A parent of two boys at Chenery Upper Elementary School, Zehra Abid-Wood, realized about a year ago that it wouldn’t come with an invitation if she wanted to get more involved in the school community.
“I was sitting around waiting for permission to join the community,” she recalled. “I realized I just needed to jump in.”
Abid-Wood’s introduction to the community began about six months ago with the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee, which was established following the creation of the district’s Strategic Plan 2024-2026. According to the website, the advisory committee was designed to keep the district focused on implementing the plan.
“I realized there’s so much good stuff happening and so much more that could be done,” she said. “With the vantage point of a mother, with the vantage point of someone whose background is in strategy, and then—against the landscape of what is happening nationally—it felt like a really important time to get involved.”
And now, she’s one of three candidates running for two seats on the School Committee in the election on April 1.
Abid-Wood said her background was initially in technology, driving “large-scale technology driven change.”
“Through the lens of technology, I realized my fuel was really organizational transformation,” she said.
She gained experience in the technology sector, as well as in health care, real estate, and higher education. Currently, she oversees a senior living community on the campus of Lasell University.
Campaign for School Committee
“The School Committee is not there to run the schools; the School Committee is there to set management up for success and to help with the Strategic Vision,” Abid-Wood said. “[The Strategic Vision] is grounded in equity and excellence. The School Committee’s role is to keep their eye on that North Star and help the district, help the administration, and work toward that strategic vision.”
Abid-Wood said that, as a parent of two students in Belmont schools, she realized a family’s experience in the district depends on the child.
“I’ve been incredibly impressed with the people—the educators, the administrators—the vast majority of them go above and beyond in terms of their relationship not just with the child but the success of the classroom as a whole.”
Just through observation of her own children, who are capable of reacting very differently to the same situation, she acknowledged that that may not be the experience of every student in the system, particularly those with additional needs that need to be met.
As for the district’s top priorities, Abid-Wood said with the override vote in the rearview, the district is at “an inflection point.”
“I see honoring that [override mitigation fund] as a priority, because I think it signals a commitment on the part of the district to work with the town, collaboratively, on laying out a plan that will get us through that time,” she said.
Balancing equity and excellence should also be a priority, according to Abid-Wood.
“It’s working within the constraints of the budget to balance equity and excellence and … believing those two aren’t mutually exclusive,” she said.
That means investing not just in academics—advanced courses, for example —- but in special education and social-emotional learning, and extracurriculars.
Still, balancing all on top of budget constraints isn’t going to be easy. In the context of the ongoing negotiations with educators, she emphasized that financial compensation is just one piece of the puzzle. There’s also class sizes and professional development opportunities.
“My skill sets lie in helping different points of view come together,” she said. “In addition to the technology piece that I think is missing on the School Committee today—-that real understanding of technology as a transformative tool—I’ve had to bring together decision makers around limited budgets, around limited resources, to make decisions to align on outcomes. I’m confident that will be helpful.”
