Candidate Q&As 2025: Robyn Friedman for Newton School Board

Name: Robyn Friedman

Age: 52

Occupation: Rehab therapies manager and physical therapist at MercyOne Newton

Office seeking: Newton School Board

1. Introduce/Reintroduce yourself to voters and explain why you are running.

I have served on the NCSD school board for three consecutive terms and would like the opportunity and honor to serve a fourth term. I have lived in the Newton area with my husband, Bryan, since 2000. We have two boys that have graduated from the Newton Community School District and a daughter who is currently in high school. I have been actively involved with the school district as a PTA member through the years and have been a supporter of the various booster clubs and organizations at the high school level. I care deeply about a quality education for all of our students in our schools and I am passionate about both continuous improvement and engagement at all levels of learning:individual, team, building, system, district. I see the school board’s role for these items as providing support through our actions, our conversations and our questions. In our role as school board members we are tasked with looking and acting upon things from primarily a district-level view, though we should each be active listeners and questioners of things that are brought to our attention by members of our school district and/or our community. I feel I have shown that I can do these things well as a school board member and have been willing to serve in a leadership position as school board president from 2018 to 2020 and then again from 2023 through the current time.

2. Newton Community School District is now a few years into the elementary building configuration. Aurora Heights and Thomas Jefferson have seen big changes. How do you feel the process is going so far?

I feel the process of transitioning from four to three elementary buildings thus far has gone very well, and based on all of the variables I know at the current time I anticipate the transition from three to two elementary buildings will also go smoothly. I feel we communicated the need for this change in our district effectively when we first started discussing the topic. We were transparent about the “why” at the board table and at the administrative level and during community meetings. It was a decision we did not take lightly as a board and it was why we wrestled with it for a substantial amount of time before we came to a final decision about which two buildings would eventually remain as elementary learning centers. I think our superintendent, Tom Messinger, is an excellent communicator and planner and thinker and has a very good team that helps him stay organized to best consider the many angles and moving parts when this much change is proposed to happen and then begins to happen within a school district.Transitions are hard for children and families and a community, and I feel the school board members fully recognize this and are mindful of trying to assure the transitions are as smooth as they can be.

3. Use of leftover school buildings has been brought to light at recent meetings. What do you think should happen to Emerson Hough and Woodrow Wilson when the configuration is fully completed?

I believe this is not a question that an individual school board member can answer as it will take a group decision. I believe it is a bit premature to answer it because we have not finished these types of conversations at the school board level yet. I do know that the transition from four to two elementary school buildings was to align with the shrinking population of our school district and to assure more equity across our buildings. I think the only thing I know for sure is that these two buildings should not be utilized as elementary school buildings. We are currently in conversations with the YMCA about leasing a part of the space at Emerson Hough to allow them to expand childcare services and I think this has exciting potential for our district and our community but nothing has been settled yet.We have not discussed anything regarding the Woodrow Wilson building at this time but I am personally interested in a conversation at the board table that leans towards ways to get either this building or the land it is on onto our Newton community tax rolls in some way or form again.

4. Enrollment in Newton schools is declining. The configuration was a direct response to having fewer students and the anticipated reduction in revenue. What else can the district do to address declining enrollment numbers?

I think a thing we are doing well and need to keep doing is to share all the benefits we have at Newton Community School District and in the Newton community. We need to keep promoting our story and the values that we espouse as a district and continue to find creative and effective ways to get this message out. I think we need to continue to look for ways to partner with our Newton community in terms of messaging and support, because as the community grows the public school district grows.

I think we should to keep making quality improvements within our district in the areas of learning, engagement, collaboration and culture. Positive things going on in a school district encourages others to want to be part of the excitement and excellence.

5. What are some things you think the district does well? What are some things you think the district can improve? Explain your answers.

I think our district does many things well but the ones that stand out the most are:

Infusing Cardinal Pride throughout our schools and our community. This is evident at things like pep rallies, at the homecoming parade, at Friday night football games, at concerts, at the Big Game, at school events, at graduation, to name a few.

I think we do a good job at offering a variety of course options for high school students, including through DMACC, and are encouraging and supportive of kids to be involved with a variety of extracurricular activities in middle and high school.

I think we are good at working to live our mission and vision and core values and have been intentional to keep them front of mind when making decisions.

We have been excellent at supporting our ELL students and had a recent board report about how effective our strategies and systems of support are in this arena specifically.

Because I stated that I am passionate about continuous improvement, I need to be upfront that I think we can always make improvements. Some specific areas that come to mind are:

Consistency of things could be strengthened. Some areas that come to mind first are communication, grading practices and behavior interventions both within buildings and between buildings and levels.

I think we can improve upon selling our story as a district to try to encourage families to enroll their kids here. We saw far more open enrollments out of our district versus open enrollments in.

6. Any final thoughts? Are there any issues you would like the school to address?

I would like to see us start having discussions on how we can make physical building changes at the high school as this will be the only one of our school buildings that has not had a significant upgrade since I have been involved with the school district.

I would like to see us continue conversations about next phases of the H.A. Lynn Stadium upgrades to improve ADA accessibility throughout the stadium. The recent T-Mobile contest to possibly win $1 million for a stadium upgrade has had a lot of community support and even if we do not win that full prize we should capitalize on this momentum and engage the community in future planning.

I would like to see us continue to put a focus on growth in learning and ways to not only measure this but also ways to improve upon this at all levels and for all kids. I would love to continue to get board-level reports of how we are actively engaging and encouraging growth in our students.

I love our community and our school district and I would appreciate the opportunity to continue to support both if I am reelected to the school board. Thank you for your votes and your questions and comments and thank you for your continued support of our public school district and all the individuals who work to make it a fantastic learning environment and experience for our children in the Newton Community School District.