ANTHONY MAZZOCCHI

Name:  Anthony Mazzocchi

Age: 43

Town: Maplewood

Current employment:  Associate Director, John J Cali School of Music, Montclair State University; Executive Director, Kinhaven Summer Music School, Weston VT

Past public service:  NYCDOE teacher/coordinator/curriculum writer; NJ District Supervisor (SOMSD); Montclair State University Professor/Associate Director 

What are your three top priorities for the school district if elected?  

My priorities for SOMSD include setting a vision to expand our curricular offerings in order to personalize education based on the needs of each of our children.  I believe great Boards are accountability driven and hold the Superintendent and his/her colleagues accountable for progress – but we must redefine what “progress” has meant up to now and not rely only on quantifiable metrics to define it.  I would like to someday look back on my time on the Board and know that we, as a district, turned vision into action in this regard. 

I am passionate about – and have years of experience in --Buildings & Grounds issues.  I collaborated with various district stakeholders in order to renovate the CHS auditorium and draw blueprints for a fist floor reconstruction at CHS.  It is very clear that we have a lot of work to do as far as capital planning is concerned, and I can be of great help here.

I would like to make sure that our current Strategic Planning initiative – and all initiatives moving forward – are carried out effectively and efficiently.  Our district is capable of great things if we learn to plan effectively and operationalize fluidly.  We are not “there” yet.

How do you think Dr. John Ramos has done in his first year as superintendent? What could he do better?

The President of the United States has 100 days to prove him/herself; the rest of us leaders get 90. I commend Dr. Ramos for organizing a district-wide Education Summit during his first few months as Superintendent.  While running a larger district demands a more “broad” leadership model, leading in SOMSD – a far more “quaint” district – requires different skills altogether.  After having the summer to reflect, it will be interesting to see how Dr. Ramos approaches his role as Superintendent of SOMSD this coming year.

How should the district handle the PARCC testing in the future if it becomes more of a mandated requirement?

I will continue to speak out about how taking and preparing for PARCC and other high-stakes standardized test is replacing authentic learning in our schools.  I believe that if we as a school district come to consensus that this is the case and effectively communicate this to our community, there is a good chance PARCC will not become a mandated requirement. 

How would you help the district improve its communication with the community?

The district’s communication with the community is a direct reflection of communication within the administration’s own ranks.  Until we create a clear communications plan within the district that operationalizes actions, articulates plans with completion dates, charges the Board to insist on quarterly progress updates towards goals, not accept generalities, create mentoring programs within our system, and share ownership of communication through teacher/supervisor/community feedback loops – this problem will not go away.  

How would you help improve the achievement gap?

I would stop hyper-focusing on the gap the way we currently are, which ironically has been to the detriment of all students.  We have narrowed our curriculum to accommodate more test prep – how has that been working out for us?  

When I was a Supervisor in SOMSD, we increased arts offerings at the middle school from 2 days a week to 5 days.  The programs exploded in size, and if you look back at the data – test scores went up.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.  But I have never, ever, seen data to suggest that a curriculum rich in the arts and creative subjects causes the achievement gap to widen and test scores to go down. Until then, I will fight for a rich and diverse curriculum for all of our children.

How do you see racial issues in the district given the concerns by some African-American students at CHS that assigning a police officer to the school would have been a mistake?

I could fill up pages writing about this. For now, I will note that as long as we design our schools to rate students against a made up “average” and celebrate individual accomplishment when it is clear that creativity and innovation occur in collaborate team environments, we are perpetuating many of our problems and getting in our own way.

I agree that we should not have a police officer in school at this point in time, but the answer to your question requires us all to talk about our education system and community as a whole, starting in Pre-K.

How would you handle the expected enrollment increases that are already sparking some overcrowding given the budget constraints that forced the cutting of 11 teaching positions?

The Board of Ed recently approved a “Guiding Change Document” and hired a consultant to analyze current capacity and make recommendations for future needs – I look forward to seeing that data. In the meantime, we must continue to seek feedback from students, teachers, administrators, families and community organizations in order to identify potential synergies with the consultant’s findings that will help us move forward in this regard.

 

What is your position on contracting out services vs. in-district staffing?

It depends on the service.  I am inclined to contract in-district whenever possible, although there are many times as Supervisor I used out-of district services when I looked at the overall picture of quality, cost, and – most important – what’s best for our students.  

How do you think the district handled the CHS baseball coach controversy over alleged HIB incidents?

Is there anyone on either side of the issue who doesn’t think this ordeal has been a mess?  The best we can do at this point is to reflect on the past two years and come up with a clear and transparent way of handling these issues decisively.