According to David Green, Republican candidate for School Committee, much of the discussion generated by the recent school custodian outsourcing debate missed the point.

"There was a lot of air time and emotion on the issue that had nothing to do with our children," said Green in a recent interview.

"It isn't a knock on the custodians or the fine work that any individual or group of individuals does." But, he added, "if I can save $10 bucks…"

In Green's view, the School Committee's goal, or "product" in his parlance, is an educated child. So, for Green, the opportunity to save money on custodial services and shift that money to the students or back to the taxpayers just makes sense.

"That's where I should focus all my attention," said the 58-year-old Green.

The School Committee voted to outsource custodial services last spring amid rancorous public debate. After the custodial union filed an unfair labor practices complaint, the two sides finally came to agreement, with the custodians accepting lower wages and a higher health care co-pay in return for a three-year contract.

When asked about the argument that it is important to provide a living wage to employees, Green said, "The schools are not in the business of creating jobs."

"How much more of a premium are you willing to pay for a car so that the mechanic can make more?" he said. "The School Committee doesn't have a bucket of money that is theirs. It's ours," said Green, meaning the taxpayers. "Their job is not employment."

Green, who retired from Textron in 2008, began his career as a chemist, but by the end of his career, he'd moved into human resources. In that job, he oversaw the outsourcing of hundreds of employees in four countries.

"You have to be very careful who you are outsourcing to," Green said. He said that careful contract evaluation was one area of the custodial outsourcing issue that appeared to be lacking. "It looked haphazard."

Green feels strongly about teacher tenure, too.

"I believe tenure is the worst thing we've ever done to our children," he said. "We need to work at restoring the balance of management rights."

He's all for paying teachers well – as long as there's accountability.

"I wouldn't mind paying $60,000, $65,000 for a first-year teacher, but I need to know that I'm only paying for performance," said Green. A first-year teacher in East Greenwich currently makes $38,238.

The off hours

Now that Green's largely retired – he does some part-time human resources consulting– he has time for things like running for School Committee. He is also able to devote more time to pursue woodworking, a hobby he's had since high school shop class.

"My wife will tell me what she wants and, if I can see a picture of it, I can make it," he said. He made their kitchen table, among other pieces of furniture around their Squirrel Lane house.

Green is a member of the town Personnel Board and president of his homeowner association, two pursuits he took on after he left Textron.

Green has another passion: his Harley Davidson. He and his wife, Kathy, rode a motorcycle in the early days of their courtship. After marriage and kids – they have two grown children – their motorcycle days seemed over. But Green got a new bike a few years ago. When he and Kathy aren't riding the roads together, he enjoys nothing more than getting lost on rural roads.