WHITMAN – Filling the two Whitman vacancies on the School Committee has become a bit more complicated, as the Select Board’s office has received about 13 resumes for the positions for which those selected would have to stand for election later.
In a brief meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10, Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said the four remaining Whitman School Committee members and the five Select Board members have already received the resumes and letters of interest from the applicants.
“It’s going to be an important night,” he said.
Those selected would serve the final eight months the positions vacated by the death of Fred Small in July and the August resignation of David Forth, who plans to continue his education.
“What we are planning to do, is interview them on [at 6 p.m.] Oct. 1,” Kowalski said. “[Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter will be sending them out a letter tomorrow [Wednesday, Sept.11], telling them about the process,” he said. “We’ll have a televised meeting here, and each of the 12 or 13 candidates – and we’ll be giving each of them 10 minutes. Ten minutes to tell us why we should vote for them for School Committee membership.”
Kowalski said he referred to “12 or 13” because there was a question over whether one candidate had fulfilled the requirements of applying.
The applicants will be asked during the interviews what they will bring to the schools and to the students.
“They’ll be clocked,” said Kowalski, who is himself a former School Committee m. “We won’ be asking questions of the people. Once the 10 minutes are over, we’re going to vote.”
Select Board member Justin Evans estimated that the interviews would still take about two hours, but Kowalski had already taken that into account. Applicants won’t be asked questions about their resumes, because both committees already have them to review for almost a month.
“What we really want to hear from them is what they’re going to do for the schools, why we should vote for them, what they are going to do for the students at the schools. What’s in their minds.” he said. “I have always felt that one of the weakest parts of the search process is the interviews. What’s really important is paper, is resumes, because that tells us what we need to know about the person.”
Some people have trouble with interviews, Kowalski explained, while others are great at interviews, but their resumes don’t hold up to scrutiny.
Opioid vgil
In other business, Kowalski said he and his wife attended the annual Opioid Vigil, held at Massasoit Community College last week, to remember those who lost their livesto opioid overdoses.
“In 2013, the first night, they put up 22 photos on a screen for the people to see,” he said “The other night, 10 years later, they put up photos on a screen and there were over 450.”
He said he was happy to see Fire Chief Timothy Clancy and Police Lt. Daniel Connolly there.
“They’re there all the time because they do work with the school through W-H WILL,” he said. “I’d encourage any of you to attend. It happens every year right before Labor Day. … It’s a night that’s not easy to be at, but I think it’s a night that’s important to be at.”
Kowalski remembered an observation Clancy once made about the photos displayed: “It’s like looking at a high school yearbook, and the chief said something that’s going to stick with me a long time: ‘Addiction doesn’t care whether you live in a box by the railroad station or whether you live in a mansion on Nantucket.’ And that’s what you see in those photos.”