is for

Anthony

RODRIGUEZ

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

1 YEAR TERM

Sara Rosenthal – In Support of Anthony Rodriguez for School Committee

It is with great honor that I express my support for Anthony Rodriguez’s candidacy for the one-year term seat on the Dedham School Committee. Since October 2023, Anthony and I have been serving as ex-officio members of the School Building Rehabilitation Committee (SBRC). We are both architectural professionals with experience designing and overseeing the construction of public and independent school facilities. Anthony has served several communities working on schools and affordable housing throughout his career. During our time serving the SBRC, we have grown our friendship and comradery as designers and neighbors. The design community in metro-Boston is quite interconnected, and in such a professional landscape it is important to maintain a reputation of integrity and dependability; Anthony has done just that.

Architecture is an industry where we are constantly learning new building codes, material technology and effective space planning. The execution of a building project takes patience and collaboration; traits that I look forward to Anthony bringing into this future role on the school committee. As a design professional, Anthony has the unique skills to synthesize needs from multiple stakeholders into action and to deliver results. At the SBRC, Anthony has brought valuable, sensible feedback to the on-going design discussions that considers the future building occupants’ experience, the DPS education model, neighborhood context and the design choices’ financial implications. Anthony’s professional architecture experience has prepared him to look at a problem from various perspectives and find the opportunity that leads to a desirable solution.

Anthony’s campaign platform is built on ideals integral to the values that I hold as paramount. This coming fall I will have three DPS students in three separate buildings. While there are many great things about our town and school district that keep our family in Dedham, the disparity in learning environments across the district has been one of my greatest concerns. We have several buildings operating past the standard useful life of building materials. These same dated facilities have challenges to evolving education practices and exclude any person with mobility limitations because of the inability to access rooms outside the ground floor. I know while on the school committee Anthony will advocate for a full evaluation of all DPS facilities. This evaluation can map out priorities for the long-term sustainability of the infrastructure and the future capital project needs. Keeping our buildings up-to-date and safe will make all schools a desirable place to work for educators and a place for students to thrive educationally in a place they can all belong.

I think Anthony’s background positions him to have confidence when he will need to make hard fiscal choices that ultimately consider the needs of our great Dedham educators, students and our neighbors, the taxpayers.

Please join me in casting a very important vote for Anthony Rodriguez for School Committee (one-year term) on April 13th. I hope to see you at the campaign kick-off this Sunday, March 10th.

Sara Antilla Rosenthal, AIA, LEED BD+C, NCARB