West Bath School District will face some big questions and decisions in the coming year, and the three candidates running for the two open seats on the school board have a few ideas about how best to proceed.

Below are the responses the candidates gave about themselves and their relationship to the West Bath community, how they would adjust the school budget, and the experiences they would bring to the board if elected.

Candidate responses have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity.

Courtesy of Joanne Powers

Joanne Powers running for reelection

Powers has lived in West Bath for over 50 years and recently retired after teaching for 35 years in the elementary schools of Regional School Unit 1.

“I am running for my third term on the school board to fulfill my civic responsibility,” Powers said. “I bring my years of experience as an educator to this board.”

The district’s challenges include maintaining the facility and providing sufficient staffing to preserve high-quality education for students, she said.

“If elected to the board, I would continue my role on the Facilities Committee,” Powers said. “We review the maintenance needed to maintain a safe and efficient school building and prioritize the projects to be completed each year.”

She would support continuing to send 75% of middle and high school students to neighboring Regional School Unit 1.

As a former teacher in RSU 1, Powers is familiar with the district’s goals. She says RSU 1 has effective educators who set high expectations for student achievement and behavior and believes the new Morse High School and Bath Tech offer a range of programming to meet the educational needs of our West Bath students.

“The parents want to maintain the low student-teacher ratio, and the taxpayers question the need for their recent tax increase,” Powers said. “I will keep these concerns in mind when reviewing our superintendent’s budget proposals.”

Courtesy of Robert Weir

Robert Weir

Weir grew up in a small town in northwestern Vermont, 20 miles from the Canadian border.

“I received a [bachelor’s] degree in forest science from UMaine in Orono,” Weir said. “Then, I received a master’s degree and [doctorate] in forestry, with a minor in genetics from North Carolina State University.”

NCSU then hired him to direct the Forest Tree Improvement Research program. Weir retired after 30 years and moved to West Bath in 2007.

“Serving on the school board would allow me to contribute to the West Bath community, and I believe a good education is a pathway to success in life,” Weir said.

He wants to work on behalf of the residents and children of West Bath to ensure that pressures to economize and keep taxes low do not diminish the value and quality of West Bath’s education system.

“The West Bath School District has a great reputation for success — our students receive an excellent education,” Weir said. “However, K through 12 education costs more than half of the West Bath annual budget, and there is ever-present pressure to economize.”

Weir said the State of Maine considers West Bath a “minimum receiver school district.”  This means that instead of receiving 55% of the K-12 education costs as required by state law, West Bath — and 39 other minimum-receiver school districts — receive only 5.5% of the K-12 education costs.

He believes the West Bath School District must negotiate a new contract with a nearby school district to accommodate tuition students for grades 6-12 in the coming year. The current contract, which has a 10-year duration, expires at the end of this school year and guarantees that 75% of these tuition students will attend RSU 1 middle and high school.

Courtney Giovinazzi

Giovinazzi grew up in a small, coastal, rural town and attended a small town school, which, like West Bath, funneled into a regional middle school and high school. She has lived in West Bath for 10 years and, before that, lived in Bath for seven years. She has a bachelor’s degree in painting and runs a fine art painting business located in Bath.

“The school board has a great effect on education and taxes, and I would like to collaborate with other town officials and the community to achieve maximum results,” Giovinazzi said.

She said the town went through a revaluation last year, which raised taxes considerably. This year, the tax rate went up, and many residents were surprised because the town had such a great increase in tax revenue from the revaluation.

Giovinazzi said the school receives 59% of the property tax distribution, which significantly affects the taxes. West Bath gets a small portion of money from the state to help the school, compared to the state’s usual 55% distribution, with the school receiving under 10%.

The state considers the over 200 seasonal homes in West Bath that pay taxes but do not use the services as an extra source of income. The owners of these homes contribute to West Bath but do not use the school, which is the town’s main expense.

“Conservatively, this could be about $800,000,” Giovinazzi said. “What would happen if 20 or even 10 of these homeowners chose to live here and send their children to the school? Their taxes would go up, and everyone’s taxes would go up.”

Giovinazzi does not think that is right with Maine already suffering economically and believes the answers need to come from West Bath and the state.

“Education has changed a lot over the last 20 years, and I hope to assure the parents of West Bath that their children are receiving the best,” Giovinazzi said.

Giovinazzi did not provide a headshot.