Max Asterlin

Why are you running and why would you be a great person to serve on the School Committee?

I am running for the School Committee because I have a strong belief that education is important and critical to the success of children. I am invested in the Sharon Schools because my two children, 7 and 10, are just entering their time in the school system, and, as a resident of the town, I understand how important our school system is to the health of the community. I would be additive to the School Committee because I have a strong and successful professional background as an aerospace engineer and as a business consultant. I do not have pet agendas, and I bring a professional, rational, and collaborative approach to problem solving. This approach is needed as the town continues to try and improve our school system during times of significant budgetary pressure.

Campaign website: http://maxforsharon.com

The School Committee and Superintendent work together every year to develop a $56 million budget. What went well in the past two years and where is there room for improvement?

I think the School Committee has done well recently to make hard decisions that focused budget cuts on areas that had minimal impact on the students and quality of education. However, the Committee has been too reactionary and not proactive to think about a longer-term budget. The budget preparation from administration seems slow, and a final budget was not provided to the committee with ample time for review and reflection. There should be a clear deadline for the superintendent to provide a final Excel or spreadsheet-based budget to the School Committee. Separately, the negotiations with the teachers’ union created significant shortfalls that were not anticipated; I attribute the lack of foresight to the School Committee who should have prepared better for the shortfall potential. Finally, I think more creativity could be brought to bear for things like grants (or new revenue streams) and cost reduction measures like standardization (e.g. this could be utilizing textbooks to reduce teacher burden / time for curriculum creation). We will continue to see budget shortfalls next year and, at some point, administrative cuts will become untenable, and we need to be thoughtful about solutions that reduce costs and maintain education quality.

The School Committee has had to make some very painful cuts in staff and programs due to budget.  If there was suddenly an extra $200,000 found in the budget, how would you spend it? Choose between reducing fees, hiring more teacher's aides, rehiring teachers, or reinstating the DEI Director position. 

Importantly, I would assess the data at the time and make an educated decision based on current needs. Generally, I believe high quality teachers are the most valuable resources that we have at the school and adding resources here allows better student to teacher ratios or new classes to be added. Second, in priority, I would probably look to selectively reduce fees on activities that have historically not had fees and where the addition or increase of fees has resulted in significant decreases in participation. Thirdly, I would like to add Instructional Assistant resources where needed. Finally, I would not look to re-instate the DEI Director position regardless of budgetary position. I do not believe this is an effective use of our town funds. Diversity and inclusivity are important cultural aspects that should be incorporated throughout our school system, and we can effectively incorporate these ideas through policy, goals, and the activities of current administrative personnel. 

Name one thing the School Committee could do to improve the academics in Sharon schools.

As a member of the School Committee, I would help the school leadership develop a 5-year plan that focuses on academic excellence. This 5-year plan would include clear goals with associated metrics, a control dashboard that is monitored monthly or quarterly, a longer-term budget plan, and a strategy that enables transparency and accountability. This effort would be the most impactful thing that the Committee could provide to ensure the behavior of the school administration transitioned to one that is focused on academics and is proactively addressing challenges.

Social gender transition means to treat a student as a member of a different gender, for example by using a different name and pronouns. Under what circumstances do you believe it is appropriate for schools to socially transition children to a different gender without telling their parents?

There is no circumstance where I feel it is appropriate for a school to take steps that would influence or actively support a gender transition of a student under 18 years old without the consent of the students’ parents. Gender dysphoria is a serious concern for some children, and parents should be engaged in addressing it.