Three Candidates Debate Path to Restoring Plainville Schools Before April 4 Vote

NORTH ATTLEBORO — March 30, 2022 — Three candidates debated for two open Plainville School Committee seats Wednesday night ahead of Monday's April 4 election. Justin Alexander, a former Plainville fire chief now serving in Easton who was appointed to fill a committee vacancy, Stephen Albert, a 29-year town resident and father of six with children currently in the district, and Sarah Cronin, an economics-degree-holding mother of two new to the school system, all agreed the district has been hollowed out by budget cuts — losing band, foreign language, teachers, and paraprofessionals — but differed on emphasis. Alexander stressed long-game sustainability and municipal budget experience; Albert called for immediate restoration through inter-board cooperation and new growth revenue; Cronin flagged a pattern of parents pulling children into homeschooling or private schools and called for a strategic spending plan. All three dismissed critical race theory as a live local issue. Polls open at 7 a.m. Monday at the Public Safety Building, 194 South Street.