Roy, Medina compete for District E School Committee seat

WORCESTER — When it comes time to cast their ballots this fall, voters in School Committee District E will have to decide between two newcomers, Kathleen Roy and Nelly Medina.

Each candidate shared why she is running, her priorities and why voters should choose her Nov. 7.

Whoever is elected will represent a district that includes eight schools: Vernon Hill School, Quinsigamond School, Canterbury Street Magnet School, Columbus Park Preparatory Academy, Gates Lane School, Heard Street Discovery Academy, Sullivan Middle School and South High Community School.

More: Worcester's School Committee election will be different this year. Here's what to know

Kathleen Roy

Age: 58

Education: St. Mary’s Junior/Senior High School

Occupation: Unemployed

As Kathleen Roy watched the kids in her community grow up, she noticed a growing number were struggling with reading and writing, or using math skills to do things like exchange money.

After speaking with people throughout her community about these issues and hearing their concerns, she decided to put her name forward to run for the District E seat.

“I truly care about children. I really do,” Roy said. “They're our future and I want to see them succeed.”

Those experiences, as well as her previous work as an instructional assistant at Quinsigamond School, and her involvement with afterschool programs and parent-teacher organizations, have helped Roy shape her priorities.

Among them is school safety, which she said involves student mental health and relationships with police officers.

Roy said because of the “technical world we live in,” students are facing bullying both in and outside of school. In addition, some students are dealing with personal issues at home.

Because of this, she said, she wants more mental health programs available to students. She also wants to see a return of police officers inside high schools, while retaining the liaison officers who travel between the elementary and middle schools.

“A lot of the officers were very sad because they had made good, positive relationships,” Roy said. “And I firmly believe that a good defense is the best offense in our schools.”

She pointed to incidents like when a loaded gun and drugs were found in possession of a student at the Worcester Alternative School. The student was placed under arrest and no one was injured.

If an incident does become dire, Roy said, a police officer could help deescalate the situation. It’s also important for the officers to be role models for the students and have a positive relationship with them.

Language explicitly outlining these expectations in the memorandum of agreement between the public school district and city’s Police Department will help ensure this, she said.

Being a part of the budget process is also important, Roy said, and seeing how it can be used for things like making sure Chromebooks are being replaced and facilities are being upgraded, and that spending goes to classroom supplies for teachers.

“There's a lot that encompasses the budget and we have to make sure we prioritize,” she said.

Discussions about cellphones in schools and whether they could be an asset for learning have increased recently. While Roy said she would be OK with students using them at lunch or to quickly communicate with families, she doesn't think they have a place as a learning tool in classrooms.

She also wants to make sure that whatever recommendations appear in the school safety audit, which is due to be released at a November School Committee meeting, are fulfilled.

When voters go to District E polling places, Roy said, she hopes they look at what she’s outlined as her priorities as well as her involvement in the community and her ability to work well with people, even those with whom she may disagree.

“I want to hear what the parents have to say, I want to get out and work with the teachers and be in schools,” Roy said. “I work really well with people and … some people will agree with me and some people won't, but let’s try to find a solution that we are both happy with.”

Nelly Medina

Age: 46

Education: Associate degree from Quinsigamond Community College

Occupation: Founder of Free Worcester

Nelly Medina had a lot of reasons for running for the District E School Committee seat, but what made her throw her hat in the ring was, she said, not seeing any grassroots or education advocates running.

Medina, a parent of a student on the autism spectrum who was a plaintiff in the Worcester Interfaith lawsuit that resulted in the new School Committee districts, said she looked to her experiences to help shape her vision and priorities.

One of those experiences, she said, was going through the individualized education plan assessment process for her son.

“I found myself feeling vulnerable, very exposed and not supported, as I think I should have been,” Medina said. “It opened my eyes to the complexities of this process and I wanted to find out where there's holes in the system.”

She said she wants to improve the system and make it more “transparent,” and also create affinity groups and more opportunities for families to have resources, and help them “feel more confident” when making decisions on their students' behalf.

Medina also wants to address student behavior and school safety by reexamining how the district approaches discipline and exploring alternative methods to suspension or detention, especially since police have been removed from the inside of schools, she said.

There are programs, she said, and other districts the committee could look to for inspiration, such as the iDECIDE program, which “enhances health equity for students by implementing age-appropriate science-based responses to substance abuse infractions.

“You don't need police to arrest those students, we don't really need to be suspending them,” she said. “I think we need to address the root issues of the problems.”

Medina is also focused on assessing how the budget is being spent, making sure there is more “equity and inclusion” in how the district is budgeting education and honoring labor contracts.

She said issues involving settling contracts and making sure terms are fair and competitive, have made it difficult for the district to recruit workers including bus drivers.

While she is happy transportation was brought in-house, issues with recruiting drivers won’t be fixed, “if we're not thinking how to do this in a way that's transformative.”

Medina said she is also concerned with how a lack of bus drivers could impact student access to after-school programs and the impact that could have on student academics.

Another priority for Medina is supporting the district’s foster children population. Medina said she wants to ensure students in foster care are able to excel academically and connect easily with resources available to them and caretakers.

“I talk to students who have just aged out of the system, who didn't even know that they were entitled to things like driver's lessons or therapy, a program to help them with apartments after graduation or free college,” Medina said. “We really have to do a better job at assessing the trauma that these children are facing.”

One way is looking at developing programs to help students in the foster system, she said, pointing to a pilot program in Shrewsbury schools that brought in a wraparound coordinator who focused solely on assisting with social and emotional needs of foster children.

“Not only did the students do better, but the caseworker had less of a load because they understood exactly what the student needed,” Medina said. “They acted as an advocate for those students and also ensured that these hidden resources available to foster students and their caretakers were no longer hidden.”

Medina said she hopes when it comes time to cast their ballots, voters look at her vision for moving the district forward and her experience as a community organizer and educator.

“I'm afraid … Kathi Roy does not have a transformative vision or new ideas,” Medina said. “We have to have a heart for diversity and the patience to meet people on the ground where they're at. I've been doing this the whole time. I've been engaging in bringing people together, and that's what I'm going to continue to do.”

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This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Kathleen Roy, Nelly Medina compete for District E School Committee