Jermaine Johnson On Worcester School Committee Bid: Questionnaire

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester School Committee race may be one of the most pivotal in Worcester this year.

Four incumbents — Tracy Novick, Laura Clancey, Dianna Biancheria and Molly McCullogh — are all seeking another term in 2021. Meanwhile, committee members John Monfredo and John Foley are not seeking reelection. Four challengers — Sue Mailman, Jermoh Kamara, Jermaine Johnson and Shanel Soucy — have stepped into the race.

Any combination of candidates could emerge after the Nov. 2. election. But there's no question the new School Committee will have a lot of work to do.

Worcester has begun the process of searching for a new superintendent after the committee voted in September not to renew Maureen Binienda's contract when it ends in June. The committee will also have a role in spending the district's American Rescue Plan Act, and will see a transition away from at-large representation.

Worcester Patch asked each of the eight candidates to answer a questionnaire to tell voters why they're running, and what they plan to do as a School Committee member. Here's what challenger Jermaine Johnson said.

Why did you choose to run for a school committee seat in 2021?

I’ve dedicated my life to Worcester’s kids, from being a social worker fighting for safer schools to mentoring young athletes as a coach. But it was seeing the impact of the pandemic not only on my family but also on all the families I see as a social worker, that inspired me to run for school committee.

COVID-19 shined a light on what many of us already knew: Worcester is failing too many of its children and families. I’ve seen it first hand as a father with two kids in WPS. I’m running for School Committee because I know that together we can ensure that school buildings are safe and healthy, our kids receive social and emotional health support, and that no kid is left behind post-pandemic.

Can you tell voters a little about your personal background? Where did you go to school?

Me and my brother were raised by a single mom in Worcester. She worked two jobs to provide for me and my brother, and instilled in us the value of hard work and putting in the effort to succeed. She also taught us the importance of standing up for what we believed in. She said that if you want to see change, you need to speak up and show up to make the change happen.

I attended Woodland St and Columbus Park Elementary and Sullivan Middle School. When I was 14 years old and a student at South High, my close cousin Gerome's life was taken from him at school. It rattled the entire Worcester community and shook me to my core. When I was ready to give up, it was my mom, my amazing English teacher, and my basketball coach who wouldn’t give up on me, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

It was because of them that I was driven to devote my life to Worcester’s kids, who have struggled through a once-in-a-lifetime emergency with the COVID pandemic. Our kids need strong social and emotional supports built into our schools to help them transition back and thrive, and I believe my experience as a coach and a social worker makes me a well-qualified candidate to advocate for those policies on the school committee.

The school committee approved a new sex-ed curriculum last spring, but a small movement has come out against it. Can you tell voters your view of this curriculum and what it does for students?

I’m supportive of the new sex-ed curriculum and believe that it was long overdue.

As a social worker, I’ve seen the negative impact of young teenagers not being informed about their own bodies. And countless studies have shown that comprehensive sex ed works: it reduces unintended pregnancy and STIs.

That’s why we have to provide age-appropriate tools to our young people to ensure that they can make informed decisions and lead healthy lives. They need guidance from professionals, and that’s why I’m glad that this curriculum was developed by top-tier educators and child development experts, with input from doctors and parents. And if a family feels it’s not right for their child, they can opt-out. People should learn more about the curriculum and make an informed decision.

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I would love for us to be able to track STI and teen pregnancy rates in Worcester so we can get a sense of the impact of the curriculum over time. I think the evidence will prove that it’s the right choice for our children.

Like many districts, Worcester had to put a remote learning system in place during the pandemic. How do you think the district succeeded and failed at that, and what improvements still need to be made?

At the very beginning of the pandemic, when we first transitioned to remote learning, the district failed our children. The rollout of Chromebooks was slow, so not all kids had them, and there were ongoing wifi issues. Some families didn’t have wifi at all, and many others didn’t have wifi that supported multiple people being on video at once. Later we got internet hotspots, but then those hotspots literally caught on fire.

Things got somewhat better over time, but I’m focused on what we can do now to better support our children. We need to be focused now on making sure that no child is left behind post-pandemic. That means providing safe and healthy schools with proper ventilation, air conditioning, and drinking water. It means social-emotional support, including mental health support, wrap-around services, and trauma-informed policies. It means expanding the arts, civics, STEM, history, and physical education, and ensuring access to mentors and youth programming. Access to mentors and youth programming helped save my life, and we need to make those opportunities available to all of our children.

The school committee will begin searching for a new superintendent in the next term. What are you looking for in a candidate?

My top priority for the superintendent search is that the process is transparent and inclusive. We need to communicate with voters every step of the way about the search. We also need to involve the community, including parents, teachers and others, and give them opportunities for meaningful input. We need to particularly make sure that folks who normally aren’t part of this kind of conversation are heard. That means particular outreach to marginalized communities. I support a nationwide search and believe we should consider both strong local candidates, as well as candidates from across the country. I don’t think we should limit ourselves by only looking inside OR outside the city.

For our next superintendent, we need someone who has a vision that matches the needs of
our district, and who will be accountable to and collaborate with the community, parents,
students, and teachers. The Worcester school district has over 25,000 students, 44
schools, 74 different languages are spoken, and we have over 1,900 teachers. So we need
someone who can handle a large, diverse district, and who will listen to the community.