Children first.
Every dollar accounted for.
I’m Dan Hersey. I live in the Riverview neighborhood with my wife Tara, in the house she grew up in, and our daughter Charlotte was born last summer. Warwick has been Tara’s home her whole life, we chose it as ours, and the question of whether the district Charlotte and every other Warwick kid grow up in is being run well is the question that put me in this race.
I’m running for District 2 because the work in front of this committee is operational before it is anything else, and Warwick voters told us so in February when they rejected the supplemental bond. The next term has to begin by answering the question they were asking: is the district being run well enough today to justify being asked for more money tomorrow?
General Election · Nov. 3, 2026
Why I’m running
Charlotte starts kindergarten in 2030. The decisions this committee makes between now and then are the decisions that shape the school she walks into, and every other school in this district.
— Dan Hersey
How Dan Works
The job is operational, not theatrical.
Three commitments for how I’ll do this job. None of them are flashy. All of them are what voters want from a school committee member after the bond vote.
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Account for every dollar
My job, day to day, is to take complicated financial material and translate it into language a non-expert can follow. I think a school committee should treat its own budget with at least that level of care. The work means actual transparency rather than the appearance of it, regular reporting on contract performance, and a habit of asking the underlying data questions until somebody can answer them.
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Be straight with parents
Plain language, no spin, no movement vocabulary. If a contract is bad I will say so, if a vote is hard I will explain the reasoning behind mine, and if a parent asks a question they will get an answer rather than a press statement. Public bodies tend to default to hedging, and I do not plan to bring more of that habit into this one.
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Show up between elections
A school committee member should be present in the neighborhoods between elections, not just in the weeks before one. The actual habits are not complicated: open office hours at the library on a published cadence, visits to schools across the district on regular days, and being reachable by email and phone the way a sitting member ought to be.
Where Dan Stands
Three issues, all Warwick-specific.
In February, Warwick voters said no to a $50 million bond that would have finished the athletic facilities at the new high schools and funded city recreation projects. The committee’s next term has to take that seriously, and here is where I’ll focus.
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Budget, costs, and Providence
Children come first. Costs come in check. Every dollar accounted for.
Voters rejected the February bond because they wanted a clearer plan for the district that exists today. The next term should start with honest questions about the deficit, health-care costs, and what the state mandates without funding.
What I’ll push for -
The schools our kids will actually attend
The work of this committee is making sure every classroom in District 2 works the day a kid walks into it.
Capital planning for the elementary schools, special-education programming, teacher retention, and transportation deserve the same seriousness the politics get.
What I’ll push for -
Show up and report back
A committee member should be reachable between elections, not just before them.
A lot of the trust gap between school committees and parents is a communication gap. I want to bring clear writing, real response times, and a year-round presence in the neighborhoods I represent.
What I’ll push for
Powered by Neighbors
The work starts now.
I’m on the ballot November 3, and between now and then my time goes where the job is — committee meetings, budget documents, and front doors across District 2. Tell me what you’re seeing in Warwick schools, or ask for a lawn sign, and I’ll write back personally.