{"id":2550,"date":"2026-05-22T00:01:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/sara-wilkinson-staples-ms\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T17:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T17:47:22","slug":"sara-wilkinson-staples-ms","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/sara-wilkinson-staples-ms\/","title":{"rendered":"Sara Wilkinson Staples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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About the Candidate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I am a tested education leader with over 15 years of experience in K-12 and adult education, leading educational programming, managed grants and digital equity initiatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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St. Lawrence University, Bachelor’s in English writing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Previous campaigns and elected office(s) held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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None<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Top three priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Support educators and strengthen school climate by fostering a positive, collaborative environment where staff feel valued and can focus on the needs of all students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support education initiatives that will prepare students with 21st-century skills with instruction that builds communication, critical thinking, creativity and civic engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Champion One Campus\/One Community initiatives through thoughtful planning, clear communication and responsible fiscal stewardship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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After the Artemis II mission, astronaut Christina Koch described seeing Earth from space and realizing we are all \u201cone crew on a lifeboat in the sea of the universe.\u201d That image resonated with me and prompted reflection on how I contribute to my own community. I have a deep passion for education and broad experience, and I hope to use both \u2014 along with a collaborative spirit \u2014 to support MSAD 51\u2019s dedicated, skilled \u201ccrew.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What is the biggest challenge facing your area\u2019s schools? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Like many Maine districts, MSAD 51 faces challenges ranging from funding pressures to teaching content in an ever-evolving digital environment and addressing student mental health needs. These challenges intersect with key opportunities, including managing continued growth, expanding pre-K programming, and realizing the One Campus\/One Community vision. Meeting this moment will require thoughtful planning and strong collaboration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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If you could change one thing about how your local schools functions, what would it be and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Students in MSAD 51 benefit from a strong community commitment to education. Combined with dedicated leadership and skilled teaching and support staff, the district is thriving. I encourage continued review and refinement of practices to ensure equitable access for all students, including but not limited to attention to Title IX policies and the digital equity implications of personal laptop use at the high school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Do you think the state government is too involved in local schooling? Not involved enough? The right amount of involved? Explain your answer.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The state plays a key role in education \u2014 setting standards, funding schools, ensuring accountability, licensing educators, and upholding equity and student rights. I believe it falls short in enforcing some laws, such as LD 291, where stronger oversight is needed to ensure full implementation of Wabanaki studies. It also falls short in funding: for example, the Essential Programs and Services formula does not fully cover special education, and the cellphone policy is not funded sufficiently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2760,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Sara","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Wilkinson","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Staples","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":2544,"voter_guide_candidate_age":55,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Program coordinator and educator at South Portland Adult Education","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"","voter_guide_candidate_education":"","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_state":0,"voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":0,"voter_guide_candidate_time_in_area":"25 years","voter_guide_candidate_website":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1hKB_dQtlz3EyCsulmOleQZH5otkVFjf2","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","voter_guide_candidate_incumbent_years":"","voter_guide_candidate_is_clean_elections":false,"footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[407],"class_list":["post-2550","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-democratic","vg_residence_municipality-cumberland"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/2550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/2550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3299,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/2550\/revisions\/3299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=2550"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=2550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}