Peter Carney
for
East Greenwich School Committee
For my fellow community members who I have yet to meet, my name is Peter Carney, and I am running for a position on the East Greenwich School Committee.I wanted to start by sharing a little of my background to offer a sense of my long ties to the East Greenwich area, as well as my motivation for running for this position.Find Peter on Facebook by searching:
Peter Carney for East Greenwich School Committee.
Paid for by Friends of Peter Carney
Meet Peter Carney
I grew up just across the town line in the Quidnessett area of North Kingstown and attended Our Lady of Mercy School and then Rocky Hill School. Trips to Newport Creamery (now a Navigant Credit Union branch) for Awful Awfuls were a staple of my youth!I received my BA from the University of Richmond and returned to RI after graduation where I worked the next four years for a local business located in the Elms Building on Main Street in East Greenwich.My wife Jennifer and I settled in Warwick to start our family (we are now 6, plus 2 dogs ; ) and after a few years found ourselves very involved in their elementary school with Jen heading the PTG for several years and me being called into service regularly for fundraising and “event organization”, a.k.a. heavy lifting.When it came time to consider the long-term educational goals for our children, East Greenwich was a natural fit given the strong reputation of the school district and our familiarity with the community (my father-in-law, Dr. Jack Kacewicz, was a long-time orthodontist in East Greenwich, before he passed away in 2019, with a practice now operated by my brother-in-law). So, in the summer of 2016, we made EG our home. Jumping right into our new community and school district with that same spirit and energy, we organized a very successful Spring 5K and Fun Run event in both 2018 and 2019 around The Hill neighborhood in support of the Frenchtown and Eldredge PTGs, volunteered on the sidelines for EGBA and Flag Football, and I’ve done some spot duty as third base coach when needed at St. Greg’s Little League and EGLL.
Most recently, I was chosen by my fellow high school parents in October 2021 to serve a two-year term on the newly-formed EGHS School Improvement Team (SIT). The SIT's purpose is to form mid-year and full-year goals for the high school each year based on the feedback from fellow SIT members - four student representatives, several teacher representatives, two parents, and one business community member. It has been a great experience hearing directly from teachers and students on a monthly basis about the key issues they see facing our high school.
Professionally, I am a Regional Vice President for a national mortgage lender where I am responsible for a sizeable budget and also the productivity and performance of many teammates across New England. In my role, I need to invest and spend budgeted money in the right places to support our clients and teammates. But need to do so judiciously to balance our revenue with our needs. Strategic, data-driven decisions, along with empathy for the daily challenges faced by my teammates from their various remote work locations, are a daily requirement for me to succeed in my job and I believe this skill set can be a very helpful addition to the decision-making collaboration in our District.
It is from this foundation that I have decided to now step forward as a candidate for School Committee in the November 8th, 2022 election.
These past two years have created incredible challenges for our students, parents, teachers, administrators and elected officials. Many of those challenges, and effects thereof, remain for our district and community. With children of my own at Eldredge, Cole and EGHS, maintaining the strength of the district and fostering an environment that supports academic excellence and empathy for the social / emotional well-being of our students will be my charge. Amidst continued fiscal and pandemic-related challenges, you can expect me to continue to advocate for district policies and plans that focus on as much normalcy for our children as possible…a focus of mine since the 2020-21 school year began when I worked with so many great families and community members in advocating for a return to full in-person learning across the district.
During that time, I showed a commitment to student-centric policies, a commitment to the health and safety of our teachers and staff by lobbying our state officials to prioritize their vaccinations, and also regularly offering ideas and strategies to administrators and committee members that had been implemented in other districts in RI and elsewhere during the 2020-21 school year. And as we continue to review and better understand the learning gaps created by Covid challenges, I will engage with district families to understand their opinions and then work with the Administration and fellow committee members to develop a plan that addresses community concerns and prevents future recurrences. Collaboration with all viewpoints, transparency with all decisions, solutions-based advocacy, and offering balance to the deliberations of the committee are the charge of my campaign.
Lastly, I wanted to share an aspect of a particularly poignant phone conversation I had in February 2021 with a school official elsewhere as I researched how other school districts were navigating the many Covid-created challenges. The official told me, “we all knew what was best for the students…so we got all the stakeholders together and worked on solutions to overcome our obstacles.” I congratulated them, and said “now THAT is leadership”.I know it when I hear, and see it. And I know the good people of East Greenwich do too. Please vote for Peter Carney for EG School Committee on November 8th. Thank you for your consideration.
Please check back here for updates as the campaign progresses, and also find me on Facebook by searching "Peter Carney for East Greenwich School Committee." You may also reach out to me by email or phone (401-952-1433).
Thank you,Peter Carney
Candidate for EG School Commitee
Paid for by Friends of Peter Carney
Why I'm Running
The Covid-era effects on our children's education and school environment have compelled me to step forward and fiercely advocate for student-centric policies...always
Every District decision matters to my family with children of our own attending EGHS, Cole and Eldredge.
School safety is vital for our community and I will advocate for every practical improvement possible.
I want to support more students with more open paths to honors-level courses rather than eliminating honors courses in the name of equity, as seen in Barrington.
I want to elevate accountability across our District for all stakeholders - students, teachers, parents, administrators and school committee members - to cement our position as the best school District in RI and to be among the best Districts in New England.
I want to see East Greenwich prepare EVERY student for life after graduation with strong Career Technical Education offerings and increased investment in our college counseling and college prep departments so ALL students are afforded great opportunities.
I love raising my family in East Greenwich and I know I can help!
Paid for by Friends of Peter Carney