GREENFIELD — Don Alexander, the Greenfield YMCA’s membership coordinator whose daughter is a Greenfield High School senior, will be the newest member of the School Committee, filling a vacancy left in July by former vice-chairwoman Francia Wisnewski’s departure.
The committee voted unanimously this week to appoint Alexander over fellow candidate Scott Smith, a long-time administrator at a variety of private schools and current peer mediation coordinator at Great Falls Middle School in Turners Falls, but committee Chairman Tim Farrell cast his vote for Alexander to avoid a possible tie after Mayor William Martin and member Susan Hollins indicated they’d vote for Smith. A tie would have had to be broken by the Town Council president, Farrell said.
Alexander will serve on the policy and the health, safety and facilities subcommittees, Farrell said. Member Adrienne Nunez has been appointed vice chairwoman and Hollins moved into Nunez’s former role as secretary.
Wisnewski resigned from the committee this summer to move to neighboring Montague.
Alexander spent 25 years in the military as a non-commissioned officer before moving to Greenfield from Florida with his wife and daughter, he said. He cited his daughter’s positive experience in the school system as his motivation for seeking the seat.
He holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Martin asked both candidates how they’d respond to concerns about the state of communication between the department and parents — a concern raised by at least two residents during public comment earlier in the meeting.
Alexander and Smith agreed that effective communication is important to ensure that accurate and complete information reaches student’s homes. Alexander recommended encouraging school administrators to develop weekly electronic newsletters. The school recently rolled out a new direct communication feature on its website, gpsk12.org.
Both said listening first and then hashing out concerns in the right subcommittee would be the best approach to addressing parents’ concerns.
Both candidates advocated for putting more money into the schools when asked by Nunez about whether the schools are adequately funded, noting that solutions to problems like the state’s School Choice program or charter schools drawing students away from the school and heading off problems that may end up costing money in social services later in life could both begin with enhanced programming and education in the school system.
Though Alexander prevailed, all committee members noted that they’d have been happy to work with either of the candidates, and encouraged Smith to seek out a subcommittee to work with. Martin noted his multi-skilled, multi-faceted experience in all areas of education would be invaluable to the school department.
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