SHELBURNE — After a five-year stint in Alaska, Brad Walker and his family decided to return to the East Coast, seeking a town with a similarly close-knit community and access to the outdoors.
They picked Shelburne – a rural town only two hours from Boston. A town where cafes and mountains are equally close, and where neighbors are friends, not acquaintances. For the Walker family, Shelburne checked all the right boxes.
In 2015, Walker, who runs his own business and is the family’s primary child-care provider, moved to Shelburne with his physician wife and their two young children. A couple years in, Walker joined the Recreation Committee and the Local Education Council.
This month, when a Shelburne School Committee seat was vacated mid-term, Walker volunteered for the job. He was appointed to the committee Wednesday, and sworn-in Thursday afternoon.
Walker has a “vested interest” in the schools, he said, as he has two children and an exchange student enrolled in the public schools. Walker’s kids, aged 6 and 10, attend Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School, while a Spanish exchange student living with his family is a senior at Mohawk Trail Regional School.
As the family’s primary caregiver, Walker deals with the children’s school more often. Already, Walker has volunteered for the school district, having organized after-care programs for Buckland-Shelburne Elementary students, things like playing Ultimate and hiking. Last year, Walker created a new whitewater kayaking after-school activity for students. This year, he’s planning a new after-school flatwater kayak racing program, set to pilot this spring.
“I want to try help make it so we can all move forward together,” Walker said. “The schools are a vital part of our towns … part of why we moved here was the schools.”
While Walker says his children like their school, the district has a few areas to improve upon, he said. Chief among them is outgoing communication, from the school district to the community. According to Walker, many emails go unanswered and online calendars are left blank. A recently hired district-wide communications specialist has improved the problem though, Walker said.
“I do want to help be a part of guiding and steering more consistent communications between the school, the town, and the parents,” Walker said.
Personal exit interviews, given to families who leave the school district, is one practice Walker hopes to implement. The cost of a student leaving the district or “choicing-out” is significant, Walker said – far more than the cost of “buying a cup of coffee” for a parent or talking to them on the phone. The school district recently implemented exit interviews in the form of emailed surveys to those who decide to “choice out,” but Walker said this strategy won’t yield sufficient information.
Walker said he wants to prevent families from playing “musical chairs” with schools in the area.
“I’ve got two kids, who’ve got another 10 years to go here, and I’d like to help be shaping, keeping involved in the school, and not be part of the percentage that choices out at some point,” Walker said.
Reach Grace Bird at gbird@recorder.com or 413-772-0261 ext. 280.