School Literacy, Trees, Referendum Talk at Candidates Forum

March 26, 2025
• Ahead of the April 8 election, candidates shared their priorities and perspectives on the issues facing the town and their respective committees.

Civic engagement was in the air Monday night, when close to 160 attendees — and an additional 120 via Zoom — filed into a packed Broadmeadow Elementary auditorium to hear from candidates running for public office.

The League of Women Voters of Needham organized the forum, which included candidates for Select Board, Planning Board and School Committee.

For the Select Board, Vice Chair Heidi Frail is seeking a second term with a challenge from Vikram Kaul. With an open seat on the Planning Board, longtime Needham resident Ken Buckley and real estate attorney Eric Greenberg are vying for a five-year seat.

And School Committee members Andrea Longo Carter and Alisa Skatrud are running for reelection against Sri Baqri, Scott Marder and Leanne Ratti. Longtime member Connie Barr has suspended her campaign bid, though her name will still appear on the ballot, as the deadline to withdrawal has passed.

Candidates touched on a wide range of topics during the 90-minute discussion.

On the Referendum

Before his bid for Planning Board, Buckley was better known as a spokesperson for Needham Residents for Thoughtful Zoning, an advocacy group that opposed over compliance with the MBTA Communities Act.

He and the majority of residents who voted on Jan. 14 repealed the Neighborhood Housing Plan, which Town Meeting supported in October last year. The Base Plan, alternatively, meets the minimum zoning requirements and will be put to another vote at Town Meeting in May.

Buckley supports the Base Plan, which he views as the compromise among residents.

“I’m running because the voices of residents, what I call the true consensus, were ignored during the largest rezoning effort in decades,” he said in his opening remarks. “From the start, people engaged, filled out surveys, came to meetings and wrote letters, and still, their input fell on deaf ears.”

The referendum grew contentious, though Greenberg said he feels “there were a lot more things that unified us than divided us.” Outside of the MBTA Communities Act, he suggested focusing on senior housing, business protections and workforce housing.

That conversation carried into the Select Board forum, during which Kaul noted his desire “to unite our community” following the referendum. He called it “a vote that never should have [been] done.”

“Let us correct course together,” Kaul said. “Now it’s time for new leadership, leadership that listens, has fresh ideas and puts Needham first.”

On School and Town Infrastructure

Expanding Pollard Middle School to move sixth graders into the building could cost the town $314 million. It’s a tough price to swallow, and Marder stressed the need for more transparency around that cost, especially as it’s likely to increase.

“What I’d like to see is I’d like to see more transparency around that number, because $315 million and what that ends up being even in the future seems like a lot of money,” Marder said. “I feel like I’ve known buildings a lot bigger to be built for a lot less, so I’d certainly like to see the cost drivers of that.”

Carter noted the current plan is the lowest cost option.

The plan now is to renovate Pollard to accommodate students at High Rock School, which only houses sixth graders. High Rock would then become a sixth elementary school.

The parent of a High Rock student, Ratti suggested a separate building on the Pollard campus to accommodate the sixth grade. There are options to keep sixth graders in a separate physical space, Skatrud and Carter said.

Skatrud, a member of the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s School Building Committee for Pollard, named facilities as one of her three top priorities, as did Carter.

Baqri said they “must build to endure,” because the town has “a history of rebuilding things multiple times.”

“I think for our schools to thrive and for our students to thrive, best-in-class infrastructure is a part of it,” Baqri said.

While the middle school project brings expectations of a tax override, Frail said increases from other projects will soon be “falling off of our balance sheet,” and the town can use other cost mitigation strategies. At the end of the day, the building needs repairs, she said.

“This infrastructure is quite old and does need to be replaced,” Frail said. “Our schools are a main attraction for residents moving into this town, and we must maintain their integrity.”

Kaul moved to Needham with his family in 2017 for the school system, he said, and strong infrastructure is important.

The Select Board candidates were also asked about the future of the Stephen Palmer Building, but both declined to name a specific use for the structure. Kaul and Frail said community input will inform how the building is used.

On Literacy

The Needham Public Schools are piloting several literacy curricula, which has drawn significant attention at recent School Committee meetings.

Ratti, who co-founded Needham Literacy Coalition, named literacy as one of her top priorities, stating that the district’s “current curriculum isn’t aligned with state standards or proven to be effective.” She hopes to replace Units of Study, a controversial program currently in use, along with its revised version included in the pilot.

When asked about LGBTQ+ student support, Ratti also mentioned literacy.

“Literacy is a powerful tool for inclusive text,” she said in response, “and culturally responsive text can support inclusion.”

Curriculum doesn’t teach students, but rather teachers do, incumbents Carter and Skatrud said. For Carter, stronger professional development could support the success of an “evidence-based” literacy curriculum, and for Skatrud, identifying struggling readers early and quickly makes a big difference.

Marder signaled his support for the literacy pilot and teacher training, and Baqri reiterated the importance of testing multiple programs to find the best curriculum.

On Flooding and Trees

After the flooding incident in August 2023, the town’s ongoing and upcoming infrastructure projects feature stormwater management strategies, Frail said. Kaul said the town is working to increase the pipe size for water to better flow into the Charles River.

Trees are a natural mitigation technique, but their (sometimes contested) removal in town likely contributed to the severity of the flooding, Greenberg said. The Tree Preservation Planning Committee, on which Frail serves, is working to address those concerns, she said, as is the Large House Review Committee.

To further mitigate flooding, Kaul presented an out-of-the-box idea.

“I have a dream where we have one resident and one tree. They have ownership of that tree, and they go across town maintaining that,” he said. “That’s going to be our long-term solution to this issue.”

With larger homes built on small lots comes the removal of green space and greenery, Buckley said. Out door-knocking, he said he hears complaints about large houses and the issues that come with their construction, including stormwater runoff and basement flooding. On the Planning Board, Buckley said he’d encourage a “community-driven effort” to examine the issue and look into preserving older homes and thereby preventing teardowns.

On Local Businesses

If he were to change one aspect of Needham’s zoning bylaws, Greenberg said he’d hope to make it easier for businesses to join the Needham community. The regulations owners face dissuade them from taking up shop in town, he said.

Greenberg shared an anecdote about a Mexican restaurant that, when applying for a brick-and-mortar in the town center, was hit back with 40 conditions by which to abide.

“That’s an individual issue, but that also tells the market of other local and small businesses that it may be difficult from a regulatory standpoint in Needham to do business in Needham,” Greenberg said, “and we need to change that so we can attract more businesses to Needham.”

Increasing public engagement and taking a “community-focused approach” can better attract and retain small businesses, he added.

Buckley circled back to a focal point of the MBTA Communities discussion: special permits. Under the state regulation, communities can apply certain, reasonable conditions for projects but otherwise cannot obstruct one from town. Buckley suggested eliminating special permits in some areas, which could encourage more mixed use.

Making Needham “a destination” means collaborating with local businesses, Kaul said.

The town could streamline the processes potential business owners face, Frail said, and make a stronger effort to encourage foot traffic into retail areas.

“Attracting businesses to town has a lot of implications for our budget as well as the vibrancy and liveliness of our town centers,” Frail said.

On Early Release Days

Needham’s business district is certainly lively on twice-monthly early dismissal days at NPS, when groups of K-8 students walk and bike through town and patronize businesses. During that time, teachers receive professional development, which Baqri said is “a key part of our success of our schools.”

But Baqri and other School Committee candidates stressed the need for “enrichment” for students to use that free time more productively. Carter said early release does help students “gain a little bit of independence.”

“Going out for lunch with peers, and learning how to do that as a middle schooler, a high schooler, is a valuable skill,” Carter said, “but we need to make sure that there are opportunities for the children to be supervised, engaged in productive activity, so that parents can complete their work day.”

Marder, an elementary school psychologist in Wellesley, said his school has half days every Wednesday for development, and Ratti, a teacher in West Roxbury, said her own professional development takes place in the evening.

The district previously had a delayed opening, which was not well liked by parents, Carter said. In terms of student opportunities, Skatrud said there could be an equity issue, because some after-school activities come at a cost for families.

“Our half days are one of those dilemmas that we have not yet solved… but what we do know, and what we try to focus on, is that this time is absolutely critical for our educators,” Skatrud said. “The professional development time, the collaboration time, has improved the consistency of our programs, it has improved our grade-level learning, and it has allowed our teachers to increase their skills, so protecting that time is very important.”

A recording of the forum is available on The Needham Channel’s website. The election is Tuesday, April 8.