Meet Waltham School Committee Candidate Carolina Lara

WALTHAM, MA — Local elections in Waltham are less than a month away, and Patch is determined to help residents get to know their candidates for council, mayor and school committee.

Patch has sent candidate questionnaires to each of the candidates that will appear on the ballot in a contested race for each of those three positions.

In this candidate profile, learn more about school committee candidate Caroline Lara and her reasons for seeking election:

Name

Carolina Lara

How old will you be as of Election Day?

48

Does your campaign have a website? If so, include the URL here.

https://www.carolinaforwsc.com

What city or town do you live in?

Waltham

What office are you seeking?

School Committee

If you are running in a district, you can specify the district here.

Please give us your party affiliation.

Education.

BS - Economics and MBA

What is your occupation?

Realtor +10 years, Financial+ Operations Planning and HR consulting (+10yrs)

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

Married to veteran, systems engineer husband Mike Chen over 18 years. Raising WHS class of ‘26 Catherine and McDevitt Middle School 7th grader Christopher.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

None

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

No- I’m on the board of local nonprofits like WPY, WYS, McDevitt PTO

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

To serve the school community of Waltham, the students, families and educators. To bring collaborative leadership, foster stability that can retain and hire high quality teachers, enforce policy and budgets that back our district strategic goals of equity, belonging and high quality education.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is \_\_\_, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Our public schools need to continue to look for ways reduce the achievement gap that is reflected in current testing scores between ELL, students with disabilities and all others (variances across the various school's performance also reflect this problem). The chronic absenteeism is a very real issue that requieres cultural and sensible engagement and partnership with families and students. We need to work harder to increase the graduation rates and offer alternatives to the over-age under-credited population at our high school.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am a reflection of half our district as a Latina immigrant, that gives me the advantage of relating to this large segment of our schools constituents, as a fully fluent bilingual and bicultural individual. As a parent of kids in the district that has many community affiliations I also live the day-day picture of the culture and climate of the schools. I am accessible, diligent and purposeful in my work.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

I want to start by saying public service is a calling and anyone putting themselves to the service of the community deserves respect and support. I do not think the incumbents fulfilled their duty when this summer they failed to elect a superintendent; with barely any discussion of the two candidates they were voting for. As a parent and involved community member their lack of engagement or respect for the process was a disappointment. Nominating people to the role who had not applied was a clear violation of transparency. I clearly see we need to move beyond the status quo and include new ideas and voices in our school committee.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

I want to continue to work towards the goals of our district strategic plan and each of the school’s improvement plans.
We need to think of an overall educational / facilities / programs plan for our Waltham that is built with equity and inclusive dialogue.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I am an advocate for education in the community. I belong to the board of Waltham Partnership for Youth, the B/ELPAC, and I am VP of the McDevitt PTO.
I have professional experience with annualized operation planning for Fortune 500 companies. I have good relations and time management.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Give it your best, that way you’ll have no regrets.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Please vote on November 7, elections have consequences - the leaders of tomorrow thank you… they can’t vote!