At a municipal candidates forum held at Northampton High School and organized by members of the Northampton Student Union, it should come as no surprise that the topic of schools was a major issue.
Mayoral candidates Gina-Louise Sciarra and Jillian Duclos, at-large School Committee candidates Tiffany Jewell, Emily Serafy-Cox and Robbie Saner Sullivan and Ward 2 School Committee candidates Angela Wack and Anat Weisenfreund took part in Monday’s forum. The school committee candidates present on Monday’s forum are the only ones in competitive races, with all other seats running uncontested (although Ward 4 has recently seen the launch of a write-in campaign). Candidates were asked a series of questions regarding issues such as AI usage in the classroom, school cell phone policy and potential consolidation of schools, and given one minute each to respond.
For the school committee candidates, the forum presented the first opportunity to present themselves and their platform in front of a public audience. Jewell, an activist and children’s book author, touted her background working as an educator within the city’s elementary schools and her perspective as a biracial woman and the daughter of an immigrant.
“I’m running for school committee because I know our schools, I know the buildings,” Jewell said. “I will represent the interests of the caregivers, the students and the community, and also I bring a perspective that we don’t have in our school committee.”
Serafy-Cox, who currently serves as a school committee member for Ward 3, cited her experience as a community organizer and her goals of having a dual-immersion Spanish program and fair wages for educators and staff.
“The work is not done. In fact, we’re just getting started now,” Serafy-Cox said. “We need to plan about how to keep salaries competitive and to make critical investments in our district to ensure it’s success in the future.”
For Sullivan, the choice to run for the school committee was with the aim to improve the current state of discourse on the school committee.
“How we conduct ourselves on behalf of our children must be built into the very foundation of this next committee,” she said. “I will not use fear or anger to activate and divide, but connection and purpose to inspire and unite.”
Wack, a former teacher who served on the Parent Teacher Association of her previous home in Florida before moving to Northampton, said she current;y had two children in the Northampton Public School District.
“We wanted to move to a state with our public education values,” Wack said. “Massachusetts is very known for public education, and that is what brought us here.”
Weisenfreund, the incumbent Ward 2 committee member serving in an interim role after the departure of Karen Foster Cannon, noted her longtime experience as the director for the Head Start program at Community Action Pioneer Valley.
“I know how important early experiences are in shaping our children’s future,” Weisenfreund said. “I am concerned about the well being of our children, caregivers and staff in our district due to underfunding and lack of strategic, collaborative leadership.”
Artificial Intelligence
One of the first questions asked by students regarded what the school district’s policy should be on artificial intelligence in the classroom. Sciarra, who serves as chair of the school committee in addition to being incumbent mayor, said the committee should “absolutely” prioritize AI policy in the next term.
“Guidance in this fast changing area is very sorely needed, whatever our level of comfort is with AI,” Sciarra said, adding that she herself did not have much comfort with it. “We’re going to have to do a lot of listening to our teachers and our students and hear about their experiences.”
Duclos, her opponent in the mayoral race and the former director of the Downtown Northampton Association, said with AI the school risked losing a “human-centric system” that teaches students critical thinking and problem solving.
“I believe the best way to navigate these inevitable shifts is how we educate our students, to ensure professional development opportunities for our educators, to ensure they have an understanding of the capabilities of AI and what levels we should be integrating it,” Duclos said.
Jewell also stated she was uncomfortable with the concept of AI, voicing concerns about her own published work being used to train AI models without her consent.
“We need a clear policy and plan that reflects ongoing change,” Jewell said. “We need to work with students at all levels to learn what they already know about AI and its usage to explore what responsible use is.”
Other candidates echoed similar sentiments as Jewell, agreeing that more work needed to be done to form a choesive AI policy. Wack noted that the only state in the nation that requires school to have an AI policy is Ohio.
“While we await final guidance from the State House, the school committee needs to develop an age appropriate policy, perhaps one for each school level,” Wack said. “Our students must be prepared for an ever changing world, and learning how to think critically about the vast amount of information we are all facing every day.”
Cell Phone Policy
Another question students voiced concerns about attempts to ban cell phone usage in schools. In Northampton, an ad hoc committee has been formed to discuss a possible “bell-to-bell” policy on disallowing cell phones should such a bill be passed by the state. Currently, the elementary schools and middle school do not allow cellphone use during the course of the instructional day. For the high school, phones must be turned off is off and put away with limited use allowed during designated times.
Weisenfreund said that although she understood arguments for getting rid of cell phones, she said she was not in favor of a total ban for all students.
“A second grader is not the same as a seventh grader or a senior,” Weisenfreund said. “If a blanket bell-to-bell phone ban became a reality, we would have to ensure robust and full funding for every front office of every school, and we also need to ensure access to devices for students with medical or developmental requirements.”
Wack agreed that there needed to be some flexibility to allow for students with unique needs in te event of a cell phone ban. On the other hand, Sullivan expressed support for a “comprehensive plan” for a bell-to-bell ban.
“This is a complex issue that evokes strong feelings and must be done with great care and understanding,” Sullivan said. “We have an opportunity to approach this issue with curiosity and excite as to how the plan could improve learning and engagement in our schools.”
The other two at-large candidates took a more cautious tone, with Serafy-Cox noting how concerning the issue was for students and that many people felt “naked” without their phone.
“Many young people cannot imagine going multiple hours without access to their phones. Indeed, many adults can’t either,” Serafy-Cox said. “I imagine there will be a major transition period, potentially even emotionally, for some of our students.”
Sciarra said it was “very likely” the bill in the State House to implement the bell-to-bell policy would pass, and that the school district needed to operate on that assumption.
“For Northampton, it’s critical that all stakeholders are involved in hammering out a policy that addresses the distraction and mental health concerns, but also allows for the flexibility that some students may need,” Sciarra said. “It’s important that we look at all of those issues.”
School Consolidation
The question was also posed to candidates their thoughts on possible consolidation of the city’s four elementary schools, particularly Bridge Street School. Wack said she would review any findings made by ad hoc committees on the matter, but that she did not believe consolidations would best serve students of the district.
“Rather than that I would like to make an effort to increase enrollment at any of the schools that might have significantly decreased enrollment,” Wack said.
Jewell said that any decision about consolidating schools needed to be done with full transparency and need several public forums before a decision was made.
“The cultures of each school is different, so you can’t just close one school and expect everybody to go to another school and everything will be fine,” Jewell said. “Our schools, as everyone agrees, are the center of our communities.”
Sciarra said that studies had shown the cost of savings from closing Bridge Street would not be significant enough to warrant its closure. Duclos also said she did not feel it was the best step forward to close the schools, and that she had a four-year old son who was anxious to enroll in Bridge Street.
“[He] has been asking me when he gets to go to Bridge Street School with all of his friends that have been there for a few years,” Duclos said. “I know that he will be very devastated if Bridge Street School closes.”
Serafy-Cox also voiced strong opposition to Bridge Street’s School closure, noting the district ad tried and failed to close the school many years ago.
“It’s a historic school site with a vibrant school community. It’s our only urban school and is highly walkable, which is especially important considering our goals around climate,” Serafy-Cox said. “We need to carefully consider both the savings and challenges of various options, and not just assume consolidation is the way to go.”
Budget Discourse
Candidates were pressed on the nature of the public discourse which has enveloped the city regarding the school budget. The issue of budget has arguably become the most prevalent of this campaign cycle, with strong opposition towards the mayor’s last two school budgets, which led to a reduction in services and staff cuts despite increasing the overall budget.
Despite the strong opposition to her policies, including several protests held in front of city hall, Sciarra said felt the discourse around the budget had been “productive.” She also praised her conversations with students in the city, such as members of the city’s Youth Commission and the high school’s Student Union.
“They worked to have accurate information, and they advocate for school funding and public means with respect and strength,” Sciarra said. “That’s important, and we should lead by their example.”
Duclos agreed that engagement on budget issues had been productive, but criticized the current administration, though not naming anyone directly, for their not being cooperative with hearing the concerns of parents and educators.
“We have leadership that continues to dismiss the concerns of educators, parents and students, rather than bringing those voices to the table and working alongside them to outline a path forward,” Duclos. “I am proud of those that have shown up to do the work to move us forward and ensure we’re not leaving any of our students behind.”
Jewell called for more transparency from the city administration around the budgeting process, vociing support for higher school budgets.
“I don’t think we should have to fight so hard for our students to be able to attend schools that are staffed and resourced,” Jewell said. “While we’re fighting for our equitable share of state funding, we also need our city council to honor our schools with the funding they need to be robust and competitive.”
But Sullivan said she felt discourse around the topic had not been productive.
“Suggesting that some people are against funding schools or don’t care about children, as well as the use of shaming or name calling, are obstacles to productive discourse and problem solving,” Sullivan said. “The job of an elected official is to provide transparent and impartial information. This has nothing to do with opinion and everything with accuracy.”
