• Elect Val Frias to Brookline School Committee!

    Vote Val on May 6th

    Early voting begins April 26th

  • My Priorities

    Student Experience

    We must prioritize student facing programs and offerings. Budget decisions need to start with the understanding that what happens in our classrooms and our schools is what shapes our children’s futures.

    I am committed to ensuring that resources that directly impact students’ education and well-being always come first.

    Fiscal Responsibility

    Competent fiscal management is crucial to ensure Brookline’s resources are allocated efficiently and effectively. We must insist on transparency and accountability from our administrators and financial managers.

    Open communication about school finances ensures that stakeholders remain confident in the district's ability to manage funds.

    Serve All Students

    It is critical that Brookline nurture every student’s potential by addressing the unique needs of each student, regardless of background or learning profile. We must ensure that all learners have access to programs that challenge and provide opportunities for growth and achievement.

    All of this must be in an environment where all children are included and feel safe from discrimination and hate.

    Academic Excellence

    Brookline must regain our status as educational leaders. We need to invest in top quality academic programs and instructors and continually seek to improve our education offerings for all students.

    Many of us moved here because of the schools, and I am committed to ensuring that our schools continue to draw people to Brookline.

  • About Me

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    I am a parent of twin boys and my children are the center of my life and my inspiration for wanting to be part of Brookline School Committee. My boys started at BEEP Putterham, then we were a proud Driscoll family, and now they are freshmen! I’ve had the privilege of the full PSB experience and still have a personal interest in the success of our schools. I’ve been an active member of the town and school community since moving to Brookline in 2014.

    I am currently the Deputy Director of the Elder Justice Unit in the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General. In addition to the work I do professionally at the State level, I’m currently a member of the Brookline School Committee and a member of the Brookline SEPAC (Special Education Parents’ Advisory Committee).

    Before I joined School Committee, I partnered with superintendents in Brookline and around the Commonwealth as a trusted advisor on policy and legal matters related to special education, LGBTQ issues, and other issues related to civil rights and youth advocacy. I Co-Chaired the Driscoll School Building Committee, served as a PTO Co-Chair for Driscoll School, and served as the Driscoll School SEPAC Parent Representative. I’ve coached the Brookline Recreation Therapy softball team, and also volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club in Chelsea.

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    I have more than 20 years of professional leadership experience during which I’ve provided vision, leadership, and strategic direction for a number of organizations whose focus is on building healthy and resilient communities, and advancing and protecting the rights of those community members.

    My previous roles have included:

    • Chief Executive Officer of Ethos, a private, not-for-profit organization that promotes the independence, dignity, and well-being of the elderly and disabled
    • Executive Director of Greater Boston PFLAG, the local chapter of a national organization that advances LGBTQ equality through education and advocacy
    • Leadership roles at the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation (CDC), where I oversaw a portfolio of nearly 500 units of affordable rental and ownership properties that were home to over 1,000 residents. I also represented the organization in partnership with Harvard University, New Balance, and Boston Community Capital, to support the development of community benefits that reflected the diverse needs of the community
    • Policy Counsel at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in Washington, D.C., an organization which has coordinated the national legislative campaign on behalf of every major civil rights law since 1957
    • General Counsel for the MA Senate Capital Finance Committee
    • General Counsel to State Senator Marc Pacheco and the MA Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee
    • Counsel to the US Senate Judiciary Committee

    I bring my personal and professional experience to my work for Brookline. I am the daughter of an immigrant and I was the first in my family to attend college. I earned my Juris Doctor degree from the Northeastern University School of Law in 1999 and my B.A. in History and German (cum laude) from Tufts University in 1994. In my free time, I advocate for civil rights, volunteer at my children’s schools, and enjoy running and being outdoors.

  • Endorsements

    Hon. Bill MacGregor - State Representative

    Hon. Kevin Honan - State Representative

    David Pearlman - Select Board Member, Former School Committee Chair

    John VanScoyoc - Select Board Member

    Michael Sandman - Select Board Member

    Steven Ehrenberg -School Committee Member

    Mariah Nobrega - School Committee Member

    Sarah Moghtader - School Committee Member,

    Julie Schreiner-Oldham - Former School Committee Chair

    Shirley Shi - SEPAC Executive Board, Secretary

    Faith Dantowitz - SEPAC Liaison to BHS

    Linda Monach - Former SEPAC Co-Chair

    Beth Gilligan - Brookline Education Foundation Executive Committee & Driscoll School PTO Co-Chair and Co-President

    Katherine Butler - GreenZine Brookline Co-Founder

    Brookline PAX

    "As someone who served alongside Valerie Frias for almost 3 years on School Committee, I can personally attest to her drive and determination to serve the interests of our school community.

    Val's expertise in critical areas around special education and government relations have been invaluable in crafting policies that protect our most vulnerable students. Her assiduous work on the Negotiations subcommittee helped result in new contracts for our educators.

    Friendly, but probing, Val takes her role as public servant with utmost dedication, analyzing and studying every challenge with a centrality of focus around the optimal student experience."

    — David Pearlman - Select Board Member, Former School Committee Chair

    "Val is tenacious, brave, and solutions-oriented, and her questions cut to the heart of the matter. She's empathetic and puts vulnerable students first. She's an important and principled voice and vote, and we need her now more than ever."

    — Steven Ehrenberg -School Committee Member

    "I strongly endorse Val for School Committee. Val consistently asks the tough questions driving leadership to act. She never hesitates to speak up for disability, for the BIPOC community, nor for LGBTQ+ rights. We need her wisdom, her intrinsic knowledge of the public schools of Brookline and the law, to drive the public schools to a greater depth of transparency and to keep charging forward as a School Committee."

    — Faith Dantowitz (SEPAC Liaison to Brookline High School)

    Cathleen Cavell - Town Meeting Member P1

    Neil Gordon - Advisory Committee, Town Meeting Member P1

    Marty Farlow - Town Meeting Member P2, Brookline PAX Board Member

    Chris Dempsey - Town Meeting Member P4

    Jeff Rudolph - Brookline High School PTO Co-President, Town Meeting Member P6

    Kim Smith - PAX Board of Directors; Brookline Advisory Committee; Town Meeting Member, P6

    Amanda Zimmerman - Town Meeting Member P7

    Eric Stone - Town Meeting Member P8

    Judith Vanderkay - Town Meeting Member P9, Library Trustee, Brookline PAX Treasurer

    Kim Loscalzo - Town Meeting Member P10, Driscoll School PTO Co-President

    David Lescohier - Town Meeting Member P11

    Jonathan Golden - Town Meeting Member P11

    Jeff Wachter - Brookline for Everyone Board, Former Town Meeting Member P11

    Jonathan Fine - Town Meeting Member P13

    Werner Lohe - Town Meeting Member P13, Zero Emissions Advisory Board

    Kevin Mackenzie - Town Meeting Member P13

    Jennie Segel - Town Meeting Member P13

    Sassan Zelkha - Brookline Library Trustee & Town Meeting Member P14

    Richard Nangle - Town Meeting Member P15

    Barbara Gutman - Town Meeting Member P15

    Richard Murphy - Town Meeting Manager P16, Transportation Board

    Chris Mutty - Town Meeting Member P17

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