Angel Pettitt, running unopposed for a three-year term on the School Committee, says he is looking forward to the opportunity “to listen to other people’s perspectives. I believe that you will always have your own perspective, and you really need to understand where other people are coming from to have a better big picture.”
“I hope people find me approachable,” he added. “I don’t expect people to agree at all times, but like anything else, the more you hear the better informed you can be about decisions.”
Pettitt, 45, said, “Something that I want people to know about me is that I am fully aware that there are things I don’t know.
“It’s going to be a new experience and there is going to be a lot of learning,” he said. “I don’t expect to walk in the door with ideas of sweeping change. In any new position you take the time to evaluate, which is something I look forward to being able to do. I’m not going in with any preconceived notions.”
Pettitt contrasted his personal experiences – in the New York City Public Schools – with those of his children, a first-grader at Davis School and a third-grader at Lane School. Yet all are public education and need to be accessible, he said. In that regard, “Where are we falling short? Are there opportunity gaps? What are we doing at which we can still get better?
“I understand why things are important to parents and families and how their experiences could be better.” And there’s a “broader responsibility,” he added. “The decisions we make affect everyone.”
One of those issues is school start times. The Board of Health has recommended changes and the School Committee is likely to begin addressing the subject in the fall. “I think we need to explore and understand better the start-times research,” Pettitt said, acknowledging that there are many variables. “There’s a process and I need to learn about that process.”
Pettitt also mentioned the planned change of the literacy curriculum in the elementary grades. “There no longer is a debate,” he said. The decision “came through collaboration and input and feedback, and now that’s one less hurdle we need to address.”
The candidate’s resume features coaching kids’ teams in several sports, as well as six years on the Cultural Council. He is incoming president of the Wedgewood swim and tennis club.
As he prepares to join the School Committee, Pettitt said, “I feel I have a unique opportunity to meet families and listen.”
Loading ...
