Three candidates are running for two seats on the Gorham School Committee.

Incumbent Kyle Currier will seek her third term on the board. Candidates Kyle Bailey, a nonprofit finance and budget professional, and John Doyle, an attorney and father of five young children, have not previously held office.

Committee member Roger Marchand is stepping down to create an open seat.

All three candidates said they support extending the district’s kindergarten program from a half-day to full-day – a topic that the school board has been debating for several years.

The two candidates who collect the most votes on Nov. 5 will each serve three-year terms.

Currier, 51, the board’s current chairwoman, is a certified public accountant who believes the committee is well served by her political and professional experience.

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“I see a public school system as an organization that is in the business of education,” she said.

The department, Currier said, needs to be willing to adapt to educational changes and economic challenges. She believes cooperation among students, parents, administrators and the community is the key to providing the best education.

Bailey, 30, would like to see more collaboration between Gorham schools and local colleges and business leaders.

Better preparing students for careers would be one of Bailey’s goals, if elected. He would also support investing in innovation in the classroom and building a “transparent and responsible budget,” he said.

Although Bailey does not have children in Gorham schools, he said, since the spring, he’s talked to hundreds of students, parents and teachers about their experiences with the district.

Doyle, whose five children are all under 7 years old, said he has “a personal stake in the quality of education provided in our schools.”

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As a Gorham homeowner, he said, he has an interest in seeing his tax dollars “deployed efficiently.”

Doyle said he has a “passion for education” and professional problem-solving skills that he would like to put to use to improve the quality of Gorham’s schools.

Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at 791-6364 or at:

lbridgers@pressherald.com

Twitter: @lesliebridgers


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