RE-ELECT
Veronica Gonzalez
Wrentham School Committee
My name is Veronica (Boyle) Gonzalez and I am running for re-election to the Wrentham School Committee. I am a KP graduate (class of ‘91), former teacher at King Philip Middle School, former elementary school teacher (Medfield and Sharon school systems), and mom to three children who currently attend the Wrentham Public Schools. Almost ten years ago, when my husband retired from the Air Force after twenty years of service, we chose to move from Tucson, AZ and call Wrentham our home. It was an easy decision, given our familiarity with the area and the comfort of family living locally.
As a re-elected member of the school committee, my goal is to continue to foster our incredible school community and help guide our district through the emerging challenges we face in a post-pandemic world. Specifically:
→ addressing student mental health
→ improving school safety
→ pursuing a renovation for the Roderick building
I ask for your vote on Monday, April 3rd! Please click on a link below or read on to learn more about me.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE EXPERIENCE
Serving on the Wrentham School Committee over the last three years has been one of my greatest honors and most monumental challenges. Being elected at the height of the pandemic required me to develop working relationships with people I had never met in person and to learn about the position remotely. The traditional agenda items for each meeting, such as overseeing the budget and ensuring policies in place were being properly executed, were put on the back burner. Instead, we found ourselves working with the administrative team to decide upon the most effective learning environment we could provide given the ever-changing guidance and limitations set in place by the government and Department of Education. It was daunting, to say the least. There is rarely a one-size-fits-all answer in education during the best of times and we quickly learned it would be just as impossible to satisfy the wants and needs of everyone during a pandemic. However, the guidance from our Wrentham Board of Health, Wrentham Select Board, and seasoned School Committee members helped to pave our path forward. I am proud of the way we collectively, collaboratively, and thoughtfully made decisions for our school district in what was an incredibly challenging situation.
In addition to navigating our school district through the Covid-19 pandemic, other highlights during my three-year term include:
-
Successfully negotiating a new contract with the WPS teacher’s union
-
Acquiring funds to eliminate kindergarten tuition
-
Increasing our team of mental health professionals to the highest teacher-to-student ratio in comparison to any surrounding town
-
Installing security cameras throughout the school grounds
-
The hiring of Ellen White for Director of Student Services
-
Applying for a grant from the MSBA (Massachusetts School Building Authority) and being accepted for a major building renovation of the Roderick School
-
Revising the School Committee policy handbook to align with MASC (Massachusetts Association of School Committees)
-
Renovating the Roderick School playground
VOLUNTEERISM
I have always been an active and involved community member. My college studies, coupled with my lifelong love of sports and fitness, have led much of my volunteerism to be focused on opportunities that support fun, educational, and confidence-building activities for children in our Wrentham community.
Education and Certification
B.A. in Elementary Education and Social and Rehabilitation Services
M.Ed. in Reading Education
ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) certification
Recent Volunteer Experience
-
School Committee Chair
-
WEST Board member
-
Wrentham 350 committee volunteer
-
Pack 131 Cub Scout leader
-
Blue & Gold annual dinner coordinator
-
K-6 Commonwealth League field hockey coach
-
WPS Welcome Wagon volunteer for new residents
-
Girl Scout assistant leader
-
Roderick playground committee member
-
Great Wrentham Clean-Up Day participant
-
Room parent
-
Board President, Franklin Children's School
GOALS
Over the last three years, I have spent a tremendous amount of time building relationships with leaders in our community, listening to the concerns of parents, attending various town committee meetings, and learning about the policies and procedures our school district has in place. I take great pride in trying to recognize two sides of an issue. I dig deep to understand a person’s perspective, to listen, to reflect, and to make connections. I’d like to keep the momentum going! As we’ve entered a post-pandemic world, we have new hurdles to jump. Some personal goals of mine include:
-
Advocating for our children who struggle with social-emotional learning loss due to the pandemic
-
With the highest ratio of teacher-to-student mental health professionals in the area, we have so many resources available for our children. My goal is to ensure parents are informed, resources are shared, and help is easily accessible.
-
-
Improving school safety
-
We’ve made valuable steps in installing security cameras, new locks on the doors to each school building, and a new check-in system in each building for visitors. My goal is to further secure the buildings by exploring options for improving the outdated windows and doors at the Roderick School.
-
-
Working with the superintendent and town officials to promote the necessity of a major renovation or replacement of the Roderick School
-
Upon touring the Roderick School, I learned about the antiquated and poor quality of the building. The heating system is obsolete and inefficient, resulting in windows being opened in the middle of winter to help regulate the indoor temperature. Some of the classrooms have original wooden exterior doors and single-pane windows from the 1960s, certainly not energy efficient. My goal is to work with my fellow committee members, the superintendent, and town officials to advocate for our community to support a budget-acceptable plan that coincides with the grant we receive from the MSBA for a new and improved school building for our staff and students.
-
-
Meeting with more community members
-
We are all in this together. The best way to keep our schools thriving is to ensure the needs of our students and families are being met. My goal is to further engage with community members in discussions about interests, improvements, and investments for our school community.
-
If you have questions or comments, please contact me at gonzalezv@wrenthamschools.org.
For more information about the upcoming town election, please visit the town website.