OPINION: Wadland Bids Farwell To Framingham School Committee

Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted to SOURCE media by District 3 School Committee member Scott Wadland, who chose not to seek re-election to the 9-member School Committee. He read these remarks at his final meeting last night, December 15.

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By Scott Wadland

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FRAMINGHAM – As I look back at almost five years on the Framingham School Committee, there are a number of folks I would like to thank for joining and supporting me on this journey.  To begin, I’d like to thank the 6,000+ voters who, over the course of three contested elections, chose me to represent them on the School Committee.  I am proud to have earned your trust and support.

I’d also like to thank Dr. Tremblay and his team – it has been a pleasure partnering with each of you in this important work.  Dr. Tremblay and I started within days of each other in the spring of 2017, and it’s been great to see the district evolve, through very challenging times, under his leadership.

I’d like to thank members of the FPS community for inviting me to join them where it really matters – reading to students at Brophy and McCarthy; celebrating multicultural nights at Fuller; speaking to students on Career Day at Walsh; cheering on our boys and girls athletics teams at FHS; witnessing the amazing talent of our Fine and Performing Arts students; joining PTO meetings across the district to hear first-hand from parents and teachers; and celebrating our teachers, community leaders, and alumni through the Salute to Framingham and FHS Hall of Fame events.  Participating in these events has been incredibly fun and rewarding, and has balanced my attention to detail and process with reminders of why we commit ourselves to this work in the first place.

During my time on the School Committee, our district and our community have seen great things take place.  We adopted a new charter which provides broader representation on our elected bodies; increased access to athletics by eliminating fees and by protecting participation regardless of gender identity; ensured that students have access to meals regardless of their family’s financial situation; rallied community support for replacing a dilapidated middle school on the south side of the city with a new, 21st-century facility; and funded the construction of new artificial turf fields so that our youth, high school and community athletic groups have greater access to safe playing fields.  These accomplishments are not mine – they were group efforts that I was fortunate enough to be a part of, so lastly I thank everyone involved, including my School Committee colleagues, for working towards “the greater good” instead of just focusing on their personal self-interest.  My hope is that over time people forget who was involved in making these things happen, but remember how community members came together to make them happen and draw inspiration from that.

Although my time on the School Committee is quickly drawing to a close, I do intend to remain active in our community, albeit in significantly less visible roles.  There is still work to be done to fulfill our hopes and dreams for Framingham, but we have great potential as a balance of new and experienced voices lead us forward.

With warmest regards,

Scott Wadland