Peter Demling
Why are you running for a seat on the Amherst School Committee?
I believe in public schools. I believe in the mission of this great social service, to provide all children equal access to the highest quality education regardless of background; to support their learning and personal growth; and to promote their overall well-being: in short, to help them become who they aspire to be.
And I believe that citizens serving in public roles in support of this mission are essential for its success. The mission of public schools is an ideal; it’s up to all of us to work to actualize the potential. Public service then helps to advance this greater good.
I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to do this for the past four and a half years on School Committee. In that time:
- I’ve led a number of advocacy efforts for fully funding public schools, at both the local and state levels;
- I’ve worked with my fellow members throughout the pandemic to ensure that our learning environment is as safe as possible for our staff and students;
- I’ve advocated for and brought the perspective of special needs students in our budget, policies and major decisions;
- and I’ve consistently called for replacing Fort River and Wildwood as soon as possible.
In a time when support for public education and other social services is at risk in other parts of the country and the world, I’m thankful that I live in a diverse community with strong social values and a history of excellent support for public schools.
And much work remains to be done. I’ve been honored to serve with my colleagues on this Committee. I would be grateful for the chance to serve again.
What would you say are the biggest challenges facing Amherst’s public schools? What actions would you want the Committee to take to address these challenges?
COVID safety; and sustained funding for operations and infrastructure.
We have an obligation and a duty to provide the safest possible learning environment for our staff and students. The pandemic continues to evolve, and we need to evolve with it.
School Committee therefore needs to respond to changing conditions and take proactive steps when necessary, to ensure that the high quality in-person learning provided to students is delivered in the safest possible way.
As for funding, everything that schools do is undermined when we under-fund level services. Academics and social-emotional supports; support for low-income families, English Language Learners, and students with special needs; investments in the arts, athletics and social justice programs.
Likewise with infrastructure: physical spaces have a direct impact on our ability to meet student needs. We have real need for investments in all five of our buildings (Fort River and Wildwood of course being the most urgent situation).
The School Committee should be a leader in advocating locally for support of our services in our annual budgets; and advocating for capital investment, including but not limited to an MSBA Building Project that replaces both Fort River and Wildwood as soon as possible.
In addition, we should work with our state representatives, teacher unions and other state School Committees to the extent possible to reform charter school funding.
Charter schools are the biggest current drain on and future threat to our funding. We lose more than $3M annually to charters, which could rise to ~$4.5M before reaching the 9% cap. And the funding formula is grossly slanted to favor the receiving charter: public schools do not "save" what they pay out when students leave.
Reforming charter funding is an enormous political task. But nothing would have a more positive and longer lasting impact on our operational budget.
How would you work to communicate with the community about the Committee’s work (please be specific)?
Public communications should be approached with a spirit of continuous improvement: we should always be looking for ways to improve how we inform the public about our work.
I try to amplify what we’re currently working on as much as I can. I’ve created and posted Facebook Events for every School Committee meeting for the past four and half years, with agenda details and instructions for making public comments. I also post multiple times weekly during the school year to share news and updates.
I try to engage at-length as much as I can with individuals who take the time to e-mail me with detailed and thoughtful questions and feedback.
We’re currently engaged in active Committee discussions about expanding our budget process to increase public engagement through additional public forums and other mediums.
And I think we have potential to improve our sharing of meetings information and updates on the status of major decisions with the use of the new BoardDocs site.
Would you vote to support an educational plan developed by educators and community members to support a new school building of 575 students to replace both Fort River and Wildwood? Why or why not?
Enthusiastically yes, without reservation. There is a clear and urgent need to replace both Fort River and Wildwood as soon as possible. The current MSBA Building Project is the only way we can afford to do so. I am fully committed to supporting a Building Project that replaces both Fort River and Wildwood, no matter how well the final design meets my personal preferences.
Failure is not an option. The alternative is fiscal crisis for the schools and for our town. Residents understand the seriousness of the situation and are ready to see this done. I’m confident that it will be.
What is a School Committee member’s role and responsibility? How does that role differ from the role of the superintendent or the administration?
The School Committee’s role is to promote the overall well-being and academic success of all students by representing the public in matters of school oversight and guidance; and the Superintendent’s role is to implement that guidance through daily administration and operations (somewhat similar to a Board of Directors and a CEO).
So among other responsibilities, the School Committee defines/approves policies; debates and votes major changes (new programs, school start times, redistricting, etc); debates and approves the annual budget; hires, sets goals for and evaluates the Superintendent; and negotiates union contracts – all while soliciting the public for input, keeping the greater community informed, and engaging local and state officials in support of our schools.
In practice, there’s often a gray-area overlap between guidance/policy and administrative operations, and so a shared responsibility of the School Committee and Superintendent is to discuss these matters when they arise, provide feedback to each other, and help make the best decisions possible for students.
Could you support a Committee decision you did not vote for? Why or why not?
Yes.
The School Committee functions best as a team, with members aware that we each represent the public, and that we all have the same shared goal of promoting the overall well-being and academic success of our students.
The sharing of differences of opinion and different perspectives is a healthy and natural part of a highly collaborative public body like the School Committee. Time should therefore be taken for every voice to have the opportunity to be heard and thoughtfully considered. Dissent and disagreement should not be discouraged during deliberation.
After decisions are made however, it doesn’t do the district or students any good for members to work against the implementation of the voted policy or guidance. The Committee should always keep an open mind to future changes, and be flexible enough to revisit decisions that can be practically reconsidered and could benefit students; but members should not work against the expressed will of the Committee.