Candidate profile: Liora Bram brings experience with special needs to School Committee

Part of a series on the four candidates for Grafton School Committee in the May 17 election.

Liora Bram has spent the past two years as co-chair of Grafton SEPAC, working to restore some order and normalcy to a group that had stepped away from its mission to assist parents of children with special needs.

Now she has her eye on a School Committee seat.

“I have two very different kids, with two very different experiences in the schools,” she said. “I’m a religious minority (Jewish). I see how the schools need to meet the needs of different kids. I think I bring a perspective to School Committee that would be useful.”

It’s not her first try. Back in February, Bram was interviewed for a vacant spot on the School Committee, a seat that ultimately went to Graciela Vargas-Baker (now running unopposed to complete the remaining year of that position). Once she found out longtime School Committee member Jennifer Connelly was not seeking re-election, she set her sights on a run for a three-year seat.

“Having had the SEPAC experience, I think I’m ready,” she said.

Bram works in public relations, with children who attend Grafton Middle School and North Street Elementary School.

She frequently talks about educating “the whole student.”

“Academics are important but what does adulthood look like?” she asked. ”Grafton’s had a really hard couple of years and we need to pay attention to how it’s affected our students. Middle school kids kind of missed this whole development phase.”

Bram regularly attends School Committee meetings and is usually surprised to find that she’s the only person in the audience. She paid close attention during the recent budget discussions and was delighted to see how transparent the process was.

“We do a wonderful job, given that our per-pupil spending is so low,” she said. “Jay (Cummings) is really committed to student success — and different kinds of student success.”

Still, she hears complaints that Grafton spends too much on education, particularly with the school department needing a Proposition 2 1/2 override last year, several years after an earlier override.

“You tell me what you want to do,” Bram said, “Do you want bigger class sizes? Do you want to cut classes?”

While Covid has been the over-arching issue of the past couple of years, Bram says she’s ready for whatever the next challenges will be for the schools.

“Of course there are going to be a lot of problems,” Bram said. “It’s all in how you handle them.”

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