Four run for Hollis school seats

Friday, March 5, 2010

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Steve Simons

Age: 77.

Address: 101 Mooar Hill Rd.

Years of Residency: 30 yrs.

Education: Tufts College 1954 BS Electrical Engineering ; Newark College of Engineering 1957 MSEE.

Employment: Retired VP sales/marketing.

Political history: Coop School Board 1998 to present.

Affiliations: Beaver Brook volunteer, served on education committee for about 15 yrs.; volunteer at the Hollis Social Library; Board of the Regional Services and Educational Center which provides students with special education and related services for about 10 years.

Family: Wife Julie, 4 children, 7 grandchildren two of whom are in school in Hollis.

Name: Heidi DL Cadwell

Age: 54

Address: 71 Depot Road

Years of residency: 9 years

Education: Syracuse University- BFA- 1978. State University of New York at Cortland- Teaching Certification Syracuse University, Masters Program Fitchburg State, SpEd Masters 2000

Employment: retired teacher

Political history: None

Affiliations: Foster Parents of the Year 1995 (foster parents for 36 children) International Advisory Board- Cherubs- Research and advocacy for children born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. 1995 to present Parent to Parent. Volunteer for a Hollis Venture Crew and Boy Scout Troop. PTSA

Married to Frank Cadwell for 30 years. Two children Tanina, 14, freshman in the high school and Linds, 13, in the 7th grade.

Name: James O’Shea

Age: 50

Address: 33 Nartoff Road

Years of Residency: 11 in Hollis, 14 in New Hampshire

Education: B.A., Haverford College; M.D. University of Rochester School of Medicine

Employment: Oncologist-Hematologist, Health Alliance Cancer Center, Fitchburg, Mass.

Political History: Hollis school board, 2006-07. H/B Coop school board, 2007-present

Affiliations: Member, Parish of the Resurrection, Nashua.

Family: Married 20 years to Dr. Dana O’Shea. Three teenage children.

Four people are running for a pair of three-year seats on the Hollis School Board. They were asked to answer one question: “Does this bad economy change the way a school district negotiates contracts with its employees?”

Steve Simons:

Most definitely. I have been on the committees negotiating with the unions throughout my tenure on the board. In light of the current economic conditions, this year was particularly challenging. It was further complicated by the need to minimize the effect of the ‘Evergreen’ requirement recently enacted by the legislature. Both our teachers and support staff contracts, including all benefits, will each be kept below a 3 percent increase, even though retirement and health care benefits are increasing beyond our control. Most importantly we have decreased last years approved budget by more than the increase in this years teacher and support staff contracts. Therefore, the total FY11 warrant (with all articles) will have a slight decrease from last years FY10 warrant.

Heidi Cadwell

Absolutely not. You always go into a negotiation with an open mind and sense of fairness. However, the state of the economy may dictate how much the community can offer. The district needs to remain competitive, maintain its high standards and be affordable to the taxpayer. We need to move forward, looking for positive solutions. In looking at creative solutions, we can keep our education current, our technology high and our contracts competitive.

James O’Shea:

In the private sector, employment and benefits are becoming less generous and more arbitrary. These citizens rightly see the public employee benefits and salaries as disproportionately generous and safe. Public employee benefits, especially health and retirement benefits, must become more like those in the private sector, to include such items as higher medical co-pays and deductibles. We have to find ways for raises to be based on professional merit and student performance (as they are in the private sector), not on years of service and credentials only.

At the same time, the best way to preserve the high quality of life in Brookline and Hollis is to cost effectively fund a top-notch school system. This protects our home and property values and prepares our youth to compete in the world economy.

Bill Beauregard did not respond.