Heather Connolly Outlines Goals, If Elected to School Committee

Editor's Note: There are two candidates running for the 1-year vacancy on the Framingham School Committee due to the . The town's election in on Tuesday, April 3. Each candidate was allowed to submit a formal announcment as per the

I am running for a 1-year seat on the School Committee of the Framingham Public Schools. Because of my professional experience in educational institutions, my passion for excellence in education and to contribute back to the Framingham community, I would like a seat on the School Committee. I have good ideas, am willing to make hard decisions and want to and can contribute in a meaningful way to improving our Framingham Public Schools.

A few issues important to our school district are:

Equality of Schools: We, are one town, one curriculum taking the same MCAS as the rest of the state. Currently, there are imbalances at our elementary schools and our middle schools. Examples of these imbalances are technology, libraries, and music lessons, to name a few. However, the quality of education should be the same at all schools. I feel all schools should provide the same support services to all students no matter the location. One of my goals on School Committee would be to create more balance and make sure we achieve our mission to provide the same level of education to all our children/students in Framingham.

Busing: We need to reevaluate our system so that children are not on the bus for more than an hour and/or require monitors. It is not fair to the children or the bus drivers. I do not believe school choice will be eliminated soon. We need to reorganize our schools, examine the routes and add more buses if necessary.

Academic Achievement for All Students: No matter what each student’s
level of ability may be ... whether they need additional help or additional
challenges ... no matter the economic status – all students need to reach their full potential. In addition, I support the district goal that every student should achieve at least a year of academic growth in literacy and math skills.

Facilities: Framingham’s school facilities need to be maintained for the safety and security of our children. In the future, we may need to look at relocating students to another facility so that repairs and upgrades can be completed. As facilities become olderand demographics change we may need to consider changing a school. For example, can part of Barbieri become a traditional elementary school? If Framingham was to acquire Farley could we renovate Fuller and make it into a Southside elementary school?

I grew up in New Jersey and went to college and graduate school in New York. I
served as an Assistant Director of Residential Life and Assistant Director Summer and Conference Housing at Boston College from 1991-2000. I received a Master of Science in student personnel administration from the State University of New York College at Buffalo and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Russell Sage College.

I have lived in Framingham since 1995. Currently, I reside on Vigue Circle with my husband, Christopher Connolly Jr., and Audra (14), Mary (12), and Trey (8). My children are attending and .
Chris and I and our family have been supportive of the town, its schools, its sports, its diversity, in particular our passions are: MetroWest YMCA, Framingham Football, Framingham Youth Baseball, Framingham Youth Football and Cheer and the Framingham Pool Association.

In addition, a scholarship in the name of Kathleen Dillon Connolly (Chris’s mother) has been established at .

Please contact me at heatheratconnolly@comcast.net or on Facebook at
Heather A. T. Connolly For School Committee. My website is www.voteforconnolly.com

Heather A Turner Connolly