By Beth Stafford
Harvard Street, Whitman
My name is Beth Stafford. I was appointed to school committee last summer to fill a seat after a resignation. Now I am running for a full term on the committee.
Education is very important to me. I taught at Maquan Elementary School 1973-1977, School Committee 1993-1995 and a full time teacher at Whitman Middle School, retiring in 2019. I was also on the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Teachers Association for eight years.
There are always new advancements in education and we will need to keep up with them to insure that all our students have the best education. We finally were able to pass full day kindergarten in the district, so now we need to look at other deficiencies in the system such as middle school foreign language, improvements and expansion of the arts, expanded pre-school among others. We need to start finding ways to accomplish these while being fiscally responsible.
As a former selectman, I know how important it is to work with the town on all budgetary concerns to do what is best for all involved. Cooperation and transparency are extremely essential to keep education moving forward.
My husband and I are graduates of Whitman-Hanson as are our three sons. We now have three grandchildren in the district, a Senior, a seventh grader with special needs and a first grader.
I will work with administration to continue to make sure that all students become independent thinkers and to prepare them for life after their school years.
Please vote for me at the town election on May 21. Thank you.