School Committee Candidates Discuss Budget Challenges, Technology in Education at Bridgewater Forum
Candidates Dan Gouthro and Andi Hoy Thomas address override needs, class sizes, and educational priorities in Bridgewater-Raynham district
BRIDGEWATER - April 1, 2025 - Two candidates for the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee presented their views on pressing educational issues during a candidates’ forum ahead of the April 26 town election.
Dan Gouthro, running for the Raynham seat, and Andi Hoy Thomas, seeking one of the Bridgewater positions, addressed budget challenges, technology in education, and their visions for the district's future.
The candidates are not competing directly against each other, as they represent different towns within the regional school district. Gouthro is running unopposed for the Raynham seat, while Hoy Thomas faces competition from Allison Marie Conroy, who was unable to attend the forum due to illness.
Both candidates expressed strong support for increasing the school budget to address staffing shortages and large class sizes, with each backing a potential override of Proposition 2½, which limits annual property tax increases to 2.5 percent.
"The student success plan is fine but it doesn't mean anything if we don't have the budget to bring it alive, period, full stop," Gouthro said. "We can have goals for our children and we can set benchmarks for MCAS and other standardized testing. They are never going to improve when there's 28 or 30 elementary school students in a classroom."
Hoy Thomas agreed, noting that the district's financial challenges require immediate attention. "Our towns cannot fund what we need to keep our schools afloat," she said, expressing support for the $106 million budget proposal that would add 37 staff positions.
Both candidates acknowledged the difficulty of asking taxpayers for more money but emphasized the connection between strong schools and property values.
"If we want to fall behind our neighboring communities, we’ll have a school district nobody wants to go learn in," Gouthro said. "If we do not take care of our school district, all of our property values will be adversely impacted, period."
The candidates differed on school choice, with Gouthro viewing it as potentially positive if the district can become more attractive to outside students. Hoy Thomas expressed concerns about accepting students from other districts when Bridgewater-Raynham struggles to fund its current needs.
"I don't think we should be doing school choice allowing students from other towns to come to our high school when we can't have the appropriate funding that we need in place for the kids we have now," Hoy Thomas said.
On technology in education, both candidates emphasized its importance in preparing students for the future.
"There's nothing more important in 2025 than digital literacy in preparing students for jobs whether they are in the technology field or associated with the technology field," Gouthro said. He advocated for exposing students to programming, AI, and understanding how social media algorithms work.
Hoy Thomas noted that maintaining digital infrastructure is crucial despite budget pressures. "We don't offer the arts, digital literacy and computer science classes that we used to," she said, emphasizing the need to restore these offerings.
The candidates also addressed teacher compensation, with both supporting fair pay for educators despite budget constraints.
"Good teachers shouldn't be cheap," Gouthro said. "We have to figure out a way and we have to build a system in our towns that allows us to pay teachers and the good teachers especially, what they deserve."
Hoy Thomas added, "We've lost teachers year after year that haven't been replaced and they somehow produce happy graduates year after year. So I wanted to thank them for that."
Both candidates agreed that the district should not focus exclusively on preparing students for four-year colleges, emphasizing the importance of trades, vocational education, and military service as viable career paths.
"Had I known about any of the options I know about now, I would not have made the same decisions that I made," Hoy Thomas said, advocating for better career education starting in middle school.
The candidates also touched on the need for better communication between the school committee and the community.
"One of the things that surprises me as a resident is thinking I understood what was going on the last couple of years and then realizing I don't really understand what's going on," Gouthro said, suggesting more transparent communication about school issues.
Hoy Thomas proposed creating a dedicated communication page or subcommittee to share information in accessible language.
The election is scheduled for April 26, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Bridgewater Middle School.