 My name is Ben Harrington and I'm a single father of a fifth grade student at Crocker Elementary School in a 17 year old who also attended Amherst public schools and I'm a candidate for Amherst school committee I'm a veteran of the US Army Corps of Engineers. I'm currently a custodian at Wildwood Elementary School and have also worked at Fort River I participated in town meeting currently serve on the Amherst Human Rights Commission and I'm an Amherst Education Foundation board member I also coach youth basketball I'm running for school committee because I believe that we need to expand the conversations We have the guide our school system and affect the future of our children in our town. I Also believe in our collective commitment to continually improving our schools the conditions that exist within the physical environment that our children learn in It is in need of serious improvement. This is one of my main areas of concern No matter what path forward we take be at the construction of a new school or a major renovation project We need to ensure that we don't set up future Amherst residents to deal with the same situations we encounter today We need to we need a comprehensive facilities development policy focusing on the maintenance operations and improvement of our school buildings We currently don't have a facility development policy and we need to change that It is up to us in this moment to take ownership and guidance in creating a positive environment for our students to learn in I Believe that proactive outreach to all stakeholders is important to ensure that we all feel as though our voices are heard equally and Valued equally as we create the policies and budgets that create that will guide our school system onward and upward Many folks can't make it out to meetings that conflict with their daily lives And so when necessary it will take a very real effort on our part to reach out to those people Most of our town counselors have done just that with district meetings And I would take a similar approach as a school committee member I'm committed to the district's mission to value social justice and multiculturalism in our schools Representation matters and in terms of social justice a broad diversity of perspectives is absolutely imperative Sometimes decisions are made that don't necessarily reflect our collective values And it isn't because any of any nefarious plot or scheme It's because the experiences of those making the decisions are different than folks like myself and Many ways some of us live in seemingly different worlds You could even say that there's more than one amours depending on your perspective The broader swath of voices that we can bring into the decision-making process the more balanced our decisions will be Parity and diversity in the school committee will benefit everyone involved We face a great deal of challenges in the near future And we need to face those challenges with resolve and proper planning in order to overcome them We owe at least that much to our children our educators our parents and our guardians into the future of educational excellence and Amherst Vote for me Ben Harrington on November 5th, and let's work together for a better tomorrow For more information you can visit my website at www.BenjaminHarrington.com Thank you