The nomination period has ended and there are officially eight candidates for the three open positions on the Lowell Joint School Board. If you look at the background of the candidates you will find that they all bring different types of experience to the table.
There are school board members, former school board members, teachers, former teachers, former district employees, attorneys, businesswomen, businessmen and parents.
What the board needs now is someone that can provide leadership and new ideas that can help address the issues facing the district.
We are in uncharted waters and it is time for us to "think outside of the box" and find new ways to generate revenue and cut expenses to balance the district's budget during these difficult economic times.
We must also continue to focus on providing a quality education to all children in the district, most likely with fewer resources at our disposal. This will require us to think of new and innovative ways to teach, including embracing new technology in the process.
We need to work closely with the dedicated group of teachers that have already helped the district to consistently improve its API scores over the past few years. It is evident from the recent interactions between the teachers and the board that there is a lack of trust and this must be addressed before we can all move forward.
The good news is that there are eight people interested in taking on the challenge. The better news is that we don't have to pick just one person as there are three openings on the board. This is a perfect opportunity to build a new board with diverse experiences and differing opinions on the direction for the future.
Over the next few months I will be sharing my vision for the future and I hope to earn one of your three votes on November 2nd.
