Former Patriot Matt Light Running For Foxboro School Committee

FOXBORO, MA — Matt Light - the former New England Patriot is running for a seat on Foxboro's school committee, Foxborough Town Clerk Bob Cutler first confirmed to the Boston Globe.

The former defensive lineman is one of two candidates looking to boot out two other board members, chairman Robert Canfield and Brent Ruter, in the annual town election on May 2. Joseph Pires is also running.

According to the Globe, Light, 43, told Sean Spicer in a March 31 interview that he was inspired to run after having conversations with friends and family about Foxboro's school pandemic policies.

"We cannot allow what's happened over the last two years in this pandemic to be brushed under the rug," Light said during the interview. "What our kids are going through as they go to public schools shouldn't be happening."

For 11 years, Light was an offensive lineman for the Patriots before retiring in 2011. He has remained a Foxboro resident for over twenty years, with four children; three of whom are still students.

During an interview with the Foxboro Reporter, Light says living through the pandemic made him realize "that our ability to live free and make our own decisions isn't guaranteed."

Light told the Sun Chronicle that the pandemic has had a high impact on children's mental health and needs to be addressed.

"We can't continue to have leaders who surrender their own duty to lead when things get tough," Light said. "It's not supposed to be easy, but if we are willing to work together and tackle the difficult tasks by gathering data in an intelligent, systematic approach we can find the best solution as opposed to settling for the easy one."

According to the Globe, Light and his wife Susie say that officials ignored their concerns for their son's safety during the mask mandate because he has a heart condition.

Pires has also criticized school administrators' response to the pandemic.

The deadline to register to vote in the election is 8 p.m. Tuesday in the town clerk's office at town hall.

For more on this, read The Boston Globe.

This article originally appeared on the Foxborough Patch