Endorsements
I support Brent Ruter for re-election to the Foxborough School Committee. Simply put, Brent is someone I trust to make thoughtful and insightful decisions for the students of Foxborough Public Schools. Brent does put the students first, and I am happy to support him as a member of the Foxborough Board of Selectmen, as a member of the Foxborough community, and as a parent of Foxborough school children.
Brent you are a proven educator and advocate for schools and public education. Your experience with our town, the advisory committee before SC is appreciated and worthy of great respect for our community. Thank you.
I have a Brent Ruter story! I was asked to speak at the Advisory Committee several years ago (when Brent was on the AdComm). I spoke about full day kindergarten being funded by the town. There was some debate about whether or not this would happen. I saw Brent’s attentiveness to everyone who spoke and I felt like he was truly listening to input from the townspeople (myself included amongst them) and taking that information in as well as his own opinions about the issue. I approached him and arranged a coffee meeting and learned all about his background in education, public service, and commitment to Foxborough. I immediately pegged him as an open-minded public servant and I have been proud to vote for him in the past. I’m looking forward to voting for him again on May 2!
I have known Brent Ruter for several years now as our sons are in the same class together. I have always known him as an upstanding gentleman who is easy to talk to and a great listener. I am writing in strong support of Brent for a second term on School Committee. Brent helped me tremendously with a personal matter that affected me and my children. Several months ago, I found myself in a very vulnerable situation regarding bus transportation for my children getting to and from school. The policy stated that children could only take the bus from one household to and from school.
This negatively affected my children because they live in 2 households in Foxboro since their father and I are divorced. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. Knowing that Brent was on the School Committee, I contacted him about what I needed to do to get this policy changed. He immediately looked into it for me and led me step by step in the process I needed to go through to be heard about this situation. Any time I had a question, he answered it for me. If he didn’t know the answer right away, he went to find it and got back to me in a timely manner. He would talk to me at great length about all the different parts of the policy and gave me as much information as he could about it. He knew this brought me great anxiety and all he wanted to do was help me. I felt heard when I needed to be and I was given direction when it was needed as well. With his thorough direction and guidance along with my perseverance, that policy was changed and my children can now take the bus from the 2 households they live in, here in Foxboro. I strongly feel Brent is a reliable member of the School Committee who prides himself on listening to all opinions and helping others. We would live in a perfect world if we could all have our problems solved and everyone could be happy but unfortunately, that is unrealistic. That being said, I feel Brent does his very best to meet the needs of those who bring issues to the table and he works very hard to fulfill the responsibilities of his position. For these reasons, I believe Brent would continue to be a strong member of the School Committee.
Thank you so much for all you do to help the school community here in Foxboro Brent!
Best wishes,
Jamie Kelley
J Kelley
Help family to change district policy.
To the editor:
I offer my support for Rob Canfield and Brent Ruter for two school committee positions up for election. I offer this perspective, first hand and with my 33 years of educational experience. I have lived in Foxboro since 1975 and raised my two children here. I have great respect for both Rob and Brent.
Rob and Brent have brought careful thought to their time on the school committee. If one wishes to see their true efforts, review 5, 10 or more previous meetings. With an incumbent candidate(s) one can view their actions and words not just ideas and rhetoric.
Rob and Brent have proven themselves. Opponents fueled with a narrow agenda do not qualify to serve the dynamic range of educational responsibilities required of committee members.
As chair of the SC in 2020-21 I realize these have been unprecedented times. Do not validate the political rhetoric and posturing of the past few years as foundational education expectations for our excellent school system.
During the past three years, Brent and Rob have shined! They listened and cared about others, and all others! Some for and some against specific conditions but they paid attention.
Brent and Rob deserve respect for their hard work doing their job for the entire community. They have exemplified an understanding of the responsibility to guarantee a free and appropriate public education for the children of Foxboro. I believe they have and will continue to govern with integrity.
I offer my support for the proven record of Brent and Rob as leaders in our community.
Richard Pearson
I've seen a lot of posts and comments on the School Committee candidates. While I love to see a contested race, I am saddened to see and hear about many of the things that are being said and done related to the candidates themselves.
I have had the opportunity and honor of serving on many boards in our town and appreciate others who do the same. So many people complain and talk about the change that they want to see happen...yet they don't want to put themselves out there and volunteer their time and energy to get involved. So, I applaud all 4 of the candidates for doing just that...putting their actions behind their words.
I've been asked a few times who I am supporting in the SC race...and I am very proud to support Brent Ruter and Rob Canfield in this election. They have both demonstrated commitment to our town through the various boards and community groups in which they have/do actively participate, they have a clear understanding of the role of the school committee, they are not bringing politics into what is and should continue to be a non-political role in our town and they have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to our schools and our children as members of the school committee (and other organizations)...which included providing leadership, guidance and support to the students and staff through a pandemic.
While I applaud the other candidates putting their names on the ballot, it is clear from their comments on social media, interviews, etc. that they do not posses the needed attributes for the role itself and that the other candidates have repeatedly demonstrated. I hope that you will join me in supporting Brent and Rob's re-election to the school committee during the election on May 2nd. Thx!
I am writing to share a little about Brent Ruter, candidate for school committee, and how he has supported my family while he has served on school committee these last several years. I am a boomerang resident of Foxboro. I grew up in town, went away for school and my early adult years, then came back to raise my family! I have 2 boys in the middle school. I am a very engaged parent in the education of my boys. I am not shy in saying I have at times been extremely disappointed in how the administration has handled the boys educational needs. However, counter to my disappointment with the administration as a whole on these matters, I must say that Brent became a wonderful resource and avenue to have another channel to raise my concerns. On many occasions I reached out to Brent to raise concerns, some small and some large, He always listened and more importantly he listened to learn not just listen to hear. Brent would take my questions to the committee and even administration members. I was always pleased when watching the committee meetings ( which I watch all of them) when I would hear Brent bring to the table the issues I brought to him. He always asked the follow on questions as well to shine a light on the issues and not just take a canned answer. He continues to learn about the needs of the students and advocates for them with passion. In fact he has on a number of occasions asked me for specific information related to the learning needs of my boys so he could be more informed in his advocacy for our children, the children of the district who have these needs as my boys are not alone. He knows the district has work to do in this area and he continues to carry the flag for all the students, even those that have different learning styles.
I can't encourage you enough to vote for Brent Ruter for School Committee on May 2. He will advocate for all the students and work to have continuous improvement of the districts educational offerings. Offerings for our typical learners and those with different learning styles. He will listen, learn and bring your concerns to the table.
Be well and see you at the polls!
Lynne Dumas-Davis
