LONGMEADOW – Former President of the Center School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and former Co-Chair of Lancer Pride Elizabeth Baron has announced her candidacy for Longmeadow School Committee.

The wife and mother of three has been a resident of Longmeadow for 13 years.  As an active member of the community, Baron believes that her past experience propels her forward as a candidate.

“Both of these positions required strong leadership skills and essentially laid the groundwork for my eventual bid for a seat on the school committee. Both strengthened my ability to work collaboratively with different groups in town, and combined with my substitute teaching experience, it gives me a unique perspective to advocate for all of our students in Longmeadow,” Baron said.

As a parent of a child with dyslexia, Baron believes that special education services are key.

“Special education and how we deliver those services to students is always going to be important to me.  I am a huge advocate of early literacy, as well as providing teachers with the tools and training to recognize reading difficulties.”

Baron recognizes that there needs to be a collaborative relationship between the School Committee and the town.  According to information provided by Baron, the schools receive more than half of the monies in the overall town budget.

“Property taxes are our primary source of revenue here, and I think the School Committee does a good job creating a budget without too many cuts, but I look forward to finding new ways to save money, as well as supplementing our funds with grant awards,” Baron said.

Additionally, Baron is concerned about Longmeadow’s involvement in the opioid crisis.

“We recently received a youth opioid prevention grant from the state Attorney General’s office, and I’d like to see us continuing to build out our curriculum so that parents and students understand the risks and how to address them,” she explained.

Partnership, collaboration and conversation between the Committee, town, parents, and students are pivotal as a means of accomplishing Baron’s future goals for the School Committee.

“As a parent, volunteer, and substitute teacher I have had the privilege of observing so much of our public education system.  I understand what matters to parents and students, and I look forward to developing good working relationships across the board in order to effectively serve all of our residents,” she said.

The Longmeadow School Committee election is scheduled to take place on June 13.