Dan Shalin, Patch Staff
Feb 3, 2023
Brown is a father of three former North Andover students and runs a management and consulting practice. He's running for 1 of 2 open seats.
NORTH ANDOVER, MA — Citing a need for accountability and transparency in North Andover Public Schools and touting his own management experience, Dave Brown declared his candidacy for the North Andover School Committee this week.
Brown, a father of three North Andover High School graduates, is running for one of two open seats on the committee, which will be filled in the March 28 election. Committee members Holly Vietzke-Lynch and Helen Pickard each have expiring terms.In a press release, Brown, who has a management and consulting practice centered on medical manufacturing technology, said the coming years are a critical time in the district as schools try to close the learning gaps created by the pandemic.
Additionally, the committee will be helping to manage the new construction projects at Kittredge Elementary School and North Andover Middle School. "We continue to face unprecedented challenges for our children's education. It's time that we take bold new steps to address the needs of our growing community, ensure decisions and actions are effectively communicated, and that public input is recognized," Brown said.
Brown said his management experience will be beneficial because the school committee essentially serves as a board of directors, with the administration serving as the management team."The board is charged with holding management accountable for performance and ensuring that the stakeholders — in our case parents, students, staff, and taxpayers — are getting the tools, resources, and performance they need and deserve," Brown said.
Brown continued: "The school committee needs to hold itself just as accountable as the school administration for the performance of the district just as they, in turn, hold staff accountable, and they our students. "The committee must also effectively and openly communicate with their stakeholders and ensure that the administration does as well."
Brown said he has led several innovative technology and business projects over the years, and that he has served as an instructor in engineering and math at the college and high school levels. Additionally, Brown has been an active volunteer in North Andover for two decades. He currently serves on the Fields Committee and is an active board member of the North Andover Booster Club.Previously, Brown served as the chair of the Stevens Estate Trustees, spent many years coaching youth sports and served on the high school principal search committeeAs far as his own education, Brown has a master's degree in electrical engineering from Tufts and an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. Brown said he and his wife Jamie moved to North Andover when their oldest child was young partially because of the strong reputation of the town's school system.
"All our kids were active and involved students that benefited greatly from their experience in our schools where their teachers demanded accountability," said Brown, who said each of his children went on to a rigorous academic college. "As parents, we hold ourselves accountable. As citizens, we need to hold our leaders and elected officials accountable as accountability matters."
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