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Photo courtesy of Dori Parmelee.
3-08-2022 10:33pm
Dori Parmelee Running for Westwood's School Committee (Updated)
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Updated 3/11/2022 at 4:35 p.m. A correction is made to the misstatement that Ms. Carol Lewis is running for re-election. She is not running.
Thanks to Ms. Dori Parmelee and Ms. Stephanie Finegold, Campaign Chair for Dori Parmelee for Westwood School Committee, for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.
Ms. Dorothy “Dori” Parmelee, currently Hanlon School’s PTO president, says she is a big believer in being involved. Since she moved to Westwood in 2014, she has been active in the schools and community. She has been wanting to run for a position in town government for a while. Now, the mom of an 11 year-old Hanlon student and an 8 year-old Sheehan student has announced her candidacy for a position on Westwood’s School Committee.
On election day, she will face-off against Ms. Heather Morrison and incumbent Mr. Anthony “Tony” Mullin for one of two available seats on the School Committee. Mr. Mullin's current term ends in May. School Committee member Ms. Carol Lewis, whose term also ends in May, will not run for re-election.
Ms. Parmelee notes that she is in the unique position of being a parent who will have “touched” four schools in Westwood. While her oldest son is a student at Hanlon School and will attend Thurston Middle School next year, her youngest son has recently transferred from Downey School to Sheehan School to address his special needs. She notes that at each setting, she has found great educators. “Everyone rises to the occasion,” she says.
People in Westwood really care about each other, she notes. In 2016 her younger son had a medical crisis – his first epileptic seizure. That event, at age two, would eventually lead to his diagnosis of having a rare epileptic syndrome.
“The outpouring of support from all corners of the district was humbling,” says Ms. Parmelee. “I already loved Westwood, but seeing how much people cared about my family and our son was humbling.”
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Her stated platform includes advocating for inclusion, mental health, and empowering those who are neurodiverse, disabled and/or have special needs. She notes that her ideas have come from personal experience. “A lot of learning disabilities come with the syndrome,” she explains.
Becoming her son’s advocate put her in a position to interact with the district. “That put me in a position to think more broadly and deeply about individuals with special needs. I have experienced first-hand what it feels like for my family not to be included, and my son not to feel included at times, and what it does to mental health,” she says.
Along with inclusion, empowering those with special needs, and mental health, academic rigor is also part of her platform. “I’ve learned that people really have pride in Westwood,” she says. “People want to push the town to be even better than it is today.”
With one neurotypical child and one neurodiverse child, Ms. Parmelee notes that she has two children with very different needs. She wants both to be successful.
On specific actions she will take if elected, Ms. Parmelee noted that she is speaking with a lot of people about where there is room for improvement. She is hesitant to share specific thoughts because she is “still vetting” them. But Ms. Parmelee broadly notes that she would like to see more unity across the district with respect to supporting schools. She senses some divisiveness which she says is part of a national trend.
“But one thing we can all do is rally around our kids,” she says.
Editor's note: Westwood Minute takes no position on candidates running for election. Articles featuring candidates are provided for the purpose of community information and interest.
Publication timing and presentation of articles are a function of the capabilities of the publishing platform and what resources are available for an article to publish at a given time. Differences should not be interpreted as any endorsement of one candidate over another.
