is for

Anthony

RODRIGUEZ

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

1 YEAR TERM

Katherine Duceman – In support of Anthony Rodriguez for School Committee

Anthony Rodriguez is the kind of person who will run toward the fire.

When the School Building Rehabilitation Committee was faced with impassioned opposition over the prospect of building a combined Greenlodge-Oakdale last fall, Anthony’s first instinct as a Greenlodge resident, architecture professional, and future DPS parent was to raise his hand to volunteer his technical expertise to the committee as an ex-officio member.

Now, at a time of extraordinarily challenging budgetary pressure and with four school buildings in poor physical condition, Anthony’s instinct is to raise his hand to run for School Committee.

It’s a remarkable track record considering Anthony has lived in Dedham for a relatively short time. There are people who can spend their whole lives in a town without ever catching this instinctive urge to face these kinds of weighty challenges head-on. But our town and our democracy become stronger with the participation of people like Anthony.

Because of the Oakdale Elementary School Building Project, much has been written in this paper about the substandard state of three of the town’s elementary schools – including the lack of ADA compliance, mold and air quality issues, substandard fire and intruder protection, inadequate temperature controls, and more. But the challenges don’t stop with the elementary schools.

I recently went on a tour of the High School, conducted by the town’s facilities director. It was a sobering experience. From outside of the building you can observe that parts of the rubberized roof are lumpy – resembling a wavy sea – because there are so many active leaks in the roof that the insulation below is forming soggy clumps. From the inside you can see active leaks and water damage present throughout the building, including in the gymnasium where the custodial staff needs to mop during basketball games to make sure athletes and spectators don’t slip in the puddles. There are 2,800 poorly-insulated single-pane windows that make it challenging and expensive to properly regulate the temperature. And there are a number of cosmetic issues including chipped paint and cracked walls that contributed to my sinking sense of underinvestment and neglect.

The state of our school facilities is a pressing issue that affects the well-being, health and success of our students. As a mom to a toddler who will one day attend DPS schools, these challenges fill me with anxiety and concern. I expect this is true of many other parents in Dedham too.

The good news is that this year Dedham will conduct a full facilities assessment of all town-owned buildings, including all of our schools. The School Committee will be tasked with using the results of that assessment to develop recommendations on priorities for repair and rehabilitation and corresponding budgets to complete these projects.

I am confident that Anthony Rodriguez is the best positioned candidate to guide the School Committee in this endeavor. As an Architectural Designer with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in architecture who has helped design school buildings across Massachusetts, Anthony has the knowledge to help the committee chart the path forward and develop creative solutions that will reduce the impact on taxpayers.

This is technical expertise and experience that no other current School Committee member or candidate has. And it is experience that the School Committee will benefit from in order to make informed decisions about the future of our school buildings and critical decisions about funding.

As a member of the School Committee Anthony will work to make sure our students and teachers have the learning environments they deserve – healthy environments that foster growth, creativity, and academic success.

Katherine Duceman

Town Meeting Precinct 2