Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: So today on the program, we welcome Kate Campbell, candidate for Quincy School Committee, to chat with us about herself and her background and her hopes for the future. So first of all, very nice to meet you, Kate. Thanks for coming over.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: Thanks. Welcome Joe, for having me.
[00:00:13] Speaker A: It's a pleasure. We're trying to do this with all the candidates that have so far had their signatures certified and you are one of them for school committee.
Talk a little bit about that process. First of all, Kate, what was it that made you decide?
Gee, I think this is the year I think I want to run for school committee.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: So, you know, Joe, I had thought about this a lot. I had heard from folks over the years, you know, why don't you run for school committee? With your background, you know, why don't you run.
And I have two older children, a daughter who is starting her junior year in college and a daughter who just graduated this year from Quincy High. Then I have a five and a six year old.
And I thought intentionally like I needed my senior to graduate. I thought it was a better time that once she graduated and both my daughters, older daughters were out of school and I was starting over again, it gave me some a better understanding of going through the whole process and now starting over again. So I thought this was a really opportune time to sort of run.
[00:01:16] Speaker A: Okay. However, you're no stranger to the Quincy public schools, right? Practice. Yeah. Tell me about your background with the education system here in Quincy.
[00:01:23] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: So, you know, I got involved in, you know, the PTO and local service of my child's school, my girl's school at Bernazzani, when my now 20 year old was in third grade.
And at that time, you know, there was an issue in front of the school committee about needing an additional third grade teacher. So it was an interesting process for me as a parent and then working collaboratively with other parents in the grade who pushed and worked with Dr. DeCristofaro and the school committee to get another third grade teacher at Bernazzani because the class sizes were pretty large. That was sort of the beginning of my experience.
And I've been lucky enough to have gone through sort of several significant moments, I think, as my daughters progressed through the schools. You know, I was was here for the superintendent's interviews. When we hired Superintendent Mulvey, I was part of the hiring committee for the principal at Central, Rick DeCristofaro. I participated in the hiring interviews for Kim Connolly. When we did our first DEI director.
The COVID experience was pretty unique and significant.
And then a couple Years ago I got even more involved with the issue around the teachers contracts and in supporting the teachers and hearing and helping them advocate for what they needed.
So those are the issues I've been involved in. I've been lucky enough to be part of citywide, the PTO that sort of oversees all the different PTOs at each school school in the city. So I've been able to be, I've been lucky enough to have been the co president there for four years and before that an active member.
And I value that experience so much as learning about those schools because there's a representative from every school at those meetings.
So you get to hear what are the new issues, what are the concerns that may be grade specific, you get to hear the concerns that might be community specific. And, and then you get to hear the things that come up every year for new parents. You know, it's every year we may hear about lunch is short, there's not enough time for recess. And these are generally issues that parents face as they acclimate from childcare or preschool to kindergarten and first grade to bigger issues that you hear from parents related to, you know, climate, social, emotional, mental health issues, hiring issues and special education issues which have been of significant importance to me since I have a couple degrees and real passion in supporting those with special needs.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Let's talk if we can, a little bit about your professional background. Before we started recording this morning you mentioned you work in Cambridge.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Yes. Okay, so work in Cambridge. I work for an organization called Campus Child Care.
They run seven childcare centers for Harvard University.
I have been there. Well, I've been the director of Oxford street Cooperative for 10 years now. And that is a childcare center that mostly supports the faculty at the university and the surrounding faculty in the medical centers and communities. And that experience is really unique because it is a cooperative.
So parents commit two hours a week to working in their kid's classroom in support of a home to school connection.
[00:05:07] Speaker C: Right.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: Even now in busy lives, busy schedules, you may have somebody who is a really high level person in the university but has a child in the school and here they are on the floor playing with their kids in the infant room. You may have a cancer specialist at Mass General or the Brigham, but here they are for two hours on the floor. You may have students at the university, undergraduate students who have children who are all who are on the floor. So it's a really wonderful place to grow community and to start parents off at the beginning about how important learning is, enjoying school, home to school Connection.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: So do you envision that maybe happening in the Quincy Public School?
[00:05:54] Speaker B: I don't know. I mean, the cooperative experience is really a different experience. Right. And your kid is in childcare from. Well, we're open 8 to 6, so it's a longer day. What I would like to see broaden in the Quincy Public Schools is more of a commitment to communication and. And support for families. You know, Laura Owens does a remarkable job every Friday sending out a newsletter that tells us about all these wonderful events that are happening.
But I think that we're big. There are a lot of schools and, you know, I appreciate. Just last week I got a survey from the Quincy Public Schools asking how to improve communication.
So I really appreciate the efforts that they put forward, but I think that communication is always something that can be enhanced, especially when you're as big as the Quincy Public Schools.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: Sure. How many students in the school system here in Quincy now, even just roughly?
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Well, that is something I don't have an exact number on, but I think about all the elementary schools.
There are thousands of students. My daughter's graduating class was just around 400 as a little under 400 as a senior class.
So you think about the thousands of parents and students who go through the process every day.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: Sure. So is your training in early education?
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Is that your background?
[00:07:24] Speaker C: Is.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: My background is. I have a. You know, it's an interesting question.
[00:07:27] Speaker C: Right.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: My original passion, when I went to school, I got a degree in English literature, thinking that was really where my career wanted to go. But I'd always been around children. I nannied to pay for college. I babysat, did all these things. And I recognized that my passion was with young children.
So I got a master's degree in infant and toddler development. And after that I got a cags, an advanced graduate degree in birth to three special needs and worked in the field of birth to three special needs for 12 years.
If a family had a baby that was born early 25 weeks, or a family had a child with down syndrome or cerebral palsy or just some sort of cognitive limitation, my job was to go to their home and support the family and support the child around how best to help them manage and learn and grow to their potential. And after doing that for about five years, I became the director of early intervention, which I absolutely loved because one, you're working with families, right? You're meeting them where they're at, you're supporting them, but you're also working with a collaborative team. Speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, groups of community providers, all planning in service of this family and this child in order for them to achieve their full potential.
[00:08:56] Speaker C: Right.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: So I loved that work so much.
But when I had my own children, my first two sort of stepped back from that because.
And sort of thought about how can I be the best mom I can be to two young children at first and still be in service of my community? So I did a lot of that work collaborative, you know, in a consultation model for. Until my daughter, my oldest, Sadie, entered kindergarten. And then I decided, became an inclusion specialist for that Harvard system that I mentioned. Started working on how best to support all the children in all those centers who had any sort of significant need. And it sort of rolled into me taking on this additional role as the director of Oxford Street.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Okay. So, I mean, that includes management, financial oversight.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:09:54] Speaker A: You know, much more than just dealing with the families and the children.
[00:09:56] Speaker C: Right, right, right.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: And, you know, it's an interesting time.
[00:10:00] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: So it's an interesting time across the country. It's an interesting time here in Massachusetts. And one of the reasons. Other reasons I thought about running for school committee is because of.
I am concerned about budget. What is going to happen? You know, public schools, the Department of Education on the federal level sort of are not being viewed as they. They have been in the past.
So I was. I am thinking that you need to be very intentional when thinking about the budget.
[00:10:34] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: This year, I'm thrilled that the teachers got a solid contract, but I also wonder about what that's going to look like, the budget will look like next year. Like, will the federal monies be there? Will the state monies be there? Will we have to make difficult choices for me at work. We were supposed to go through a renovation. We are facing some federal hurdles where I work.
And, you know, we had to have some. I had to have some serious conversations with my teachers because they were anticipating a major renovation and to say, look, the message is where we're working, it's people over buildings.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: I see.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: We are going to have to. We will do what we can to invest in ourselves and you as teachers and our children in our curriculum. But we're going to have to put the buildings on hold right now because it's not the right financial time.
[00:11:28] Speaker C: Right.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: Okay. So you would bring that perspective, that mindset to the school committee as well?
[00:11:33] Speaker B: I believe so.
I think it's always important to sort of think about what you're to be fiscally, what you have and what.
What monies you have and how you can do the best with it while making sure that you're investing in children and you're investing in teachers and educators.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: Do you feel that the Quincy Public Schools do a good job with early education, with special education?
You know, given your background, I'm sure that's an interest.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Well, when you have Erin Perkins, right. In the role that she's in, she was. She has such a strong special education background. And I feel like, I always feel comfortable that decisions are going to be made that support that are in the best interest of children.
Where I think we struggle.
And I can use my examples, though I've heard from so many parents is in communication.
I have a 6 year old with dyslexia. She gets services.
She gets wonderful services in her elementary school, but I never know when those services happen, but I completely trust that they do.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: I see.
[00:12:41] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:12:41] Speaker B: What I hear from parents is there's no. In a lot of the schools, there's no communication that their services occurred. So that's a simple fix to send a note home or send something home each day so that parents know that their services happened. Because I do believe parents, when you have a child with any sort of special need or any sort of unique ability, you feel more vulnerable for that child. You know, you worry are there needs being met? And generally people's intentions are good.
[00:13:13] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: At schools they're going to be supporting your child, but at home you may be left wondering. And that's what I hear a lot about parents being unaware if there are specialists being pulled in different directions to cover teacher outages. So I think we can do a better job and come up with a system so that families know that their kids got the services that they're exposed to. Get.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: Okay. All right. On your website, Kate, kind of three tenants that you mentioned, community, which we've talked about, connection, which seems to be a very important point, and collaboration as well. What do you mean by collaboration?
[00:13:50] Speaker B: Well, I think that it's really important to collaborate.
1. As a school, I think it's really important that the school committee work well together.
And I think in order to do that, you need to spend time taking other people's perspective. And I think I do. I think about that a lot. That I may disagree with you and you may disagree with me, but I want to lean into what you have to say and try to understand where you're coming from and see the strengths in your argument so that I can help you see the strengths in my argument. And. And so I think working together, and I thought about this a lot around Lunar New Year.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: I'm glad you brought that up, because I was going to. Yes. Yeah.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: I thought about this around Lunar New Year. So my husband is Chinese American. I have two Chinese American daughters. And Lunar New Year was never important to me before I met my husband. Even when we were married, even though our wedding. We had some Chinese components to our wedding that were important to his family and that I thought were wonderful.
But until we had our first daughter and she was. And she experienced her first Lunar New Year, I did not understand the value in that holiday.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: Right.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: And we had done other things. She had had a red egg ginger party when she was three months old, celebrating her birth and naming ceremony. We'd done some very traditional things.
But once we had this, once I leaned in and understood from my husband's family and from him the importance of teaching our daughter about this.
I recognize how valuable and meaningful this holiday was to this community.
And so every year we have a very big Lunar New Year party.
And so.
And I fought for four years, I've sort of advocated for this holiday and have never been successful.
And I think I sort of do a lot of reflection on why.
And I just think that, you know, we haven't done our. I think there's more work to do in educating people about. It's not just about giving. Somebody marked their absence, not counting. It's not just about the academics that they're missing. It's really about the value of understanding why this is important to these families and why you're supporting your community.
And I've talked to a lot of parents about this, too. And it's kind of interesting because a lot of families say to me, I don't get it.
[00:16:16] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:17] Speaker B: Why don't we just do it? We have Good Friday. Good Friday used to be a really significant holiday. Why don't we swap?
[00:16:24] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: And also I think there are other ways in which you can celebrate community. And it may be there is a concern that if we do Lunar New Year, then Denali or some other. But in other communities, like the community I work in, they rotate. One year it's Lunar New Year, the next year it's Denali. I think there are creative ways in which we could, you know, come together and understand how to make this work for families. Even the child care component.
[00:16:53] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: I think I work in an environment where there is a lot of pressure on the parents I support.
And I have learned that I have to communicate very effectively and very much up front. The beginning, you know, come August, the end of August, these are the days we will be closed because these are priorities. Folks have to plan their lives. They have to have backup care. So I think that if we planned far enough ahead and communicated well enough to families could accommodate Lunar New Year.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: Okay, so just to be clear then, so if you are elected, you would support making Lunar New Year school holiday? Yes. All right.
Something like what? 40% of the school population is of Asian descent.
[00:17:39] Speaker C: Right.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: As you mentioned, it is an excused absence now.
[00:17:42] Speaker C: Right.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: So it doesn't count against them.
Some other arguments against it have been we can teach about Lunar New Year while the kids are in school. So looking at it as a teaching moment rather than as a holiday.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: Sure. And you know, it's great to want to do those sort of things.
However, you know, that should be. And we can teach about it.
[00:18:06] Speaker C: Right.
[00:18:08] Speaker B: You know, I'm a foster parent. Been a foster parent for 15 years, had 20 plus kids in my home.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: Really?
[00:18:16] Speaker B: I have, we have. I've adopted my six year old. We adopted in 2022. And I have a pre adoptive child in my home who I've had since she was born.
[00:18:29] Speaker C: Right.
[00:18:30] Speaker B: And I had such a. I tell you this because when my daughter was in third grade in the most. One of the most wonderful educators in Quincy's class, Michelle Perfettio, phenomenal. She invited my daughter, asked in second grade, can my mom. My mom said, can we come? Can I talk about what it means to be a foster family? And Michelle Porfetio invited me in, my daughter here and to share our story with the second grade class about what it meant to foster.
[00:19:01] Speaker C: Right.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: What a wonderful experience for them to learn about this important role that people play in society when they support children who need it.
[00:19:13] Speaker C: Right.
[00:19:14] Speaker B: So that is a. Similarly to Lunar New Year, there are many opportunities throughout the month, throughout the year to talk about the importance of people's culture.
[00:19:25] Speaker C: Right.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: How do you feel, Kate, about standardized testing, the MCAS in particular?
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Yeah, sure.
So I was happy to see that graduation requirement lifted. I think there always needs to be a standard for folks to graduate, but I do find that that was a barrier in some places. I don't.
I do believe it impacted the teachers, the educators. I do believe it impacted their curriculum and having to teach to the test.
[00:19:57] Speaker C: Right.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: I support so many other measures like the DIBELS testing or the MAP testing. All of those are wonderful ways in which they show how a student is progressing, you know, But I'm not necessarily. I'm not a believer in that. We need MCAST as a graduation requirement.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: Okay. In terms of the actual school Buildings in Quincy. How do you feel the facilities stack up?
[00:20:20] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, there's been, like, Southwest is a wonderful new building.
[00:20:25] Speaker C: Right.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: Some of the other buildings are, you know, are older. One of the things I think about in the new buildings or the older buildings and the buildings that have come on, like, I think about Southwest a lot. One of the strengths at Southwest is they have gender neutral bathrooms. And this isn't just. This is an issue because most students in high school have struggle, don't want to go use the bathrooms.
[00:20:50] Speaker C: Right.
[00:20:50] Speaker B: And it's just a common issue. And I think that at Southwest, they have regular and they also have gender neutral, but they have more opportunities for bathrooms. And I share this as we think about schools, because one of the common complaints I hear from seniors, from kids in high school and kids in middle school is that they don't feel comfortable using the regular bathrooms just because of kids who are hanging out in the bathrooms or things that might be happening that make them generally feel uncomfortable.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: Right.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: First I've heard of.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: Isn't that interesting?
But Southwest is a beautiful building.
[00:21:26] Speaker C: Right.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Squantum is, you know, in process.
You know, my kids are at Bernazzani. It's a fairly old building, but they've made a lot of modifications. But it's sort of, you know. So I do think there is growth that can occur, but I also think we might be hindered by budgets.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: Right. Yeah.
Curriculum wise, I mean, do you think there need to be adjustments, changes, improvements?
[00:21:56] Speaker B: I trust my educators is what I would say. My kids have had phenomenal experiences in the elementary school, the middle school. I mean, I've always been wowed by what the teachers have been able to achieve.
You know, this year, my kindergartner, who she, you know, she had a kindergarten teacher who blew me away. It's amazing with the curriculum that she offered and the things that my child learned. And to hear from her that every day my kid ran into class and gave her a big hug as she entered, it's really wonderful. It tells me a lot about what I need to learn about the curriculum.
I had a daughter who graduated from the early care and ed program at Quincy High School. Loved it. She's, you know, at UNH right now studying psychology, but she's able to come home every summer or every break and work with, you know, and earn money working as a child care teacher. And I appreciate the curriculum that got her there.
My daughter, who just graduated, went in the criminal justice program.
Phenomenal. Unbelievably impressed. And I can say I'VE really never missed a parent teacher night or parent teacher conference and hearing what the teachers have done and achieved, always, I'm always impressed.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: Are there any areas you'd like to see added? You know, something new added to the curriculum?
[00:23:18] Speaker B: Well, you know, I think what I would. When we talk about curriculum, one of the things, rather than adding, one of the things I think about is I would like to see people talk about Quincy High School the way they talk about North Quincy.
[00:23:32] Speaker C: Right.
[00:23:33] Speaker B: Quincy High is a phenomenal place. It has a lot to offer. But in talking with parents a lot in citywide, north is always viewed as the place where that offers higher academics.
[00:23:46] Speaker C: Right.
[00:23:47] Speaker B: I think that.
So that is. I don't know necessarily. I would learn more as I. If I am lucky enough to be a member of school committee. But from my experience, I've not heard that there's curriculum that needs to be added. But I do think we should.
I think we could do more about highlighting all the wonderful things that are happening at the individual schools.
[00:24:11] Speaker A: Okay. What else were people. I mean, to get your name on the ballot, you had to go out and collect signatures, right?
[00:24:15] Speaker C: Right.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: So what were kind of people sharing with you during that process?
[00:24:20] Speaker B: Sure. Well, it was really a nice process.
[00:24:23] Speaker C: Right.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: It's always great to go out. You never know what people are going to say and who you're going to run into, you know, redistricting. I heard about a lot concerns about whether redistricting was going to happen. So that was a big thing I heard about. I heard a lot about, you know, bullying, Social Emotional Learning.
And I was lucky enough to be able to share with some families. I participated in a parent academy before the school year ended. And I was so impressed, you know, more of appeal shared about this wonderful SEL program that's happening in the elementary schools. And so sel Social Emotional Learning.
[00:25:03] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: So it's always good to have information because I think you can put parents at ease a little bit. So I was able to talk a lot with families about, hey, you know, you're right. You know, school climate is something I hear a lot about.
But I do know that this piece is being put into place and it's pretty fabulous.
[00:25:22] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: And the teachers think. The educators and teachers think it's fabulous. And I went through it and thought it was pretty fabulous myself. So at least I can say, you know, I know some of these pieces are being put in place. People are always worried about bullying.
[00:25:35] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:35] Speaker B: That is something that. Because no one wants to hear, that something is happening to their child at School.
[00:25:40] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:41] Speaker B: So even when I was on citywide, I get a lot of messages and phone calls and emails from parents saying, this is happening. Can you help me negotiate this?
So bullying is always a big thing. I mean, we're a large district.
[00:25:58] Speaker C: Right.
[00:26:00] Speaker B: More adjustment counselors. I hear a lot about that, and I know Emily Lebo has always been a big advocate for that. But I do hear a lot about the need for more adjustments counselors. I hear about guidance.
I've heard a lot. I mean, whether it's at, you know, I had the pleasure of doing the senior stay out this year right after prom.
There are a lot of parents there who were very eager to share their perspectives. I heard a lot about them feeling that guidance is overworked and that there's not enough staffing and that even the secretary. I was hearing from a lot of folks has a lot of work.
But students are in there all the time because there's high need.
So I would like to look more at what. And hear from. I'd like to listen more to the folks at guidance and in different departments and hear what they feel their needs are.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: Okay. How would you do that? Would you hold separate community meetings or invite folks to school committee meetings? How do you envision that happening? Sure.
[00:27:02] Speaker B: Well, I think it would be a wonderful opportunity, one for parents, if I'm talking about parents, to hold community forums for parents.
[00:27:10] Speaker C: Right.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: But for guidance or folks already in the system, I think I would try to invite my way in at first, sort of a listening session. Come talk to me.
I work with very young children.
[00:27:23] Speaker C: Right.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: Yes. My children have gone through the schools, and I'm starting over again, and I feel like I've gained expertise and a unique perspective. Perspective. But I don't know your job. I don't know what you do day in and day out. Let me know. Like, I'd really love to learn about what you see are the things that are going well where you feel you could use some supports.
[00:27:44] Speaker A: Do you agree with the current electronic device policy in the school system, Kate? You know, cell phones, tablets, things I.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: Would love to see phones away.
[00:27:55] Speaker C: Right.
[00:27:56] Speaker B: I know that my daughter, Dr. Mr. Pearlstein, her criminal justice professor, was great. There was always an incentive for them to put their phones away when they started class, and I really appreciated that. So, yes, my concerns are about phones, and my concerns are about AI. I have two concerns that I really think about in terms of what's happening in school.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: Sure. Yeah. What does the rest of the campaign look like for you? What are your plans to get your message out.
[00:28:27] Speaker B: So I think it's a lot of door knocking. We'll share that.
My husband, you know, everybody shows their support in different ways and my husband bought me a brand new pair of walking sneakers to say like, okay, I know you're going to do a lot of canvassing. Here you go. So I'm really excited about getting out there. I've done some door knocking and it's been fun.
But I think that is going to be a large part of the rest. I also will. I'm looking forward to offering some opportunities for parents to come and to hear what they have to say and what their concerns are.
[00:28:59] Speaker A: Okay. What are some good ways for folks to reach you?
[00:29:02] Speaker B: Folks can reach me through my through the website, which is kate campbell4schoolcommittee.com you know, that is one way in which they can reach out to me or through my email, you know, so. And I hope they do. I look forward to talking to folks. I'm always eager to talk to someone.
[00:29:20] Speaker A: Sure. Anything else you'd like to share right now?
[00:29:23] Speaker B: I just think I'm, you know, one that something I'm really hopeful about is how much engagement there is in this election.
[00:29:30] Speaker C: Right.
[00:29:30] Speaker B: I think it's wonderful to see so many people involved in the process. It gives people opportunity. It gives people choice.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: Very good. Well, appreciate the opportunity to meet you and talk to you and we'll be in touch throughout the campaign, I'm sure.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: Thank you so much, Joe.
[00:29:43] Speaker A: You're very welcome. And thanks for watching us here at AM Quincy. I'm Joe Catalano and we'll see you next time.
