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• School Committee (2005-present)
• Treasurer for Wayland Middle School PTO
• President and Secretary of the Wayland Claypit Hill PTO.
• Member of Wayland search committees for Assistant Superintendent, Claypit Hill Principal, and elementary curriculum directors.
• Parent representative for Wayland Claypit Hill School Council.

• School Committee (2005-present)

• Chairman of the Dog Control Appeals Board since inception (2001-present)
• Member of the Wayland Cable Committee (2000-2001)

• direct annual budget process working part-time for a non-profit, tuition free middle school for low-income children (2004-present)
• Vice President at Morgan Stanley and Project Manger at Fidelity Investments

Professional Career:

• Legal Practice:  Business, Tax, and Estate Planning and Administration, 1979-2005

• Orthopedic Surgeon

Professional Career:

• Financial Planner

• Princeton University, 1983
• Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College, MBA, 1987

Educational Background:

• Harvard College  1976

• Boston University School of Law  1979

• Boston University School of Management 1979

• New York University School of Law - LL.M.Tax 1982

• Brown University
• University of PA School of Med Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 1981

• Colby College, 1993
• Cornell (MBA), 1999

Email: jeffrey.s.baron@gmail.com

My name is Barb Fletcher and I have been a member of the Wayland School Committee for the last three years.  I am running for re-election because I am dedicated to Wayland, to its children and to continuing to provide a high quality school system.  My husband and I have lived in Wayland for the past 15 years and have four children in the public schools, one at the High School, one at the Middle School and two at the Claypit Hill School.   

Three years ago I ran for the School Committee because I believed that with the skills I have developed through my education, professional and volunteer experience I would be a valued member of this Committee.  I believe this still to be true, and now more than ever, I feel that with my experience on the School Committee I can continue to serve Wayland well. 

I am currently the Assistant Business Manager of the Epiphany School, a tuition-free middle school for economically disadvantaged families from Boston neighborhoods.  I previously have worked for 12 years in the fields of finance and marketing with Morgan Stanley and Fidelity Investments.  I have an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth and a BA from Princeton.  I have also held many volunteer positions within the Wayland school community, including 3 years on the Middle School and Claypit Hill PTO boards, as well as several administrative search committees.  My strong analytical, financial and communication skills have contributed to my experience as a member of the School Committee, and I view myself as a consensus builder and practical problem solver.

 Wayland, like so many other communities, faces a very challenging time given rising costs, the current economic climate and the increasing federal and state mandated educational standards.  Since I’ve been on the School Committee, we have had to make certain difficult educational and financial decisions.  I believe that these decisions represent a balance between providing a high-quality educational program that the community expects and respecting the fiscal constraints facing the town and its residents.  I have applied my skill set to each decision, by asking thoughtful questions, analyzing data, seeking appropriate input and communicating the decision-making process and the ultimate decision to the community.  I feel that by contributing in this way I have been an effective member of the School Committee, advocating for the schools in a fiscally responsible way.  

Certain of the key issues facing the schools and the town include passing a successful override, transitioning to a 2 ½ elementary school configuration, and working with the state to find a solution for the High School facility that is supported by the town. The passage of the override protects not only the services needed for our schools but also the services deserved by all Wayland residents.  The move to a 2 ½ school model maintains our educational program during a period of declining enrollment.  Given that this reconfiguration would have taken place the following year, it was especially important to make this move in light of the override and the fiscal constraints of the entire town.  There is also a real need to improve the high school facility. By working closely with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to secure state funding and with the community, together we can define a plan that can be supported by Wayland residents.   I believe all of these initiatives are critical to providing the educational opportunities offered to our children and require the entire community’s support.  As such, the School Committee must consider and value the needs of all the residents of Wayland.   

I would be honored to serve Wayland for another three years as a member of the School Committee and would appreciate your vote on Tuesday, April 8th.  I am always interested in hearing your thoughts and suggestions, so please feel free to contact me.

Thank you.

At last April’s Town Meeting, it was made clear that both the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen understood that Happy Hollow would not be closed if a reduction in facilities was required. That decision was used in part to support the $735,000 window replacement project at Happy Hollow. Only politics can explain the fact that the hopes of our Loker parents were falsely kept alive to change a decision long past made.

Playing politics is also to blame for the fact that these parents were caught off guard by the need to reduce our school facilities. At that Town Meeting, a School Committee member insisted unequivocally that no school closing would even have to be considered for three to five years. Yet barely six months later, the decline in enrollment required the present restructuring.
And after representing an intention to avoid future overrides, it is hard to understand how even politics would have motivated their decision to approve last summer’s school employment contracts knowing the town’s resources could not support them.

It has become our School Committee’s "modus operandi" to send the superintendent out each fall to spread fear across our parent base with threats of teacher firings and program cuts in order to rally them by spring into voting for "just one more override for the sake of our children."
The difference is they no longer can say "just one more." The Finance Committee has finally admitted that overrides will have to be approved at least every other year in order to maintain the status quo.

Planning for an override is an oxymoron. It is like trying to walk on quicksand. Put all other concerns aside and consider what quality teacher would choose to come to a school system knowing, not just speculating, that  his or her job will depend on regular overrides.

Overrides need to be reserved for capital improvements and emergencies. For the sake of our schools and for our children’s futures, it is time to change our School Committee’s "modus operandi."

I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce/re-introduce myself. I’m Louis Jurist and I’m a candidate for re-election to the School Committee. My wife Bonnie and I moved to Wayland 16 years ago for many reasons, the most important of which was the excellent reputation of the public school system. As our three children, now ages 15, 11, and 10, have progressed through the schools we have been impressed by the many high quality teachers they’ve had, but much still remains to be accomplished. I am completing my first term on the School Committee, and it has indeed been quite a learning process. The three main ongoing and unfinished tasks revolve around the fiscal challenges as we try to simultaneously fund a top school system and remain fiscally responsible to the entire town (not just the school families), the High School building project as we work with the state’s new Massachusetts School Building Authority program, and the desire to continue to maintain and update curriculum and programs where appropriate.

This past year the fiscal responsibility goal has taken center stage. We have negotiated, under the very able guidance of our Chairperson, Barb Fletcher, an extremely responsible and fiscally prudent employment contract with the teacher’s union. The total increase of 6.5% over three years, along with freezing of most other stipends, represents a below-market settlement, thanks in large measure to the teacher’s union recognition of the Town’s fiscal situation. The other major, and controversial, step we took involved the operating budget. The initial budget recommended to us by the Administration came in at the already tight Finance Committee guideline. We took the highly unusual step, which I fully supported from the outset, of returning with a budget that voluntarily cut an additional $300,000 to save the town money and decrease the override amount. This was accomplished by reconfiguring the Elementary Schools one year earlier than had been planned. The reconfiguration was premised on the ability to preserve class size on average across the district and maintain programming. This move has led to considerable discussion, and I am truly sorry for the ill will generated among some members of the community. Closing a school is never easy as residents who lived through past reconfigurations will confirm. It should be remembered that it was done with the best of intentions in an attempt to “think outside the box” and save the Town money during an extremely challenging economy.

We still must have passage of the override this spring to maintain our school and town services and to avoid what will be quite catastrophic cuts in programs and crowding in classrooms.

The High School building remains a weak link in our system. Its outdated facilities, cramped classrooms, and inadequate technology are affecting the ability to educate our students and have been cited by outside agencies. The state has finally reinitiated the MSBA building assistance program and Wayland has been fortunate enough to have been selected in the first group of projects to go forward. This is a testament to both the dire need we have for a new facility and the extraordinarily competent, well-qualified High School Building Committee we have guiding our efforts. I have been involved with this project since the pre-project study days and am now the School Committee’s ex-officio member. I would very much appreciate the opportunity to continue with this project over the next few years as it gradually becomes a reality that will be an asset to the town for generations to come and a credit to those working so hard on our behalf.

Finally, we need to find a way to continue to update programs and curriculum to maintain a dynamic 21st Century school system. This is a most difficult task in the current fiscal environment, but one that cannot be forgotten. We have seen curriculum updates and technological innovation (much of it thanks to the Wayland Public Schools Foundation). There are many other programs worthy of consideration, including Foreign Language at the Elementary level, a gifted and talented program so these children don't get ignored, a revamping of the High School Physical Education Program, and many other areas that we need to consider as the system moves forward and continues to maintain our expected high level of performance. While the School Committee cannot do this on our own, we can work closely with the Administration to evaluate these areas.

The past three years on the School Committee have been challenging and frustrating, but not without rewards. I believe we have advanced the district in the above areas and in many others. During this time I have not hesitated to speak my mind and vote accordingly, even when it disagreed with the Administration or some of my fellow committee members. I would very much like the opportunity to continue to work for the entire town's interests and would appreciate your vote on April 8. Thank you.

My name is Jeff Baron and I am writing to announce my WRITE-IN candidacy for the Wayland School Committee. Over the last several weeks, I have watched the elected members of the School Committee bumble through one of the most important decisions that has faced our schools over the last several years. Rather than relying on facts, figures and hard data to support a decision on which school to close, they have instead relied on hunches, feelings, incomplete data sets and politically-motivated recommendations by school administrators. When pushed by members of our community to accept facts and expert opinions from third-parties, they have repeatedly shrugged off such data without much regard. Yes, my daughter is a student at Loker. However, that is not why I am upset. Yes, our kids will be well educated at any of our schools. The lack of a solid-decision making process brought about by an artificially rapid timeline to complete this process is what upsets me.

I have what it takes to restore fact-based decision making to our School Committee. I was President of the Class of 1993 at Colby College. I graduated from Cornell's MBA program. I have worked for a multi-national management consulting firm. I run a successful and growing financial services business. I serve as chairman of another committee here in town. Most importantly, I am not part of the establishment that has grown to be distrusted by many here in town. The only agenda I bring to my candidacy is an agenda for accountability and openness in decision making. Let's not let our largest and most expensive town service suffer from a lack of critical thinking any longer! Visit www.jeffreysbaron.com/index.asp for more details and WRITE-IN Jeff Baron for School Committee on April 8th.