Public Policy Update: January 2024 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education held their January meeting on January 24 at the Department’s new location in
Mass. Association of School Committees
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education held their January meeting on January 24 at the Department’s new location in
Andrea Wadsworth is serving the beginning of her seventh year on the Lee School Committee; five of those years were as Chair of the Committee. She has served on the Finance, Negotiations, Shared Services, and Policy subcommittee. She is the current Chair of MASC’s Division VI (Berkshire County). As chair, she has organized semi-annual legislative forums, new member orientations, and presentations on school budget and finance. Andrea has served on the MASC Board of Directors for three years. She also sits on the Budget Committee and Regional Schools Committee.
Jason Fraser is a proud product of public education and he now works as an advocate for the students of our public schools and for local control of our school districts in order to maintain the gains and further improve public education in the Commonwealth. Mr. Fraser is serving his eighth year as Vice Chair of the Plympton School Committee and serving his sixth year as a member of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, including two terms as Chair. Serving as the Legislative Agent for both Committees, Mr. Fraser has become a frequent champion for public education on Capitol Hill and Beacon Hill, becoming a trusted sounding board for legislators when crafting education policy. His expertise on the Chapter 70 funding formula, Foundation Budget determinations and Local Contribution calculations has made him an invaluable resource for local municipalities. Mr. Fraser has also served on the Board of Director for the Pilgrim Area Collaborative and was the Chair of the Board for two years. Mr. Fraser’s experience in educational leadership is rounded out by nine years of work on School Improvement Councils in the town of Norwell.
Enjoying her 13th year as a member of the Revere School Committee, Stacey Rizzo has been a courageous and relentless champion of equity and inclusiveness for all students, and a forceful advocate for the wide-ranging needs of minority, immigrant and transient students and families.
Mildred Lefebvre is a school committee member for the City of Holyoke, MA. Since 2014, she has focused on ensuring equitable education to all students within the District with an emphasis on Special Education. She currently serves as the Northeast Regional Director for the National Hispanic Council of the National School Board Association. She was appointed by the Board Members in November of 2018 and re-elected in 2019. The National Hispanic Council focuses on identifying and addressing the educational needs of the Latino/Hispanic Community, its students and families. Further, Mildred is the Chair of the Minority Caucus for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees where she continues to identify and address the current issues facing our underrepresented voices along with her colleagues.
In her twenty-third year as a member of the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee, Ellen Holmes has been in the forefront of MASC’s drive to advocate for regional school issues, including concerns surrounding transportation, funding and governance. As MASC’s President, she has been a strong proponent for MASC positions on several pivotal Department of Education commissions and working groups, including the Safe & Supportive Schools Commission, Committee of Practitioners, Education Stakeholders Working Group, Adolescent Literacy Task Force and Pilot Schools Conference. Ms. Holmes has also been a forceful advocate on several MASC subcommittees, including Student Assessment; Legislative; Special Education; Advocacy; MIAA-Lacrosse (Boys & Girls); and Regional Schools, for which she served as chair 2004-2018. She has also represented MASC at the State House as a member of the Local Government Advisory Council (’08,’09,’19,’20,’21). In Boston, she has lobbied the legislature for adequate education funding, charter school reforms and regional school district needs.
A 24-year member of the Northeast Metropolitan Vocational Technical School Committee, Deb Davis has been a stalwart and effective champion for high quality 21st century vocational programs for all students. She has been a member of the MASC Board of Directors since 2009, when she was elected chair of the vocational division (Division VIII), having previously served as its vice chair and secretary. She has also served on a number of MASC Committees including Resolutions and Nominations, and served as a representative to NSBA’s Federal Relations Network and the MA Interscholastic Athletic Association. She is currently serving on the Board Of Directors of the MIAA.
William Fonseca has been actively involved with MASC since 2011 and is currently serving his first term on the Board of Directors as Chair of Division V (Connecticut Valley Division). Prior to that Mr. Fonseca served as Secretary-Treasurer and Vice-Chair of Division V. He also currently serves on the Legislative Committee and Resolutions Committee representing Division V for MASC.
Devin M. Sheehan has served on the Holyoke School Committee since first being elected in 2009. As a member of the MASC Board of Directors, Devin previously served as a Division Chair, Secretary-Treasurer, Vice-President, and President-Elect, and President, and is currently serving as President Emeritus and as a member of the NSBA Board of Directors. Mr. Sheehan has attended and presented at numerous MASC conferences, served as Holyoke’s representative in the delegate assembly and presented on Roles and Responsibilities for Charting the Course. In addition Sheehan has attended Day on the Hill, National School Board Association (NSBA) Annual Conferences, the NSBA Advocacy Institute and the NSBA Leadership Symposium. Sheehan also represented Massachusetts on the Regional Nominating Committee for the NSBA Board of Directors in October 2014, January 2015, August 2016 and August 2017. He also served the NSBA as a member of the Governance Review Committee, and this past April, Sheehan represented was elected as a Northeast Region representative on the NSBA Board of Directors.
Having previously served as the Association’s President in 2016, Mr. Oliveira first joined the MASC Board of Directors in 2011 as Chair of Division V (Connecticut Valley), and previously served as the Division’s Secretary-Treasurer and Vice President. He is Chair of MASC’s Resolutions Committee, as well as the Board of Directors Policy Subcommittee. He has participated at numerous state and national education workshops and conferences and organized the first of several MASC division meetings that focused on the new educator and administrator evaluation regulations.