About the Candidate

I’ve been involved in SAD 17 — as a parent, substitute teacher, afterschool program manager, volunteer and Music/Arts/Drama booster member — for 30 years. I now run a local nonprofit.

Education

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Previous campaigns and elected office(s) held

President of the Otisfield PTA, President of the Oxford Hills Music, Arts and Drama boosters 

Why are you running?

I love this district and was lucky to raise a child within this district, and now I’d like to have a hand in supporting our teachers and kids. There are some changes I’d like to see — I want the community to feel more heard, and I want families to feel more supported. I’m a firm believer in the idea of being the change you want to see, and so I’m running for this position on the school board.

Top three priorities

My top three goals, if I’m elected, are increasing community involvement, providing more transparency to the public and finding a solution to the bullying issues our kids are facing across the district.

What is the biggest challenge facing your area’s schools? The biggest opportunity?

Our schools are facing the same challenges that schools across Maine are facing: tighter and tighter budgets and costs that keep climbing.

That being said, this community amazes me every day. Many of us don’t have much to give, and yet, we give so much. That is our biggest opportunity. This community cares about its kids, and from what I’ve seen, many folks are passionate about what goes on in this district. I think we just need to work on getting more of those folks into our school board meetings.

If you could change one thing about how your local schools function, what would it be and why?

I feel that it’s currently difficult for many families to be involved in district decisions that impact their children. I want to make it easier for families to be involved, whether that’s by providing meeting summaries online or publicizing the recorded meetings on social media. 

In addition, I want to help better support our students, teachers and district employees. We have some amazing local nonprofits, all of which help fill the gaps whenever possible for folks in our district.

Do you think the state government is too involved in local schooling? Not involved enough? The right amount of involved? Explain your answer.

I don’t think there’s an easy answer here. I recognize that the state has to be involved on some level, but I also think it’s impossible for the state to know what’s best for each district. I think too much state involvement is what leads to teachers having to teach to standardized tests rather than focusing more on their own lesson plans. Yes, state involvement is necessary for things such as having minimum standards of education, but I worry we stopped trusting our teachers somewhere along the way.