School Committee: June 3, 2020

Transcript machine-generated with Whisper speech recognition (the source video has no caption track). No speaker labels; proper names and dollar figures occasionally misheard. Click any timecode to jump to that moment in the source video.

0:06 I’m Shari Pressman, Chair of the Voter Service Committee of the Legal Women Voters of Marblehead. I’d like to welcome you to Candidates Night 2020. It takes more than a pandemic to stop a league from holding a candidates night. Instead of coming together with your friends and neighbors of the high school library, you’re attending candidates night from home. The move from the live audience to remote recording has had its challenges. We’re especially grateful this year to our long-term partner for Candidates Night, MHTV, and its dedicated staff, and especially to John Caswell, without whom this recording and this production could never have gone forward. Thanks to John and MHTV, you’re able to watch this program on their website, marbleheadtv.org, and their Facebook page, and on the Legal Women Voters of Marblehead’s Facebook page. Thank you, Jeff Shribman, Marblehead Town Council, and Salem Attorney, who has generously agreed to act as our moderator again this year. Thank you to the Voter Service Committee for putting together the many pieces of Candidates Night in these challenging times. This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of women earning the right to vote for the passage of the 19th Amendment and the 100th anniversary of the League of Women Voters. The League is dedicated to the principles of self-government established by the United States Constitution.

1:42 For a non-partisan organization, we don’t endorse political parties or candidates. However, after careful and thorough study, we do take stands and act on specific issues. If you’re interested in finding out more, check our Facebook page. Now, Jeff Shribman will introduce the candidates for School Committee. Jeff? Thank you, Sherry, and thank you, candidates. We have four candidates. They are Emily Barron, Sarah Gold, Katherine Martin, and Jennifer Schaffner. We’ll begin with two-minute opening statements from each candidate. After opening statements, I’ll ask two questions of each candidate. They have two minutes to answer each question. The questions were written by members of the League of Women Voters at Marblehead and given to the candidates ahead of time. Our time paper, Lee Mondale, will be using colored cars and a bell to let candidates know how much time they have left. A yellow card will be held up when there’s one minute left and when there are 15 seconds left. A red stop sign, and if necessary, a bell, signals that time is up. Candidates may finish their sentence that they have begun. The order will rotate alphabetically with each new question. The candidates were asked to include the following information in their two-minute opening statements. Please introduce yourself, what vision do you have for the town, and what are the qualities you bring to support that vision.

3:16 We’ll begin with Ms. Barron. Emily? Emily Barron, and I’d like to thank the League of Women Voters for hosting this event tonight, and I’m honored to be a participant. I am the mother of Eddie and Abby, a fourth and second grader in the Marblehead School District. I am also an architect by trade, and I am running the school committee. Inclusion and social justice are at the forefront of all the work that I do, and I come at it from personal experience. When I was in first grade, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. I benefited from the special education program that took me through graduate school. Now, my son has a learning disability, and I’m once again navigating the special education system. I’ve also watched my brother find his independence as a profoundly deaf Hispanic man. I’ve experienced being treated differently. I’ve seen others being treated differently. But any hurdles I’ve overcome have allowed me to be a successful student and professional, and they will help me make and be an effective member of the Marblehead School Committee. I envision a school district that is guided by three values, inclusivity, innovation, and safe, responsible leadership. I’ll go into more detail in my next responses, but I will say the district is facing two inflection points

4:50 that will shape our children’s educational experience for the next decade. The first one is the onboarding of our new superintendent and our assistant superintendent. The second, and I don’t think that this can be underestimated, is how we will manage learning in a COVID-19 world. These events require creativity, hard work, collaboration, flexibility, honesty, and experience. I bring these qualities to every project, professional, or volunteer. I look at issues from all sides. I listen to everyone’s ideas. And on top of all that, I have a personal understanding of the struggles families and educators are going through right now, today. Thank you, Emily. Ms. Gold, Sarah. Thank you. I would also like to thank the League tonight for hosting this. My name is Sarah Gold, and I’m running for reelection to the Marblehead School Committee. I was elected to the committee two years ago and have served as chairperson for the past year. During this time, I have worked diligently to bring a sense of calm and purposeful leadership to the school committee. I feel strongly that the committee is tasked with working collaboratively to meet the needs of our children, parents, and teachers of our district, as well as the Marblehead taxpayers. While there’s much to be proud of in the progress achieved over the past year, I am mindful of the substantial challenges that lay ahead for our school district. I also firmly believe those challenges can and should be met with a commitment to fiscal responsibility.

6:21 My goal as a school committee member is to ensure the Marblehead public school system remains the pillar of educational success that it is known to be, as well as to support the potential growth towards even greater accomplishments. I grew up outside of Chicago and am the oldest of six children. I moved to Marblehead with my husband almost nine years ago. We currently have a seventh grader at the Veterans Middle School and a second grader at the Coffin School, where I transitioned to Bell School family. I have a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Boston College and have worked at the Marblehead Counseling Center for over seven years. My specialty is providing individual therapy to children and adolescents. I’m also a school counselor for the Tower School, which provides me an additional window into the educational world. My work with local children continuously gives me insights into how our schools are experienced by the young people and their families. It informs me about many of the challenges they face daily. There has probably never been a time in our history when our children need social emotional support within their school day more than they will in the coming few years. Through the various roles I hold throughout town, I am uniquely qualified to ensure that these needs are addressed and met. This coming year, our school system will need to address new hurdles as we work to navigate the challenges that have been dealt by the ongoing pandemic. As we transition a new leadership at the administrative level and continue to refine our remote learning program, we need to be working to support our kids academically as well as emotionally as they return to school in the fall. Collaborative leadership is an absolute must at this time, and I am completely committed to that. Thank you, Sarah.

7:53 Alphabetically next would be Ms. Schaffner. Jennifer, no additional. Ms. Martin, Catherine. Catherine, you’re on. Thank you. And thank you for the lead for persevering through COVID-19 and providing us this opportunity tonight. I really do appreciate it. Good evening. My name is Katie Martin, Catherine Martin, and I am a strong and independent candidate running for a three-year school committee post. I’ve been a resident of Marblehead for 20 years, and I am a married full-time working mother of two daughters in the Marblehead public school system. My reasons for running for this post are very simple. It’s time to set goals and objectives for our new administration that put our students first. Student achievement, social and emotional health, and safety need to be our priority. I believe that we need to come together as a committee to achieve these goals. First off, as a professional woman, I want to say how lucky we are as a school district that we have four intelligent, motivated women vying for these two school committee seats. I really think this speaks to how passionate our town is about education. Kudos and good luck to everybody. In my professional life as a construction consultant, I rely on my own ingenuity, creativity, and collaborative spirit to work collectively with a diverse team of consultants and clients to bring projects to fruition. As a female in the construction trade, I learned that strong communication and a willingness to listen can help you overcome any professional adversity. Leadership is taught, and it’s a culture that is passed on through mentorship, and at its roots is the ability to recognize that a team is always stronger than an individual.

9:34 On behalf of the people and taxpayers, I believe the school committee should hold its leadership accountable for meeting the standards and policies set by this committee. Thank you very much. Thank you, Catherine. Ms. Schaffner, Jennifer, please. Thanks, and thanks, Katie, for those words of collegiality. I think that it’s something our national politicians could probably learn from. I’m Jen Schaffner. I grew up in Marblehead. I attended Marblehead schools, as did my two children. My husband Bob and I moved back here in 2003 when we started our family. We both love this town, and we raised our children by modeling the importance of serving your community by actions and words. We taught our children to never listen to destructive criticism. It’s only meant to silence you and to never be silenced. My vision is to provide a safe and supportive learning environment where dedication to excellence, service, and lifelong learning is paramount. All students will be challenged to work collaboratively and become creative critical thinkers. Emphasis will be placed on mastering core academic knowledge, developing 21st century skills, pursuing individual potential, and fostering citizenship in a global society. My focus is in five key areas for incremental improvement. Student achievement, personal growth, partnerships and collaboration, school culture, and resources. The qualities I bring to this job include transparency. To me, transparency means seeking and speaking the truth regardless of the results, pursuing the facts and the truth and not hiding that information from the public.

11:06 I’ve always been honest, even when it was difficult to hear. By being open and clear, we can be better leaders, make better decisions, and move our district forward to maximize our students’ achievement. I have over 22 years in the financial services industry and management, 16 years as a small business owner in town, and 12 years as a parent leader in the Marblehead schools, and 4 years of experience on the school committee. I volunteer on multiple statewide committees with other school districts, currently serving as vice chair of Division I, and on the statewide special education committee. I have a broad network of colleagues throughout the state, and I have learned and shared information, advice, and recommendations with them. I have fought for our principals, our teachers, our students, and parents, which chose my commitment. I’ve co-chaired the selection committees for interim superintendent, director of student services, assistant superintendent, and permanent superintendent. I have served on many subcommittees, including policy, facilities, budget, and multiple school advisory councils. I’m proud of my work, and I take my responsibility seriously. Thank you, Jen. Now for your first question. How has your vision of public education changed because of the pandemic, including remote learning? We will begin with Ms. Gold. Thank you. There are aspects of my vision of public education that have changed drastically, and other parts that haven’t changed at all. The state of Massachusetts was the first to pass laws long ago mandating public education, and we remain committed to that mandate by ranking number one year after year, and the town of Marblehead continually ranks very high within our state.

12:43 More than ever, we need to be committed to free, appropriate public education. When in a classroom, we know that not all students learn in the same ways. Tailoring approaches to children is where the art of teaching is found. Differences in learning styles have never been more evident as it is in remote learning. Not only does remote learning highlight differences in the technology that is accessible at home and the availability of parental support, but we also know that similarly to being in a classroom, no one mode of remote learning works for every child. In March, our teachers and staff were asked to move everything they do for their students online in a matter of days, and a few weeks later to make their online classrooms as similar as possible to their building classrooms. If you listen to experts in online schooling, they will tell you that it takes around six months for a teacher to come to school. The head of the school wisely pointed out that none of the teachers and staff had signed up for this when we signed our contracts. This obviously goes for teachers everywhere. The learning curve is when steep, remote learning is not what anyone wants to be doing, and it seems like it will be part of our reality for a while. So we need to be sure that our teachers are given professional development and support to make sure that they can continue to better their online classrooms, just as they were when they were in the school buildings. We just recently hired an incredible new assistant superintendent who will be able to address these needs in the coming years. Figuring out how to teach soft skills and working with classmates for solving interpersonal conflict and general socialization will continue to be a challenge in remote learning, and it is important that we get comprehensive feedback from parents as well.

14:17 This will also help in understanding what is working and what needs to be improved as we develop a reentry plan. The school committee may need to change some of their policies to better represent the needs of our students and teachers in the coming year. Thank you, Sarah. Ms. Martin, Catherine. So when I got this question, I went to the Marblehead School Department website because I wanted to re-familiarize myself with the school vision statement, and it says, follows. A model school district, exemplary in its student engagement and academic excellence, where all students meet their highest potential with the support of outstanding instructional leadership and in partnership with this community. And when I thought about that, what I realized is this vision can’t change because of COVID-19. This is our obligation to the students in this town. We don’t know what next year will bring, but we do know that we will have school in some form. If it’s determined that we need to continue remote learning, our implementation needs to change, and we need to be flexible and we need to learn from what we’ve done. We’re going to need a modern and equitable technology platform that gives consistent live instruction throughout all grade levels. We need to take a hard look at what’s working and what’s not. We need to model our positive experiences and do away with what hasn’t been successful to date. We need clear communication from our school committee and from our administrators of what parents’ expectations will be.

15:49 And then we need to go back to that vision statement, and we need to make sure that we’re still attaining those goals that we highlight for our district, no matter what the fall brings. Thank you. Thank you, Catherine. Now we will go to Ms. Schaffner. Excuse me. Thanks. So we seek to provide the best possible education for all Marblehead students to maximize their achievement. And I’m going to read what Katie just quoted, which is the Marblehead Public Schools vision statement, which is to be a model school district, exemplary in its student engagement and academic excellence, in which all students reach their highest potential with support of outstanding instructional leaders and in partnership with the community. What has changed is how we will meet this goal in the current environment of COVID-19. The challenge we face is reopening our schools, focusing on safety and flexibility. The time to begin this process is now, and our team has started as we await more specific guidelines from the state. The Center on Reinventing Public Education is a nonpartisan research center at the University of Washington, providing evidence-based ideas to improve public education. This organization has been studying and gathering data on remote learning plans in school districts across the country since the pandemic began, and has emphasized that this summer we should be focusing our efforts on three things. One, limit learning loss now and over the summer with intensive tutoring around core skills. Two, assess and prioritize the greatest needs, including students with special needs and those who struggled in the online environment.

17:20 And three, to use evidence and adapt the ways we teach and support students next year. Policies and practices will have to shift rapidly on behalf of all learners. I know that using data and evidence-based practices to guide our decisions is crucial. I was part of the selection committee that led to the hiring of our new assistant superintendent of curriculum and accountability, Nan Murphy. Nan will be the leader under John Bucky to manage this bond in the school of fall. If I’m elected to the school committee for another term, I am committed to working with the leadership team by advocating for the support and resources in a difficult financial environment that our educators need to ensure that all of our students are able to maximize their achievement. Thank you again. Ms. Barron, Emily. As a district, we must come up with a comprehensive plan that takes into consideration the many different situations that we are going to face in the coming school year, as well as the financial realities ahead. It is likely that we will not have an all-or-nothing approach, but a hybrid. One area that has been made more clear as a result of the global situation is the impact of social-emotional welfare of children and their success at school. We will need to address the effects the pandemic have had on our children and staff. As a district, we will have to learn to effectively work with students through trauma-sensitive learning.

18:54 Every child has now been through a trauma and loss. And how these children respond to trauma will be different. Some will get angry, some will have increased anxiety, and some will withdraw. We are going to have to give our teachers and administrators the support needed to work with the children who have experienced trauma. If we do not support the social and emotional well-being of our children and staff, they will not be able to fully grasp the academic curriculum, especially during this unprecedented time. Our remote learning program does need to be more robust. But we need to develop this with an understanding that what may work for one child is not going to work for another. The key will be flexibility in employing multimodalities in order to support all learners. I have spoken with many people with children throughout the district and listened to their experience. And I am particularly struck by the amount of parents who would like to provide input directly to the principals. About their experiences with remote learning, especially at the high school level. We need to make sure that there is consistency and clear communication at the district, building, and classroom level. The key to success will be to roll up our sleeves, work together, and find creative, sustainable solutions. Thank you. Thank you, Emily. Your second question is, what criteria will you be using to evaluate the incoming new superintendents?

20:25 And we will begin this question with Ms. Martin. Thank you. So, Daphne has a very prescriptive process of rubrics for evaluating our superintendents. They also have a very informative five-video series, if elected. I’ve already watched it. So, you know, maybe be ahead of the game a little bit here. It includes setting and aligning district goals, evaluating progress and performance, rating and reporting data. And as a committee, we will obviously perform these tasks as outlined by DESI. However, as I was going through this very prescriptive process, I started to think back to 20 years ago when I had my first professional review. And what my first boss said to me. And I was very nervous, as anybody is at that time. And what he said to me is, if you walk into your annual review and you don’t know what I’m going to say to you, then I’m not doing my job properly. Because as a leader and as an evaluator, the line of communication between us should always be open and you should always know where you stand. And I’ve kind of taken that with me throughout my career. And I hope to have that kind of relationship with Dr. Bucky, whereby we have an open line of communication, whether in open meeting or in private conversation, where we both have an understanding where we stand with respect to the aligning of district goals and business. And that the DESI rubric just codifies that. Thank you. Thank you, Catherine. Ms. Schaffner, Janet.

22:00 The need to effectively evaluate our superintendent of schools is a fundamental responsibility of the school committee and legally required in Massachusetts. We are required to use a tool called the indicator rubric for student superintendent evaluation to support the effect of leadership practice between the superintendent and the school committee. There are four unique components to this process of evaluation. First, the role of the school committee. Our role is one of governance rather than management. We focus on the what and the why of the superintendent’s leadership governance rather than the how, which is the administration. The composition of the school committee. The school committee acting as an evaluator is comprised of multiple individuals rather than a single person. This requires consensus building and a process and that the process be based on measurable evidence rather than opinions. The focus of the school committee. Most of us are not professional educators. We focus on the outcome of the superintendent’s work rather than the details of the implementation. It’s a public process. The superintendent’s evaluation is the only one that’s done in public. This process of collecting and evaluating evidence is designed to be conducted with transparency and integrity. We use four standards of measurement, instruction leadership, management and operations, family and community engagement, and professional culture. The process will begin in the summer with goal setting with the school committee and is subject to periodic updates throughout the year at public meetings. The final evaluation in the spring. Some of the goals that I would like to consider with the school committee for Dr. Bucky include developing a detailed, flexible, clear reopening plan for school in the fall,

23:37 team building with central office and key building administrators, establishing solid relationships with key stakeholders, including parents, town leaders, town administrators, community members and the press. Building a zero based budget with the resources needed to maximize student achievement. I am one of only two current school committee members who has participated in superintendent evaluations. Within the new superintendent, it’s imperative that we have experienced school committee members leading the process. There’s no perfect evaluation process, but it should be useful and flexible, providing feedback and accountability to the superintendent. Thanks. Thank you, Jen. Ms. Barron. The school committee must have an understanding of our community’s vision for the school district. With our new hand-picked administrative team, commitment to community involvement and dedication to putting our students first, our school committee can formulate a new strategic plan that moves our district ahead in the most effective way to prepare all students for the life ahead. Putting together our new strategy will be something the school committee and superintendent will need to address this year. This plan will drive the superintendent’s goals that we will then use as a tool for evaluation. A successful school committee becomes partners with the superintendent by creating relationship of trust and respect. There are state guidelines that all school committee members must and should use to evaluate their superintendent.

25:08 The school committee is bound to this rubric bylaw. Following this rubric creates stability. While the main features of the rubric are extremely important, we must prioritize our children. We must make sure that we can effectively evaluate our students and how they’re doing in the classroom and make sure we’re able to support all children. As I mentioned earlier, we must go beyond academics and support the whole child. We must integrate and support our students and staff using social-emotional learning. The more children that we can educate and support in the district, the better able will be able to have a more stabilized budget for the superintendent to present and manage. Thank you, Emily. Now, Ms. Gold. Sarah. Thank you. There are specific staffs as we’re putting them. Can I restart my time, please? I was being muted by the host. Thanks. There are specific staffs the school committee needs to use in evaluating their superintendent. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has a detailed rubric that needs to be used when doing that evaluation. For the events of last year and having a new intern superintendent this year, the school committee has not done an evaluation for the past couple of years.

26:45 Next year, the majority of the school committee will not have done a formal evaluation ever, and we will have a new superintendent who has never been through that process as well. In order to make sure the process is thorough and transparent, I would ask that we have our school committee state representative provide unbiased guidance on the process of evaluation so we can effectively and accurately evaluate our new superintendent. With the help of the community, John Bucky and the school committee will be developing a new strategic plan for the school district. Dr. Bucky will be starting his time as our new superintendent by doing a listening tour and talking with many stakeholders and marblehead to hear their hopes and concerns for the schools. This will not only provide him the feedback for his vision to move our district forward, but it will inform how we build strategic plan. The strategic plan will then drive the superintendent’s goals, and the school committee will use the rubric I mentioned earlier as a tool to evaluate his progress towards those goals. All of these points will provide excellent information for the criteria that the school committee will be used when evaluating Dr. Bucky. Thank you. Thank you, Sarah. We will now conclude with your two-minute closing statements. What questions you wish we had? What would you like to add, if anything? And we’re going to begin with Ms. Shachner. Last year when we hired Bill McCaldiff, his superintendent, he told me his most important priority was to help us hire a new superintendent of schools. I was honored to lead an impressive team of educators, parents, administrators, and fellow school committee members, Sarah Fox, to hire Dr. Bucky.

28:19 I’m excited to effectively onboard and support him. His leadership skills and mindset, if properly supported by the school committee, the district, and the community, will set our district up for success and high achievement. One question that wasn’t specifically asked about is our budget. We started this year with significant budget challenges coming off a budget crisis. We had departures of our central admin team, and several of those crucial positions remained vacant. I worked hard this year with the superintendent to stabilize the budget and properly account for our resources. The goal this year was to build a zero-based budget to present to the town to specify resources that are needed to maximize student achievement. That did not happen. Then COVID-19 hit. The town and the schools are facing reductions in local receipts and state aid, the two main sources of our funding. We’re likely facing a significant budget reduction in the coming fiscal year, after 13 years of level-funded budgets. I have the historical knowledge, the financial acuity, the depth of knowledge of our budget and district organization to be prepared to make these decisions. I’ve been criticized about some of my actions and votes. That comes with the territory. I have the confidence, the character, and constitution to stay laser focused on the job at hand and to work collaboratively with fellow school committee members and the leadership team while remaining independent. To me, to help me, I rely on my family, my true friends, and my faith to support and guide me. Please remember when you go to vote on June 16th or before by mail, that school committee is a non-partisan, volunteer elected position.

29:50 We need adults in these seats, adults who can discuss, deliberate, and even disagree in a healthy way. Building consensus is important, but blindly following others to avoid the appearance of Discord only serves to undermine the work that we’re all tasked with doing, maximizing student achievement. Thank you for listening. Be safe and be well. Thank you, Jen. Ms. Barron, Emily. Thank you to the League of Women Voters for putting together such thoughtful and important questions so the community can just know the candidates better. So one question that I should also ask is how will I contribute to making the school committee successful? First, I believe our school committee should consist of individuals who are committed to working together in a kind and respectful way, bringing their unique experiences to the table and ultimately put students first. I have the track record both professionally as well as a member of the PTO, the Central Council, the building committee, as someone who is respectful, trustworthy, and an active, engaging, and dedicated community member who gets the job done while also upholding my core beliefs. I believe my experience and skill set will be an asset to the school committee as we navigate whatever is to come ahead. Over the last year, we have started to see a shift in the culture to one that is more positive, open, and respectful on the school committee. With the new central administration in place and a stable team of educational professionals, we are on the precipice of significant opportunity.

31:31 I want to be a part in helping our district realize that potential. I am running for school committee to stand up for the much needed change in culture that our community supports. Students thrive most when adults work together. I will be the person who works with others at the table. Thank you. Thank you, Emily. Ms. Gold, Sarah. Thank you. I believe that the league always does a good job of asking questions of the candidates for office. And this year, although significantly changed in its format, the questions continue to be thought provoking. If we had been asked an additional question, one question I think is important to consider is what makes a successful school committee. Although my tenure on school committee has been more brief than many, I have faced challenges that some members do not experience in much longer terms in office. I have worked tirelessly over the past year to lead the school committee away from drama so that we can focus on the work at hand. In my opinion, a successful school committee must work effectively with the superintendent. We stay informed and ask questions, but do not micromanage or manipulate the superintendent and other professionals in our district. I don’t often use sports references, but it seems appropriate here. The school committee is like the general manager of a sports organization and superintendent is the head coach. We cannot and should not act as the coach to the players of our district. We do not call the plays on the field and we don’t tell the coach which place to call. None of us know how to run the day-to-day operations of a school district and none of us is a superintendent.

33:02 We need to trust the highly qualified professionals we have carefully vetted and worked so hard to hire to do the jobs they are tasked with doing. Successful school committee operates under these parameters and they are part of the face of the schools and need to be calm, thoughtful, and caring leaders. In closing, I would be honored if you would consider voting for me for one of the open school committee positions. In my first campaign, I was humbled by how personal each vote ended up being. Each one of those people thought I could do a good job for our schools and our town, and I believe this time around will be even more personal. I hope that I have served Marblehead well over the past two years and I ask for your vote once again so I can continue to see through the work I have started. Thank you. Thank you, Sarah. Ms. Martin, Catherine. Thank you for the questions tonight. They were great. The one question that I would ask that wasn’t asked is, with the constraints of COVID, face-to-face campaigning is nearly impossible. Leaving social media as an option to reach voters, how do we reconcile negativity on social media, even when it benefits us candidates politically, but could hurt people personally beyond the election? As women, as mothers, and role models in this community, how do we justify this behavior from adults when we know as parents that we would not accept this behavior from our own children? In closing, as I seek this position, I bring with me life and career skills that I have acquired in over 20 years of professional practice and as a wife and as a parent.

34:35 In selecting goals and policies for our new superintendent, I want to look to focus on a leadership style that will shape a culture that builds people up instead of breaking them down. As a special education parent, I want to set the tone that inclusion is not just a talking point, but it is absolutely the right thing to do. From the classroom to Whidger Road to the school committee, there needs to be checks and balances whereby everyone is accountable for their role in the management of resources and the betterment of education. I would be honored to have your vote on June 16th. Thank you and good night. Thank you, Catherine. Thank you all for participating in the Zoom candidates night and for volunteering to serve the town. I know it’s not easy to run because I have done that and I have served and the town is greatly appreciative to have four qualified candidates running for school committee. I’d like to thank the League of Women Voters. This has been a challenging time with regard to putting this together and they’ve done an outstanding job. It wouldn’t actually be impossible at all without John Caswell from MHTV. I want to thank all of you and I want to turn this back to the League for final comments and Sherry. Sherry, you need to unmute yourself. Okay, they need to. You’re good. First of all, our sincerest thanks to MHTV and to John Caswell and as Jeff said, this would not have been possible without his expertise. And to you, Jeff, for doing a marvelous job as usual as our moderator.

36:11 Thank you. And to the Marblinga Reporter and to all of the candidates for running for office during a pandemic. We are very lucky in Marblehead, as Jeff said, to have such capable candidates running for office in our town. To the nitty gritty of voting. The polls will be open on June, on Tuesday, June 16th. Polling places have changed for the June 16th election only. If you live in Precinct 1 and usually vote at the old townhouse, you’ll vote at the Village School. If you live in Precinct 2 and usually vote at the Masonic Lodge, you’ll also vote at the Village School. If you live in Precinct 3 and usually vote at the Masonic Lodge, you’ll vote at the Marblehead High School Field House in the gym. If you live in Precinct 4 or 5 and usually vote at the Community Center, you will also vote at the Marblehead High School Field House. If you live in Precinct 6, you have the easiest place to remember because you’ll still vote at the Community Center. Again, these changes are for the June 16th election only. You may instead vote by mail. Two steps to voting by mail. First, complete the 2020 Municipal Election Early Ballot Application or the Absentee Ballot Application. You should receive this in the mail. You can also download one and print it from marblehead.org, from our town websites.

37:48 It has a good link for that for printing your own. Mail your completed application for a ballot to the town clerk at 188 Washington Street or drop it in the red box in front of Abbott Hall. When you receive your ballot, complete it and sign it. Mail it back to the town clerk’s office on or before June 13th to make sure that it’s received in her office by June 16th. You can mail it earlier than that if you’ve made your decision by then, but it has to reach her office by June 16th or it won’t be counted. Contact the town clerk’s office if you have any further questions. Her number is 781-631-0528. Thank you very much for watching. Please tell your family, friends, and neighbors about how easy and important it is to view candidates’ night. Voting is our responsibility as citizens. Democracy is fragile and it’s our responsibility to protect it. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Vote on June 16th. Thank you for watching. Good night.