TOPSHAM — Voters reelected one school board member and chose three new faces to fill four open seats on the Maine School Administrative District 75 on Tuesday.
Sarah Ward was reelected with 2,400 votes, the highest vote total of any of the 11 candidates. Newcomers Nancy Chandler (2,119 votes), Mary Hobson (1,792 votes) and Douglas Dumont (1,580 votes) won the other three seats. All four winning candidates were endorsed by the Merrymeeting Teachers Association, the union representing teachers employed in MSAD 75.
Andrea Imrie has served on the school board since 2015 and was seeking reelection but fell short with 1,354 votes, according to the unofficial tally. Board member William Keleher was also seeking reelection but drew 1,296 votes.
Both Ward and Keleher won one-year seats on the school board in 2019.
Attempts to reach Ward Wednesday were unsuccessful. Ward previously told The Times Record that, if elected, she would work to make access to universal free meals available to all families, even after the coronavirus pandemic. She also aims to promote board transparency and communication between families and the school board.
Having won a 3-year term on the school board, Ward will continue working to educate children while keeping the communities of MSAD75 safe during a pandemic.
Chandler, a retired reading tutor and organic farmer, said she found that many people had no idea who the local candidates were. She said in a statement Wednesday that she was surprised at her margin of victory.
“I attribute my successes to name recognition, lots of door to door campaigning, and endorsement by the Merrymeeting Teachers Association,” Chandler said.
Chandler said the most important work of a school board member is to listen to the principals, the superintendent and parents about the problems they face as well as to hear recommendations to address those problems.
“Then SAD 75 school board members must weigh those recommendations with our own teaching experience to make our best judgments as to what will best create a positive and fun environment for the children to learn,” Chandler said. “We must weigh the need to add more teachers to have safe, smaller classes more days of the week with the cost to taxpayers of a larger school budget.”
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