The following was submitted by the candidate.
LeeMichael McLean, a current Warrant Committee member and Precinct 10 Town Meeting member, is running for one of two open School Committee seats. Motivated by his passion for education and desire to give back to his community, LeeMichael hopes to contribute his strong business acumen and his creative energy to keep Milton Public Schools moving forward.
“We have an amazing school district,” said McLean. “Improvement is always possible and I want to help guide our schools to even greater performance.”
LeeMichael’s main areas of focus for Milton schools are identifying and decreasing proficiency gaps, growing through diversity, and promoting financial stewardship.
“I’m a strong supporter of education and particularly of the important role teachers play in our community. I want to make sure we have the resources we need to hire and retain the best possible educators for our children.”
LeeMichael is Director, Business Development and Networks for VHA. He has extensive experience with budgeting/finance, continuing education and performance improvement. LeeMichael earned a Six Sigma Green Belt from the American Society for Quality and through his work he concentrates on operational efficiency, expense reduction and improved performance.
LeeMichael grew up in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and attended public school in both states. He is a graduate of Brandeis University, where he completed the teacher certification program and earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and a master’s degree in international finance. He was a student teacher at Waltham High School where he taught English. He and his partner, Bryan Furze, moved to Milton in 2010. Their son, Simon, was born in 2013 (Milton High School Class of ’31!). LeeMichael was elected to Town Meeting in Precinct 10 and became a Warrant Committee member in 2014.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/leemichaelformilton
I am pleased to see so much activity in this election season. Although I am a life long resident of this town, I do not believe it is a qualifier to run for town wide office. When I look at candidates, I want to know how they have served their community. There are many ways to serve. I plan to vote for Sheila Varela and Lee Michael McLean for the two school committee seats. Sheila has been a tireless advocate for the Milton Schools as a town meeting member, school site council, P.T.O member and leader in our school building project..She will be ready to go on day one! Lee Michael serves on the Warrant Committee with me and is also a town meeting member.He is passionate abut education. He has a thorough knowledge of the budget and works very well in a committee format. He asks good questions to inform his decisions.He has great energy and enthusiasm! Please join me in electing Sheila and LeeMichael to the Milton School Committee. They have served our town well and will continue to . use their talents to improve the schools.
We have three very interesting candidates for the two open School Committee seats.
LeeMichael McLean works in business for the VHA as Director of Business Development and Performance Improvements. Sheila Egan Varela works in educational publishing for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kevin Donahue is a Doctor, a Radiologist at Anna Jacques Hospital in Newburyport.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with Lee Michael on the Warrant Committee for the past budget cycle. You get to know a lot about someone over the course of dozens of meetings discussing complex budgets as well as other issues that come before that Committee. LeeMichael possesses a keen and creative intelligence. He often demonstrates a unique approach to thinking that produces new insights. At the start of the campaign he noted on his Facebook page research showing that 74% of Middle School girls express interest in STEM courses, but only .3% of girls at the High School level select courses in Computer Science. This is a problem in a system with a growing emphasis on STEM, a problem that needed to be recognized before attempts to diagnose and address it could occur.
Combined with his knowledge of the School Committee budget and a graduate degree in International Finance, LeeMichael would a very valuable addition to our School Committee. Please join me in supporting him with one of your two votes on Tuesday.
Sheila Egan Varela has been deeply involved in the Milton Public Schools for over a decade. I met her working on an override that was essential to maintaining services in our public schools. As a leader of that effort she performed with boundless energy, making individual connections and building networks of young Milton parents to ensure that what was at stake was fully understood. She’s also served as a Site Council member at Collicot and on the PTO at Pierce. And she has represented Precinct 8 in Town Meeting for a decade.
Her commitment to the Town and Schools, her background in educational publishing, and her outstanding people skills have earned Sheila my second vote for School Committee and I hope she’s earned yours.
Phil Mathews