents.”
Both Gilet and Fitzgerald said they moved to Longmeadow for the “excellent” and “stellar” schools.
The safety of school children is an ever-present concern for many families in Longmeadow, as well as the wider world.
Choiniere said it has been an “an ongoing priority” for Longmeadow Public Schools and requires a “multi-faceted approach.” She sees regular reviews of school buildings and the use of capital planning funds as keys to keeping the schools safe. She cited the new vestibule at one elementary school and district-wide school lock and access control upgrades that were recently approved at Town Meeting. Americans with Disabilities Act compliant upgrades to school playgrounds provides a different kind of safety and ensures “that all of our children can play together.”
Community relationships also play a role in school safety, she said. It is important that there is transparency in communication with families and community members, as well as “providing ways for families to reach out with concerns about safety and well-being and continuing our important partnerships with the Longmeadow Police and Fire departments.”
“Funding and support” for social-emotional learning and other educational development tools is also critical, she said.
Gilet said that the existing “caring and dedicated educators” who “support the learning and development of our students” and intercede when concerned help keep student safe. Despite this, he said, “We make our schools safer by increasing access to mental health services within the district and enhancing the skills of all [Longmeadow Public Schools] employees to recognize the signs of a student in need and directing them to the help.” He suggested integrating relationships with mental health programs and resources to “bolster [Longmeadow Public Schools’] already existing resources that ensure safety.”
Each candidate had different priorities for the next three years. For Choiniere it is “moving forward in the Massachusetts School Building Authority process” toward building a new Middle School. “Work like this takes both time and attention to details, and I’m eager to remain part of the process as we move on to subsequent stages of this project.” She is also eager to continue work on curriculum reviews and improving equity across the district.
Gilet would focus on usuing his professional background to “ensure that our schools provide the necessary resources and supports to maintain good mental health,” including self-care, social-emotional learning and access to mental health professionals when needed.
He also sees a need for life skills education, such as financial literacy, career readiness and civic engagement, as well as real-world applications of knowledge. “There are many paths to success that should be presented to our students as options,” he said.
Parental engagement is another area of focus for Gilet, who has been the president of a parent-teacher organization in Springfield. He said this includes “creating a welcoming and inclusive school environment, facilitating regular communication between parents and educators, and providing resources for parents to support learning at home,” such as the Special Education Alliance of Longmeadow.
There are two other seats on the ballot. Nancy Keeley-Maree is running unopposed for the Housing Authority and Robert “Bryant” Miller is running a write-in campaign for the Planning Board.