After spending much of her first term on the School Committee dealing with pandemic disruptions, Suzie Allen hopes a second term will allow her to return to some of her original priorities. In her 2019 campaign, she described those priorities as “address[ing] systemic barriers to wellness for Harvard’s youth, while maintaining excellence in education.”
Allen hopes to focus more on student wellness, she told the Press in a telephone interview. She cited the addition of a middle school wellness teacher as an important step. And she praised a new pilot program that began at Bromfield in February. It’s called STAAR, which stands for Student Transitional Assistance and Academic Reengagement, and it is a short-term, intensive support program for students returning after a hospitalization or prolonged absence.
The fiscal 2023 school budget also allows for the addition of a new full-time counselor and another half-time counseling position. Still, Allen said, “I feel like there’s a lot more we could do.”
As a pediatric nurse practitioner, Allen brought her professional expertise to bear on the schools’ protective policies to limit the spread of COVID-19. One reason she is running for a second term, Allen said, is that continuity will be important as the committee gradually undoes those emergency measures.
Allen also pointed out that both the Bromfield School and Hildreth Elementary School will have new administrative teams next year—a new principal and associate principal at HES and two new principals at Bromfield, one for the middle school and one for the high school. “I’m excited by the opportunities to have two principals at Bromfield … to bring out the middle school as its own community,” she said.
But, with all that administrative change, Allen said, “I felt like we needed some stability for the district … when I was weighing should I stay or should I go, after such an intense three years.”
Allen foresees some difficult budget decisions after the pandemic-linked state and federal funds come to an end. She said she hopes to find ways to preserve the additional tutors and learning aides that have been added to help students make up for learning time they may have lost to the pandemic. “We’ll have to figure out which programs have been really working and benefiting students,” she said. “Those are going to be hard decisions.”
She agreed schools are seeing an increase in mental and emotional issues among students in the wake of the pandemic. Speaking particularly of younger students, she said, “Kids were at home and not having to navigate interaction with their peers, and some kids need more support in getting back into that.”
Asked about possible new offerings such as full-day kindergarten, Allen said, “Full-day kindergarten is definitely a priority.” Harvard is one of the few remaining towns in the state that still charges for the full-day program. But the issue is how to pay for it, she said. “It’s been hard to get our budget there.” Rising fixed costs constrain any new programs, she said.
Allen is looking forward to working on the district’s new strategic plan. “I am excited about implementing a new vision which will guide our district for the next 5-10 years,” she wrote in an email. “I believe the new vision for the district will be achievable and action-oriented and focus on joy in learning, academic excellence, and equity, while recognizing individual strengths, promoting overall well-being, and building community.”
