|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Two candidates are vying for a single seat on the board that oversees the education of nearly 13,000 local children and a $250 million budget.
Henry Bousquet and Marcus Coward lead the field to fill a vacant seat on the School Committee after last week’s joint convention failed to select one candidate.
Bousquet, a culinary arts instructor at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech, and Coward, the candidate who narrowly missed election in November, tied with eight votes apiece from New Bedford’s elected officials, deadlocking the joint convention.
That body will reconvene next week, Jan. 21, in the City Council’s chambers to try again to select someone who will serve the remainder of the late Bruce Oliveira’s term, through 2027.
The Light reached out to Coward and Bousquet to learn more about their backgrounds.
Henry Bousquet
Bousquet is a former city councilor who stresses his municipal finance skills and says he has “no less” electoral experience than the other leading nominee, Coward.
“I’m the candidate for this opportunity because I can hit the ground running,” Bousquet said. “I understand municipal finance, Robert’s Rules of Order … and I’m ready to work right now.
Before Bousquet started working in restaurants and teaching at Voc-Tech, he was a Voc-Tech student himself. He was a student in the high school’s culinary arts program and graduated in 1994.
“The program has changed quite a bit since I went there,” Bousquet said. State MCAS tests were implemented shortly after Bousquet left the school, and accompanying academic reforms mean that his students receive more focused writing and math instruction, he said.
After earning an associate’s degree in communications from Bristol Community College, Bousquet worked at and owned restaurants in New Bedford, including a diner called Four Corners and a downtown spot called Cobblestone’s.
He has worked full time at Voc-Tech since 2007. In 2011, he was elected to the City Council. One year into his term, Bousquet gave up his City Council salary after the State Ethics Commission told him, as a municipal employee, he couldn’t draw two salaries. “I wasn’t aware that I was a municipal employee [at Voc-Tech,] and none of my colleagues thought they were municipal employees either.”
He continued on in City Council, winning re-election twice. He said the “turning point” was at a session in 2016 when the body couldn’t reach a quorum. “I’m the only one not getting paid,” Bousquet remembers thinking, and decided that he couldn’t invest more time away from his family.
Bousquet says the most important issue facing New Bedford Public Schools is increasing the number of vocational programs and seats. He said that he supports New Bedford High seeking to increase its vocational opportunities.
Bousquet also said that he is a proud Republican, but that he doesn’t see School Committee issues through a partisan lens. On his social media accounts, Bousquet is a regular commentator on political issues. He said that he often likes to share posts that are “thoughtful or provoking,” and sometimes shares things because he finds them ridiculous or funny.
Bousquet is also a member of New Bedford’s Election Commission.
Marcus Coward
Coward recently ran for an open School Committee seat in November, finishing in fourth place, which was 129 votes short of securing a position on the committee. Describing himself as a community activist, Coward points out that he has been preparing for the School Committee role, including by attending committee meetings during the past year.
“I think that speaks a lot to the commitment, or the lack thereof, for this position,” Coward said, indicating that other nominees have not attended these meetings.
Coward grew up in New Bedford and attended Middlesex School, a boarding high school in Concord, Massachusetts. From there, he spent one year at the University of New Haven, before he unenrolled to care for his father, who suffered temporary blindness from diabetes, Coward said.
In 2021, Coward joined the Army, including attending infantrymen training in Georgia and being sent to Hawaii as an 11 Bravo infantryman, he told The Light. After serving for 1 1/2 years, Coward received a general discharge “under honorable conditions,” he said.
Since returning to New Bedford, Coward has worked at several jobs and become active in the community. His jobs included working at a restaurant and as a paraeducator at Nativity Prep. His community involvement has included serving on New Bedford’s Human Rights Commission, where he helps mediate disputes among residents and helps organize events, including for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Coward also hosts a show on New Bedford Cable Access, called Wake Up New Bedford, where he interviews community members and looks for “positive news” about his hometown. He also posts the show on his YouTube channel.
Coward said the No. 1 issue facing New Bedford Public Schools is large class sizes. But he said, “That’s too big of an issue to solve right now. We don’t have the budget.”
As for issues that could be solved, Coward said that student “fundamentals,” including basic literacy, handwriting, and public speaking skills, are being crowded out of education. “That’s the biggest problem we can address,” he said.
Coward is not registered with a political party, he said. “I have always been that way, and I will remain that way,” he explained.
Youth council to hold a forum, other nominees technically possible
The Mayor’s Youth Council will host a candidate’s forum for Bousquet and Coward to answer questions at the Keith Middle School community room on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.
Mark Dressel, the student representative on the School Committee and a member of the Mayor’s Youth Council, announced the forum during the Monday meeting of the School Committee, where normal business occurred despite being short one member.
Dressel specifically invited the elected committee members to the forum, as they are voting in place of the general public.
Short of something unexpected, either Bousquet or Coward will become the next member of the School Committee. However, a lane is still technically possible for other candidates.
At the conclusion of the initial convention meeting, two other nominees, Lee Blake and Brad Markey, remained eligible. The City Council’s office confirmed that neither has yet formally withdrawn their nomination. When the convention resumes, they will still be eligible to receive votes.
Other nominees could be considered too, but only if the joint convention votes to re-open the nominating process.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
At this time with all of his experience and years of contributing to our city, Henry Bousquet is the right candidate for this seat on the school committee.