Brunswick voters will choose a new at-large School Department Board candidate on June 10, in addition to voting on the school budget.

Two candidates, Katie Stansky and Shaun Hogan, are vying for the seat. Stansky hopes to continue the trajectory of the school board and the superintendent’s strategic plan, while Hogan has built his campaign on being a conservative voice in a largely left-leaning town.

Both are competing for one of two at-large positions, left vacant after the resignation of former board member Abigail Abbott, who beat Hogan for the same post in November.

Shaun Hogan

Hogan came to Brunswick about 20 years ago as a member of the Navy stationed at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station. He now works as a driving instructor and worked for a time as a substitute teacher at Brunswick schools, he said. Hogan is vocal in town meetings about cutting spending and his campaign signs around Brunswick decry the inclusion of transgender athletes in girls’ sports.

Hogan said his position as a Brunswick resident without children sets him apart from current school board members.

“I am one of the taxpayers in this town who pays money into the School Department, but I don’t actually have any children going through the school department,” Hogan said. “A big part of my platform is I want to be a voice that represents all of Brunswick.”

Hogan said he is focused on making “fiscally responsible” decisions as Brunswick undergoes a property tax reassessment and sees current School Department spending as superfluous.

“A lot of the decisions I’ve taken issue with in recent years with the School Department is they’re spending money on things that were nice to have, but do we really need them?” Hogan said.

Shaun Hogan. Courtesy of Shaun Hogan

The Brunswick town manager recommended approval of a $57.71 million school budget following a presentation by the school board on April 10. That budget reflects a roughly 5.26% increase from the previous year and will result in an estimated 1.8% tax rate increase. As in previous years, the town’s highest expenditure is education, comprising more than half of the total budget.

Hogan has brought national conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion and transgender student athletes in sports into the center of his campaign.

“I personally would like to get back to a framework where we are hiring people, we are grading students, whatever it might be, through the perspective of merit,” Hogan said.

While Hogan said transgender students have a right to participate in sports, he argued that their team should align with their sex assigned at birth.

“I believe that girls need to have a space where they don’t have roster spots taken from them, where they have the opportunity to earn accolades and championships in fair competition,” Hogan said.

State law, as laid out in the Maine Human Rights Act, prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and therefore protects transgender students from being denied educational and extracurricular opportunities. The Maine Principals Association, which governs high school athletics, has defended its policy allowing transgender students to compete on their chosen team despite repeated threats from the Trump administration to pull federal funding if state policies don’t change.

Katie Stansky

Stansky is a Maine native raising her two kids who go to Brunswick schools. She works in public health in the field of digital health care, which she said allows her to make decisions based on data.

“The thing [Brunswick residents] can do right now in support of the future of Brunswick students is they can go and vote, and they can vote for a candidate who has the qualifications to best serve the needs of the Brunswick students,” Stansky said.

She said her platform is based on a belief that every student should get what they need. To achieve this, Stansky said the board must protect schools as safe, welcoming and equitable spaces; evolve the Brunswick curriculum to match the needs of students; and make “sustainable investments, with an eye on being financially responsible.”

Katie Stansky. Courtesy of Katie Stansky

“The direction that exists today, as laid out by the superintendent and the school board in the strategic plan, is one that’s strong,” Stansky said.

Stansky said she wants to see Brunswick schools expand on curriculum based in critical thinking and social and emotional skills.

“Does [social and emotional learning] account for enough of their time, whether they’re in kindergarten, learning how to express their feelings or in 11th grade and they are thinking about, ‘What does my use of technology look like when I graduate?'” Stansky said.

When it comes to national issues like diversity, equity and inclusion and transgender athletes, Stansky said it is the board’s “duty and responsibility to protect and support all students regardless of who they are.”

“The school board, just like the state, just like the Maine Principal’s Association, is bound by the laws of the state Constitution,” Stansky said.

Stansky added that she does not support bringing kids’ identities into political campaigns.

“I do push back on a candidate who wants to sit on the school board using this national flashpoint as the basis of his campaign,” Stansky said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate; I don’t think it’s what parents, students, faculty of Brunswick want.”

Voters can now request absentee ballots for the June 10 election and school budget vote. More information on voter registration, polling places and more is available on the town website.