Ahead of Tuesday, The Republican reached out to all candidates for the opposed City Council and School Committee seats to answer a short questionnaire.

The Republican is publishing the candidates’ answers to the questions online and in print. Find more candidates and responses at masslive.com/topic/election.

Name: Peter Murphy

Age: 58

Address: 856 Armory St.

Profession: Attorney

Position running for: School Committee, Wards 2 and 8 (District 4)

I am a parent of children who attend or have attended the Springfield Public Schools. I bring a parent’s perspective to my work on the School Committee. I am grateful to have served on the School Committee for the last 15 years and have always put our young people first in every vote I have taken. My experience as an attorney helps me understand policy and laws surrounding education and budgeting. Supporting our teachers and paraprofessionals in their work is critical as they are closest to our children on a daily basis. I look forward to working with Superintendent Sonia Dinnall to continue to bring a first class education to all of our kids. We should also seek to expand our mental health services. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

What letter grade would you give the school system? Why?

I would give our system a B+. We have made steady progress over the last 10 years or so. Academic achievement is up, attendance is improving, tardiness and suspensions are down and our system is moving steadily in the right direction. However, we have much more to do to ensure all our kids are college and career ready, but the foundation has been laid. I would be grateful for the opportunity to finish the job.

What is the biggest challenge the schools face?

There are numerous challenges. Our test scores need to continue to improve. Safety of our children is paramount. If a child does not feel welcomed and safe in school they cannot reach their peak educationally. We will also have budgetary concerns moving forward. Keeping a sharp focus on our children’s achievement is always a challenge but we will continue to work on this tirelessly.

The school budget is roughly two-thirds of the city budget and there are concerns about federal and state assistance dropping. How should the School Committee address any loss of funding?

It is a massive budget. There are certainly financial challenges ahead. I am proud to say we have had a balanced budget for the 15 years I have been on the School Committee. Experienced and knowledgeable budgeting is the key. Unlike some other local districts we have never had layoffs in Springfield. No one is going to parachute in and give us money to balance our budget. We must prioritize keeping our funding closest to the children we serve. Experienced and tactical budgeting will accomplish this. I am ready for this challenge. While budgeting can be a mundane process it is critical to the success of our kids.

With the MCAS no longer a condition of graduation what should the diploma requirements be?

I would prefer to keep the MCAS as a graduation requirement. As a district we are allowed to do this. It is not perfect but I believe it has been a good metric to assess our children’s academic progress. If we ultimately decide not to keep MCAS we must pivot to a similar test to ensure our children’s progress is being measured closely. I also believe we should have exceptions for our special education children.

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