To the Editor:
Anxiety is a primary emotion felt by many when the first day of school rolls around. For both young ones and their parents, anxiety can be multiplied when young ones are riding a bus alone for the very first time. Bus riding involves a number of new experiences and related anxieties: fear of missing the bus in the morning, fear of being tardy for school, fear of missing the bus after school, missing your stop or getting on the wrong bus.
Many former Horton students and parents were even more anxious this year as the realization that our beloved school is no more became cold hard fact on Sept. 6. Gone now are the days of leisurely walking a couple of blocks to school, passing by friends and neighbors. This has now been replaced with the clock watching and bus waiting of the commuter rat race placed on the heads of 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds.
My wife and I waited with our second-grade daughter for the school bus on the corner of Vale and Richland. Grassy corners surrounded by political lawn signs set the stage for the new-shoe-wearing school children milling around when the Woodridge Elementary School Bus No. 2 first made its appearance. Lo and behold, current incumbent School Committee member Deborah C. Greifer emerged from the bus and greeted the waiting crowd.
I was very shocked that a member of the School Committee would be allowed to ride along with our school children – a privilege not even granted to the children’s parents – but to use this as an unfair political advantage was beyond the pale. As far as I am aware, no other School Committee member has committed such an act. I have to ask why now and why my daughter’s bus?
Is it legal for a School Committee incumbent to be using the school bus as a personal campaign vehicle? This misuse of city property is akin to a mayor sending out political campaign propaganda with the city property tax bill.
That very same bus, but this time devoid of Greifer riding shotgun, was a full 45 minutes late come the 3 o’clock pick-up at Woodridge Elementary School. The children had to endure standing in line after a full first day at a new school not knowing where their bus was and when it was going to get there to get them home. Anxiety-ridden parents waiting at the various bus stops wondered the same and the common theme was “What happened?� No satisfactory answer was given.
I called the Cranston Public Schools and made a complaint of both events. I was told a message would be passed onto the director of transportation and that is where it was left.
Andre Araujo
Cranston
Andre Araujo is a candidate for the School Committee in Ward 2.
Andre has my support. He is intelligent, articulate, and politically aware, and would make an excellent school committee member. If you live in Ward 2, I hope you will give him your support as well. You can learn more about Andre at his website, Andreforschools.com.
Kmareka.com 
I agree. Having read his letter and visited his site, I think he’ll be a great School Committee member. However, I live in Ward 4 and will be voting for another intelligent, articulate, and politically aware candidate: Donna Tocco-Greenaway.
As you may know, Andre and I ran the SaveHorton blog, and it was through that ordeal that we both realized that change was needed on the School Committee in Ward 2.
Andre suggested I run for the seat, but I had already made my commitment to the Ward 2 City Council seat months earlier. So I suggested that he run. And I suggested some more. Then I encouraged him to attend Operation Clean Government’s Candidate School, knowing that he would be inspired by all the great speakers there.
It’s scary to run for office for the first time, so I made sure I supported him at every turn. I was thrilled when he filed his declaration papers and I happily signed them when he asked.
Andre is a good neighbor, a good father, a good husband and a good friend. He would make a GREAT School Committee member in the same mold as Steve Stycos. Andre only cares about what is best for the children, and he won’t be a puppet to the administration.
You have my vote, Andre, because my vote is guided by my conscience, not my party.
Thank you Kiersten for this! You are a true gift to Cranston!
I am humbled and very appreciative of all your support, especially to Mark Lucas who really got me seriously thinking of doing this, to Steve Stycos for providing an example of courage and conviction and to Cindy Fogarty for showing grit and determination against overwhelming odds.
I want to represent the parents and community, not a political boss and I will never be a rubber stamp for the establishment. I will never turn a blind eye or my back on the people of this great community.
I am not in this for glory or higher office; I am in it for our kids and our future as a city, state and country.
Now, I cannot do this alone but only with the help of the community. I am an outsider running against an incumbent insider, so I will have to work harder. I am asking you to reach out to your neighbors, family and friends in ward 2 and encourage them to get out there and vote. I am asking for you to write letters to the editors of the Herald and ProJo and talk to the folks on the school bus stops and the school yards.
Only together, can we do this.
A reminder that the Cranston Education Advisory Board will host a Cranston School Committee Candidates’ Forum on Monday, September 25 at 7:00 PM at Western Hills Middle School on Phenix Avenue. I encourage you to attend.
Thank you!