Pair announce bids for School Committee

By Mary Carey
Staff Writer

Published on January 18, 2008

A leader of the new community and parent group Amherst Committee for Excellence is challenging School Committee member Chrystel Romero for her seat on April 1.

ACE parent Catherine Sanderson and Romero, whose term is up this year, are the only two candidates who have stepped forward, so far. Nomination papers are due in the town clerk's office by Feb. 12.

Romero, 33, was appointed to the committee last spring to fill a vacancy created after Alisa Brewer, whose School Committee term had not expired, ran successfully for Select Board. Romero had lost her own bid for School Committee in the same election.

"Two issues that stand out for me are to find innovative ways of generating revenue for our schools and also to catalyze maximum participation by parents in the most important aspects of school decisions like curriculum, the principal selection and also to influence policy," Romero said Wednesday.

The most important goal for her is to "work toward a school system where every child receives the necessary attention for a successful career and (for) graduating with the necessary skills to succeed whatever their goals are."

Romero said she represents a constituency whose members haven't always felt as if their voices were heard.

"I definitely wish to continue to represent that constituency - people who might not know that this is a resource for them, people who might not feel represented. I definitely want those people to feel comfortable that I am an ally that will listen and that I won't intimidate them with a bunch of political-speak or minimize their issues."

Romero said she would like to see "a greater forum for community interaction at our School Committee meetings" and has been pleased to see greater attendance by parents at School Committee meetings since ACE formed in recent months. More than 50 parents have attended recent meetings to discuss ACE's list of concerns and on changes to the ninth-grade science curriculum.

Romero has lived in Amherst on and off for the last 18 years and attended Amherst schools. She works as a receptionist at Food Services at the University of Massachusetts and has three children.

Sanderson

Sanderson, 39, an Amherst College professor of psychology, has lived in Amherst since 1997 and also has three children. Her husband is Bart Hollander, a lawyer.

She has served on the parent council at Fort River Elementary School and has been president of the council since 2005. Among her efforts as a member of the school council has been helping with the creation of a discretionary fund for guidance counselors to provide support to families in need, including money for food, electricity bills and winter coats.

Sanderson has also been a member of two districtwide committees, the Math Curriculum Review and the School Configuration committees.

She was among four candidates, including Romero, in contention last year for the seat that Romero now holds. A joint School Committee-Select Board panel chose Romero, with some Select Board members saying that Romero had waged a good campaign for the position earlier in the townwide election. Amherst School Committee member Kathleen Anderson won that race.

Sanderson has advocated for higher standards for all students in the Amherst school system. "I believe all children should be challenged and have their educational needs met every day in the Amherst schools," she said.

She agrees with Romero that parents should be a more integral part of the decision-making process involving the schools.

"I actually appreciate Chrystel's efforts to give parents a greater voice at meetings, which I actually see her trying to do. I commend her for that," Sanderson said.

Sanderson suggests that the School Committee could solicit more input than it does now. "I think a very important piece would actually be talking to families prior to the meetings," she said. "I would suggest that when we are making important decisions about school curriculum, there should be a number of highly public, open meetings in different locations around Amherst at different times."

Next week, there will be two such meetings on Wednesday, Jan. 23, and Superintendent Jere Hochman is asking for input from the entire community at the gatherings. The first meeting is at 1 p.m. in the Bangs Community Center. The second is at 7 p.m. in the Middle School Cafeteria.

Sanderson said they are the kind of meetings she would like to have occur more often.

Mary Carey can be reached at mary.carey@att.net.