Amherst Regional senior among state's youngest school board members
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One of Solomon Goldstein-Rose's teachers at Amherst Regional High School greeted him Tuesday by saying jokingly, "I'm teaching my boss now."
Goldstein-Rose, who turned 18 in December, became one of the youngest School Committee members in Massachusetts history on Monday. Nine members of the Amherst School Committee and Select Board chose him over seven other contenders to serve the two months remaining in the term of Steven Rivkin, who resigned Jan. 1. The full three-year term is up for election April 3.
Goldstein-Rose was sworn in at Town Hall after school Tuesday, and later his father drove him to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to take his driver's license test. On Wednesday, he attended his first Regional School Committee as a voting member.
"I felt I had opinions on the issues and would be able to channel the opinions of all students to the committee because I'm there with all students every day," he said, explaining his decision to apply for the seat. "And I wanted to set a precedent for Amherst students being more involved in the School Committee in general."
Goldstein-Rose, a high school senior who plans to attend college out of town in September, said he does not intend to seek a full term in the April election.
He earned five of the nine votes cast by the Select Board and other School Committee members on the third ballot.
The other candidates were Amilcar Shabazz, the chairman of the department of Afro-American studies at the University of Massachusetts; longtime Boston and Amherst teacher Amy Brodigan; former Regional School Committee Chairwoman Joan Temkin; Belchertown teacher Lawrence O'Brien; Michael Aronson, a critic of the district's special education programs; Larry Kelley, a founding parent of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley; and Town Meeting Member Vincent O'Connor.
Brodigan and Temkin were the only candidates other than Goldstein-Rose to get multiple votes on any ballot. Some residents have expressed disappointment that Shabazz was passed over, given the lack of minority representation among school officials. (See accompanying story.) But at least two board members said the fact that Goldstein-Rose would not be a candidate in April swayed their decision.
Regional School Committee Chairman Rick Hood was one. "I feel it gives the advantage to that person" who is selected for the temporary seat, he said.
Committee member Katherine Appy agreed.
"I thought [Goldstein-Rose] was very thoughtful," she said, "and I think he offers a unique perspective. I'm not sure the School Committee will ever have this opportunity again."
Student view
For his part, Goldstein-Rose said he is eager to offer the student perspective to the board, even if for only a brief time.
Students live with the decisions of the School Committee, so it makes sense for them to be involved in those decisions, he said in an interview shortly after he was sworn in. Last year, ARHS senior Haley Andler attended committee meetings as a non-voting member, but Goldstein-Rose is likely the first student to have a vote.
"Adults have different views of things than kids do," he said. "People who are parents or community members or professors don't see issues in the same way." For example, the committee that chose the finalists for superintendent in late 2010 should have included a student, he said.
When Goldstein-Rose was in orchestra class Tuesday, someone shouted out that he should support later start times for the secondary schools. "This needs to happen in some form, but the options need to be carefully weighed," he said.
As a member of both the Amherst and Regional School Committees, Goldstein-Rose will be reviewing budget proposals over the next two months and considering possible reductions in spending. He said he has followed the debate so far and acquired budget documents from the superintendent's office.
Two years ago, as a sophomore, he came to a committee meeting to defend a band director's position that was at risk of elimination and made phone calls in support of the successful tax override, which eliminated the need for substantial school cuts. He also came up with the slogan "Override the cuts" for pro-override pins, he said.
Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said he has known three or four 18-year-old committee members over the years.
"They tend to exercise good judgment and be closer to the scene, so their comments can be brutally honest but on point," he said.
Charles Lyons, now a superintendent in the Billerica area, was the first 18-year-old elected to a townwide position when he became a member of the Arlington School Committee in 1972. Last November, 18-year-old Shaza Alzaim ran for a seat on the Braintree School Committee but came in fifth.
Varied interests
Goldstein-Rose is the son of Joshua Goldstein, a scholar, author of books on international relations and chairman of last year's Later Start Times Task Force, and Andra Rose, a researcher. He has a sister, Ruth, who is in eighth grade.
He was born in Washington, D.C., and moved to Amherst when he was 8. He has applied to 11 colleges - including MIT, Brown, Yale and Oberlin - and plans to study engineering and music.
He's the principal cellist for the Springfield Youth Orchestra and is learning piano and violin. He has studied conducting and has conducted for the elementary schools' orchestra the past four years. He's volunteered with the orchestra once a week, playing cello and helping children tune their instruments, he said.
He has also been involved in environmental activism.
Goldstein-Rose lives in a house with solar panels that produce both hot water and electricity. He arranged for Fort River School, where he attended third through sixth grades, to have bins for recycling containers as well as bins for paper. He designed and built a compost bin for the high school and was involved in a project to reduce idling by school buses. He and other members of the Environmental Action Club have worked with officials to reduce energy use in school buildings.
He said he is aware that as a School Committee member he will be asked to take positions on controversial issues, and he knows that education in Amherst can be contentious.
"I think the ideal is not a committee where everyone agrees but where everyone can enjoy their disagreements and have productive debates where they're not getting angry at each other and no one has any hard feelings but calmly discusses issues they have to make decisions on," he said.
He said he also hopes his time on the board inspires other students.
"I'm hoping it will pave the way for more student involvement in the future."
