Question 1: Why are you running for School Committee? What particular skills do you bring to the position?
I love Salem, and I believe we can do more to support our students. I want to participate in a greater level of engagement with our underserved communities and expand resources and funding for our schools. I am a motivated, goal oriented, organized, and progressive individual. I am well equipped to not only think at the macro level but also understand the granular day-to-day impacts of policy implementation. I excel at communicating with individuals in person and not only listening but understanding their concerns. Taking the concerns of students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders in the community while balancing that with implementation is something I can bring to the table.
Question 2: The COVID-19 pandemic substantially disrupted education last year and had unequal impacts for different students. What information will you ask district leaders to provide the School Committee to monitor the success of district efforts in 2021–22 to help all students adjust to the new school year and meet their learning goals?
COVID-19 has had an immense impact on our students' academic goals and mental health. We have to acknowledge that students may need a creative blend of resources to combat the challenges they face and we need to be able to adapt. I support Superintendent Dr. Stephen Zrike’s goals for this school year 2021–2022. I would love to see the data that supports a reduction in chronic absenteeism and a lowering of the disproportionality in suspensions among subgroups he has laid out. Our most vulnerable students need our support and this data will hopefully show that we are doing everything we can for our students moving through the challenges of education in the pandemic. Testing data from MCAS, grades from years leading up to the pandemic and present compared with other similar districts will give us a good picture. We can also go further and provide more fluid and non-traditional forms of assessment. Our teachers are incredibly intelligent and know our students well. I trust the district to provide information about student progress that does not simply hinge on a number. I want the whole story.
I would also like to acknowledge the bravery and hard work of our teachers over the last year and a half. They have been able to pivot and change to COVID-19 regulations and incoming information. They deserve all of our praise and admiration.
Question 3: The school district recently adopted a 2-year plan for coordinated high school redesign, covering all three high schools in the district. The success of the plan depends in large part on strong implementation. What will you do as a School Committee member to support the implementation of the high school redesign plan?
The School Committee has an active responsibility to engage with the students of our schools and their families. I believe that in order to assess the implementation of the coordinated high school redesign we not only need to meet them in the schools and at school events but also in their neighborhoods and at local parks. We also need to be more flexible with our availability in which we plan to meet with our students and their families. The traditional 9-5 work schedule is not a reality for every member of our community and we need to respect their time. As a school committee member I will hold council with parents, educators and students in non-traditional locations and I will encourage my fellow committee members to do the same.
Question 4: What is one step you will take as a School Committee member to advance education equity in Salem?
We see consistent education gaps in our underserved communities within our city. This is unacceptable. We can achieve a more equitable education in Salem Public Schools. I want to stress that this is a wider issue that has factors from other areas in our city. Housing, internet access, food security, policing and transportation are all among a whole host of issues we need to address to be an anti-racist organization and to lift up all students within our Salem Public School system. We have to start as a school committee by listening to our students.
During the summer of 2020 I was marching in one of Salem’s Black Lives Matter Protests. At the end of the march, in front of the police station, I was surprised and delighted to find that the organizers and lead demonstrators were all students of Salem High School. They mobilized themselves to raise up their voices to the issues they saw within our schools and city. Empowering student activism will be one of our greatest ways in combating education inequity.
Learn more about Zachary Hall at his website.