Everett principal Alex Nauman, running unopposed, frames priorities for Wakefield School Committee seat

Alex Nauman, a principal in Everett Public Schools, said he is running unopposed for a seat on the Wakefield School Committee and outlined priorities including contingency planning for funding changes, stronger support for paraprofessionals, consideration of later high-school start times based on data, expanding preschool capacity and addressing capital needs at older schools such as Greenwood.

"Hi. My name is Alex Nauman. I, I'm currently a principal, in Everett at the George Keverian School. I've been in the Everett public school system for 26 years," Nauman said during a WCAT interview. He said his experience as a teacher, dean and principal informs how he would approach committee work.

Nauman told the interviewer he is concerned about possible federal changes — including proposals discussed publicly to eliminate or restructure the U.S. Department of Education — and said Wakefield should prepare by diversifying revenue and looking for local supplements if federal funding were reduced. He said some programs that serve multilingual learners and students with disabilities rely on federal funds and Title I-type grants, and those programs may require alternate local supports if federal support were cut.

On negotiations with school staff, Nauman said paraprofessionals now function as "co-teachers" in many classrooms and deserve recognition in bargaining. "Taking care of our teachers, we take care of all of our educators," he said, adding that contract talks should reflect the instructional role paraprofessionals play.

On changing high-school start times, Nauman said he supports a data-driven approach. The Wakefield committee is weighing three options discussed publicly: keep the current start (around 7:30 a.m.), move it 45 minutes later or move it one hour later. "Show me the data that shows that actually changing the school start times is gonna have an impact significantly on student achievement," he said, while acknowledging later starts may help some students' well-being.

Nauman said early-education access is important and supported exploring ways to expand preschool capacity in Wakefield; the interviewer cited a superintendent comment that about 60 families are on a preschool wait list. Nauman said early exposure to classroom routines and early literacy supports can improve kindergarten readiness and allow earlier intervention for students who need special-education services.

Asked about facility issues in older schools, Nauman said classrooms and buildings should provide environments that let students learn, citing Greenwood School as an example where air conditioning and other capital updates are needed. He said modernization or remodeling should be considered where there is community appetite and funding.

Throughout the interview, Nauman emphasized caring for students and staff as central to school-committee work: "Caring about our students and teachers is kind of integral to being an effective school committee member," he said. He closed the interview by noting the election is uncontested and quipping, "I just need to get 1 vote. Right? Just 1."

The interview covered several Wakefield topics without producing any formal actions or commitments from the school committee; Nauman described principles he would bring to the committee and called for more data on proposed changes such as start times.

Votes at a glance: none reported.