The following is a list of the questions that we are asking School Committee candidates.

• Contact information questions

  • Kai Man Lee

  • 📱: 617-821-8182

  • 📧: kaiforschoolcommittee@gmail.com

  • 🌐: https://kaileeforquincy.com/

• What is your political party?

  • Unenrolled / independent

• Why are you running for office?

  • As a parent with two kids in our schools, I am not only active in their schools, I am also active in the community. I hear the concerns and opportunities for improvements from parents, teachers, and as a member of the PTO. As a scout leader, I interact with families with children in schools across Quincy. In my capacity as President of the SouthWest PTO Board and as the Cub Master of Cub Scout Pack 42, I am able to take requests, inquiries, feedback and turn them into actionable tasks to help deliver the desired results. If elected, I intend on using that tried and true approach as a member of the school committee to address matters that may come up for our school system.

• Do you or does anyone in your family work for the City of Quincy in any capacity? (Please consider first cousins and closer relationships only.) (yes / no)

  • No

• Do you or does anyone in your family own or work at a company that does business with the City of Quincy? (yes / no)

  • No

• Having personal ties to the city does not disqualify a candidate for office by any means. But voters may be concerned that if you answered yes to either of the previous two questions, you may not be willing to speak out on their behalf if doing so might jeopardize your or your family members' relationships with the city. What would you say to those voters?

  • do not have any personal ties to companies or work at a company that does business with the City of Quincy

• What are the three most pressing issues facing QPS, and how would you tackle them?

  1. Chronic absenteeism
  a. Work with school administration to provide the right kinds of incentives to help
  motivate families and their children to attend school.
  b. Carrots can include additional before and after school activities; I know families
  and students that make it a point to not miss school because they have a certain
  after school activity.
  c. I support the recent revision to the Middle and High School Attendance policy
  i. At the end of the 2025 - 2026 school year, I would like to see the numbers
  and see whether the new policy helped move the needle in the right
  direction.
  2. Potential loss of federal funding
  a. Work with school administration to document where we receive federal funding
  and what programs and activities they are geared towards
  b. Determine the priority of those impacted programs
  c. Work with the Mayor and City Councilors for additional funding if we determine
  the impacted programs provide value to the students and the city
  d. Explore other avenues of funding, PTOs/PTCs
  3. School Capacity
  a. In the past year or so, students have lost the ability for school choice. Students
  must now attend their zoned schools. In addition to that, certain classes are held
  in hallways and/or not behind two locked doors - Lincoln Hancock.
  i. Additional schools, like the one mentioned in West Quincy and perhaps
  others based on capacity review and proposals from the school
  administration.
  ii. I support the proposal laid out by Dr. Perkins and Ms. Loftus to
  renovate/reactivate Della Chiesa for Pre-K and K.
  

• Which of the 19 school buildings are you familiar with, and are there any building issues you want to discuss?

  • I have an answer and this is for the space available in this survey - Lincoln Hancock - overcrowding, I support Ms Loftus and Dr Perkins proposal to alleviate overcrowding at Lincoln Hancock by shifting kindergarten to Della Chiesa unless there is another proposal available for review.

• If elected, would you go out into the community to hold town-hall-type meetings at least once every year?

  • Yes

• If elected, will you create an online newsletter or blog to keep your constituents informed?

  • Decline to answer

• If elected, will you take advantage of the city's translation services for your newsletter and town halls?

  • Yes

• How should the school committee respond if ICE agents take members of the school community into custody, as happened recently in New York state?

  • Dr Perkins presented the policies and procedures on what to do if ICE were to take members of the school committee into custody during one of the school committee meeting and attended a Citywide PTO meeting to address questions there as well.

• Do you believe there are only two biological sexes?

  • declined to answer

• Should trans students be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice?

  • declined to answer

• Explain what you think QPS's EDI director does, and what, if anything, you will do to support that work.

  • I met Kim Connolly at various community events and chatted with her some more when I my son attended the Raising Multural Kids presentation at SouthWest held on May 19th. Her position is important because she serves as a bridge for the under represented. I support her work on being a resource in helping to bring additional viewpoints and life/lived experiences to QPS.

• How aware are you of increasing behavioral and mental health challenges facing the school community at every level, and what are your proposed solutions?

  • More community events, get people away from being isolated in their own lives and struggles. Create opportunities where they can meet and connect with others.
    

• If you'd like to add any comments about any of your answers, please do so here.

  • Schools I've visited:
    North Quincy High - Lunar New Year & Multicultural Festival
    Quincy High - All City Strings Concert, Music Man Production; my daughter attends the strings program there during the school year and my son is part of the summer drama program
    SouthWest - my son will be an 8th grader there this fall and my daughter will attend 5th grade there; I am also on the PTO Board there
    Broad Meadows - my daughter attended the basketball program there in the past
    Central - my son attends the summer STEM program there
    Point Webster - both kids attended Summer Quest program there in the past
    Della Chiesa - my daughter attended pre-k there in 2019 and the school year was cut short due to COVID
    Beechwood Knoll - my daughter goes there during the school year for strings lessons
    Bernazzani - my daughter current goes there for the Summer Quest program
    Lincoln Hancock - both of my kids attended Lincoln Hancock
    Montclair - my kids went there once in the while for summer school lunches when we lived in North Quincy
    Parker - my kids went there once in the while for summer school lunches when we lived in North Quincy
    Squantum - my son attended Squantum when we lived in North Quincy, kindergarten and 1st grade