GORHAM – Four candidates, including the incumbent chairman, are in a contest for three seats on the Gorham School Committee in the municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

The candidates are incumbent Dennis Libby, Timothy Burns, Anne Lawrence and Sara Nelson. Katherine Garrard and Polly Shields are not seeking re-election.

The seats are all three-year terms. All the candidates cite challenging budgets and providing education for students in the present economy as key issues.

The American Journal asked the same questions of each of the four about their candidacy. What follows are their responses:

Tim Burns

Age: 50

Marital status: Married, two children

Occupation: Director of customer operations, FairPoint Communications

Political experience: None

Q: Why do you want to serve the School Committee?

A: We moved to Gorham four years ago and I want to give something back by serving the community.

Q: What are the two top issues facing Gorham schools?

A: I believe the top two issues confronting the Gorham School District are very much related: how to continue to provide a well-rounded, first-class education to our children at every level in the school system while operating within the current economic environment.

Anne Lawrence

Age: 56

Marital status: Divorced, three children

Occupation: Radiology representative, Maine Medical Center; small business owner, A&C Cleaning, South Portland

Q: Why do you want to serve on the School Committee?

A: I have no political experience but I do possess the experience of being a mother to three and the entrepreneurial experience of owning and running my own successful small business. I do not believe one needs any political experience to run for this position and any concerned taxpayer can run for the job.

I would like to serve on the School Committee because I am concerned with the school system in their spending. Having three sons go through the Gorham schools, I recognize many of the issues faced by the Gorham school system. These issues need to be fixed immediately, or else they will fall on the backs of our children.

My major challenges on the committee will be to maintain the school’s budget, and to make the best choices with the funds that we currently have. As a committee member, I would be focusing on a safe learning environment for the children while being economical.

As a small business owner I am always looking at ways to cut my expenses, as I plan on doing the same as a committee member. I’ll be applying my skills as a business owner to help with the school budget.

Q: What are the two top issues facing Gorham schools?

A: The egregious spending and waste in the Gorham school system. This problem affects all taxpaying members of the town. Many public services are being cut while usable money in the school system continues to be wasted.

I believe another issue facing Gorham schools is the process of analyzing the job performance of Gorham teachers. Gorham teachers should be crucially reviewed yearly for re-hire based on performance and student comprehension. As most professions outside the educational field are reviewed based on performance, I too believe teachers should be held to the same standards.

Dennis C. Libby

Age: 44

Marital status: Married, three children

Occupation: Self-employed contractor

Political experience: Served the past six years on the Gorham School Committee, the last three as chairman

Q: Why do you want to serve on the School Committee?

A: I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of a district that is helping mold our students into valuable citizens, and I would like to continue to do that.

Q: What are the two top issues facing Gorham schools?

A: A major issue facing Gorham is how we continue to provide opportunities for our students to grow, during a time of a serious economic downturn and diminishing resources for education. During my past six years on the School Committee, we have seen the economy force the decision-makers in Augusta to abandon the mandate to fund 55 percent of education, as was passed by state referendum. As part of that law, the Essential Programs and Services formula was developed to identify the minimum a school district should provide its students. This formula is the basis of what the 55 percent state funding would support. During my time on the School Committee, the state was supposed to ramp up its funding for education to meet this mandate, but due to the change in the economy, the state’s percentage is now less than when the law was put in place. The result of these actions has put more of the burden on the local municipalities. I am proud to say that the Gorham School District recognized that, and has not passed the burden on to its taxpayers. In fact, the portion of the local tax bill dedicated to education has been on the decline my entire time in office and is 3.8 percent less than when I came to the School Committee six years ago. Saying that, I am even more proud to say that during the last six years, we have not cut any programs, and in fact we have expanded several to better suit the needs of our students. Also, during this time, our enrollment has been very steady, and there has been little to no change in our student teacher ratios.

Another major issue, and arguably the most important one, facing the Gorham School Department is how we interact with our public. While it is the School Committee’s duty to set policy and oversee all 2.700 students and nearly 400 staff members, whenever there is a question or concern by anyone, we must have a system in place to address that one person’s needs. This is something I feel very strongly about, and we do our best to meet this challenge, but I will always keep this as one of our most important tasks, and look for ways to improve this system.

Sara Nelson

Age: 42

Marital status: Married, two children

Occupation: 2002-current, Target Analytics; owner, The Dreamy Dragonfly; stylist, Stella & Dot

Political experience: None

Q: Why do you want to serve the School Committee?

A: I am an active school volunteer (since 2005) in the classroom and with the Partners In Education group. I served on the Gorham Educational Foundation for two years, one as board president. I am passionate about our children’s education and how we, as a community, are preparing them for the future. As a member of the School Committee, I will have another opportunity to assist in shaping our children’s future.

Q: What are the two top issues facing Gorham schools?

A: Among the top issues facing our schools is increasing budget restrictions that impact administrators, teachers and our children. Working through allocating funds in a fiscally responsible manner to support the needs of our educational programs, infrastructure and growing community continues to be a goal.

A developing curriculum is at the heart of our schools. It is how we serve our community and our children. A world of ever-changing technology and standards forces us to be nimble so that we are creating an educational experience that will take our community far into the future. Providing opportunities for children to learn the basics of reading and math are as important as the opportunities we provide them in developing life skills that will carry them as they grow. Striking that balance as a School Committee and partnering with the school community to achieve this is essential.