Swampscott school board member to step down

SWAMPSCOTT – The senior member of the School Committee plans to step down at the end of his term.David Whelan, who was elected to a three-year term in April 2006, said he would not run for re-election.”I will serve out the remaining 10 months of my term,” he said. “I won’t leave early but it is so very much time for someone else to give it a shot. There has been lots of time involved in the School Committee process. I need to start doing something different like focusing on my family. “Whelan, who is the only School Committee member with a term expiring in April, readily admits one of the issues he finds most frustrating about serving on the School Committee is that at the end of the day it all comes down to finances.”The notion that every single day it’s all about money is incredibly frustrating,” he said. “All our time is spent dealing with money issues.”Whelan pointed to Chapter 70 funding for the schools”I am beyond frustrated by the state,” he said. “This community has been treated quite badly by the state and we’re not getting our fair share of state funding.”Whelan said he believes the School Committee is also being hampered by municipal unions that refuse to make compromises.”My other big frustration is the unwillingness on the part of the municipal unions to accept the (Group Insurance Commission) GIC,” he said. “Accepting the GIC would save this community $700,000 a year,” he said. “It’s incredibly frustrating going through the entire budget process every year knowing you’re going to be laying off people and there’s no hope in sight.”Whelan said he’s also tired of accusations that the School Committee doesn’t care about the students and their safety.”Another thing that I find incredibly frustrating is the notion on the part of some segments of the community that we don’t care about the safety of the kids,” he said. “It is insulting to (Superintendent) Matthew Malone, the School Committee and me personally. And quite frankly it’s just not true. The safety of our students is top priority. It’s one of the things you can’t win for trying.”Despite the frustration he is experiencing, Whelan said one thing he is most proud of during his tenure on the School Committee is the strides the committee has made in working with other boards in town.”That wasn’t always the case,” he said. “We’ve developed a good relationship with the other boards in town. We may not always agree but we get along and have mutual respect for each other. We have a great relationship with the Finance Committee and that’s something I’m very happy about.”