Safety, achievement on minds of Lynn school board candidates

LYNN – School safety and improving student achievement dominated the conversation at the School Committee Voter’s Forum Wednesday night, with incumbent candidates sticking to the record of the current committee while some challengers proposed radical changes.Nearly 50 residents and supporters, many in the crowd to cheer on first-time candidate Maria Carrasco, filed in to the Washington Street Baptist Church to hear the opinions and goals of nine of the 10 individuals vying for six school committee spots on Nov. 6.Of the 10 total candidates, four are incumbents, but veteran member John E. Ford Jr. was not in attendance, limiting the number to three.The debate featured two main questions, the first asking candidates what their plans were to improve safety and reduce violence in schools, and the second question addressing how candidates would continue to improve student achievement in every grade.Incumbents Jeffery Newhall, Patricia Capano and Donna Coppola all touted the committee’s past record with school safety, noting that the past administration succeeded in bolstering the School Resource Officer position and making changes at the Marshall Middle School.Coppola also said she hopes to continue working toward the inclusion of an alternative middle school to provide a place for troubled students to learn.”It is my opinion that our schools are safe, despite what some in the city believe,” said Newhall. “If we had as many problems as some believe we do, then the distractions would be too many and we wouldn’t see the improvements on the MCAS scores that we are seeing.”Challenger Donald Castle, who is a probation officer at Lynn District Court, referenced his years of experience as a law enforcement officer and attorney, and his affinity for helping troubled teens. He promised to come forward with a two-pronged approach if elected, training teachers and staff how to handle students and situations, and getting parents involved with their children’s lives.Carrasco said the focus should not only be to make sure kids are safe in schools, but that they are also staying out of trouble after school, which comes from parent and community involvement.”Prevention is key because we have a lot of parents that don’t know what is going on,” she said. “You can have all of the police, cameras and everything else in a school but if we don’t work on prevention, what happens when they leave school?”Challengers Charlie Gallo and John Krol also agreed that after school programs should increase, and Gallo stressed the importance of a dress code to eliminate gang colors. Krol said he would request more custodians to ensure cleanliness and cut down on the possibility of disease and infection.Candidate George Meimeteas called for a drastic change in school safety procedures, including uniforms, metal detectors, cameras and a zero tolerance policy.Former Lynn Woods Principal and 40-year department veteran Vincent Spirito, who led all vote getters in the September primary, proposed an Internet messaging system similar to popular networking sites where students can anonymously communicate with resource officers and guidance councilors to stop problems before they start.Incumbents again pointed to past accomplishments when addressing the second question about student achievement, noting that MCAS scores have improved, and a new curriculum has helped the district improve to a priority 2 school with the Department of Education.Capano stressed the importance of addressing the needs of individual students in individual schools rather than treating the district as one whole entity.Newhall agreed, and said he can see a lot of good things happening in the district and every school, and vowed to continue to fund teacher training to keep the teachers of Lynn up to date and on the cutting edge of education.A large point of interest for many candidates is all day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten, which Coppola vowed to continue supporting, along with parent involvement