Name: Alison Taylor
How long have you lived in Marblehead: Born and raised, now raising my son here
Profession: Manager, customer success
Elected and Appointed Positions: School Committee, one term
What are your goals for your next three-year term?
I’m most enthusiastic about the opportunity to capitalize off of the tremendous amount of knowledge I’ve gained in my first term. For the next term, I want to continue supporting and collaborating with the leadership team I helped to hire and onboard to further improve the district’s culture — one that values transparency and prioritizes student-centered decision making. I look forward to continuing to maintain good governance with fiscal responsibility and advocating for budgets that reflect our educational needs while remaining mindful of the community’s financial realities. Building off of the work that has been done this past year to enhance our student services and academic excellence is another important goal, supporting the administration efforts that promote rigorous and forward-thinking instructional practices, ensuring all students have access to opportunities that prepare them for success in today’s world.
What are you most proud of from your first term?
It has been both an honor and a privilege to serve the community of Marblehead over the past three years. I’m proud of so many of our accomplishments, but the following stand out:
- Hiring a strong administrative team, committed to delivering an exceptional education for all students. Their leadership and dedication have already begun to have a meaningful and lasting impact on our schools.
- Standing with our staff in regards to our then Student Services leadership — voicing my strong opinion (which opposed the then interim superintendent) and supporting the staff’s concerns regarding the previous administration. This turnover became an important step toward accountability and improvement.
- Publicly expressing dismay with the handling of the Glover School situation by the previous administration and interim administration.
- Delivering a balanced budget that met our needs without an override, including restoring the librarian position at Veterans Middle School — an essential role eliminated by past leadership.
Given the turmoil in the last two years, why are you the right person to stay on the committee and move it forward?
This School Committee has certainly encountered a number of situations that no other elected board has in town. While the past two years have undoubtedly been challenging, the commitment to transparency and focus on student-centered decision making have helped guide the committee through this period of necessary change. I’ve consistently had hard conversations, voice differing opinions and advocated for what is best for our schools. Being able to collaborate with a diverse group of colleagues, work through disagreements and keep our shared goals at the forefront has remained paramount. More importantly, I remain deeply committed to ensuring that all students in our district have access to a safe, supportive and exceptional education. I believe that moving forward requires both continuity and accountability, and I bring a combination of experience and integrity. I’m ready to continue the work — and to help lead our schools into a stronger, even more unified next chapter.
Given orders from the federal government to restrict DEI, where do you stand on diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum and programs in Marblehead schools?
Direction and guidance for all School Committee members in Massachusetts is provided by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. It is not led by personal ideology. Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler approved the Board’s recommendation of Pedro Martinez as the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education last month.
I look forward to learning more about Mr. Martinez’s vision and the guidance he will provide to school districts across the Commonwealth. Should there be any directives or recommendations regarding DEI curriculum, good governance (which I pride myself on practicing) would require the full committee to thoughtfully review and deliberate on those changes in a public session. It’s important to remember, DESE provides all frameworks (math, ELA, social studies, DEI, etc.), and all local school committees must ensure that the funds are available to support those frameworks.
Editor Leigh Blander is an experienced TV, radio and print journalist.
