School Committee candidate profile: Chris Oliver

Chris Oliver is one of three candidates running for one of two seats on the Dartmouth School Committee. He is an incumbent who has served three terms on the committee.

Oliver, who works as director of technology for Bourne Public Schools, said that his first priority if re-elected would be to continue making sure that Dartmouth students are taken care of socially and emotionally.

“We all know the pandemic has done a great deal of harm to the social-emotional aspects of society in general, but more so to some of our most vulnerable students,” he said, adding that the committee has already brought in extra social workers but needs to continue to focus on the issue. “It is a priority for me now and it will continue to be a priority for me in the coming years until we’re completely out of this pandemic.”

Oliver said that Covid also exposed the need for increased access to technology and technical support, something that he is innately aware of because of his background managing tech for South Coast schools over the past 14 years.

“[Covid] has just increased the need for more technology, for better technology, for better quicker internet connections and quicker service to problems,” he said. “I will say, Jonathan Gallishaw who is our current Director of Technology has done a phenomenal job, but I think he has three people on his team servicing probably 4,000 computers. So, it’s a lot to do with just a small team.”

He also highlighted the need to make long term plans for the future of some of Dartmouth’s older buildings, something that he started to address when he championed the creation of a facilities master plan.

“We’ve kicked this down the road for years but we really need to come up with some kind of long-range plan that will address the needs of our aging buildings,” he said, mentioning Potter and DeMello Schools specifically as older facilities. “We’re doing a great job of maintaining our buildings but at some point, we need to look at either doing full-scale renovations or rebuilding some of our schools.”

He also highlighted the completion of Dartmouth High stadium renovations as a specific goal that he would like to see accomplished in the coming years.

“With Covid it’s certainly slowed down but a couple of years ago the Town Meeting voted to give us the money to complete the stadium renovation,” he said, describing how phase two of the project, which has been on hold, would refurbish or replace the stands, press box, bathrooms, concession stands, and entrance way. “So that’s something else that I’d really like to see through.”

Oliver is a member of the Turf Field Committee which oversees the project.

On the subject of what to do with Dartmouth’s controversial Indian logo, Oliver said that he has always seen it as a symbol of respect and honor towards native tribes, but he is waiting to hear from stakeholders and his constituents before making a final decision.

“I know it’s a controversy on both sides and I haven’t made a decision yet,” he said. “I’m gonna listen. I want to be fair to everyone — fair to the constituents and to Dartmouth. So when the time comes, I will take everything into consideration and I will vote for what I believe is the best thing to do.”

Oliver added that he liked the idea of forming an agreement with the Gay Head Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe, who support the logo, to officially sanction the Indian while also getting them involved with education about native tribes at the schools.