1.  How many years have you lived in Maine? 
12 yrs.

2.  What experiences, motivations, and leadership styles will make you an effective School Committee representative? 
I have 3 children and have been an involved parent in Portland Schools since 1998.  I am currently President of the Presumpscot PTO, though I plan to resign this fall.  Over the years I have been involved with a variety of causes, workshops and committees, including the City’s Comprehensive Plan, the State’s School Funding Formula, Portland Schools Study Circles, the East Deering Asset Builders, the Family Living Committee, EFTF2, the Ocean Ave School Building Committee, and most recently the Facilities Task Force.

I am motivated by a very positive experience with Portland Schools, and hope to work to maintain high standards, and also to reverse the negative image Portland has acquired most recently. 

My leadership style is situational.  I can identify with the personal style of my audience and adapt to the work at hand.

3.  If elected, what would your top three priorities be?  How do they affect young people in Portland? 
My top 3 priorities would be:
1. To continue to restore respect and confidence in the School Committee.
2. To help increase enrollment at all grade levels and thus increase our share of the State funding formula.
3. To provide a balance between fiscal responsibility and educational programs without detracting from the quality of education.

I hope that young people in Portland will start to see the positive side of Portland Schools, and that they will be encouraged to make their permanent homes here and become involved members of the community themselves.

4.  Please share one positive change you have seen in our schools and in the School Committee over the last year?
Since last year’s budget woes, I’ve seen a concerted effort by both School Administration and School Committee to involve the public and to make the budget process more comprehensive.

5.  Please share one frustrating change you have seen in our schools and in School Committee over the last year?
Please see question 17.

6.  What competing responsibilities do you have professionally and personally?
I am currently employed part time as the Office Manager for Sullivan Multi Family Realty.
I help run the Back Bay Lacrosse Club (grades 3-8) and coach Girls 7/8th in the spring.

7.  How would you make Portland schools more effective and cost efficient?
I think a way to make Portland Schools more effective is to have greater parent involvement.  I would like to see a district wide parent email list to keep parents informed about happenings in the schools, and offer ways that they can involve themselves in their child’s education. 

The School Administration is already looking at ways to reduce energy costs by partnering with neighbouring towns for transportation.  I would like to explore ways to reduce energy consumption in facilities as well, and would like to continue to explore possible partnering opportunities in other areas.  As a member of the Facilities Task Force, I hope to work toward consolidating facilities in addition to devising a plan to renovate aging buildings, making them energy efficient in the process.

8.  How do we increase the number of high school students furthering their education?
I have heard that Casco Bay H.S. students take some classes at USM, and I believe offering this to more H.S. students could have an impact on increasing higher education numbers.  There are a variety of reasons that high school students may opt to go straight into the workforce and I think it’s important to look at the different factors causing a student to opt out of college, and to address them individually.

9.  What is your philosophy around early childhood education?
The trend in education is to provide pre-K classes for all children.  Studies show that children who start school at an earlier age develop higher IQ’s.  Children in the U.S. typically spend fewer hours in school between the ages of 5 and 18 than children in other countries.  Many countries start educating their children at age 4.  With increased attention on globalization, I believe it is imperative to give our children all the advantages in education we can.

10.  What is your experience in your community involving with individuals with:
a. Disabilities?  As a PTO member I have helped to ensure that children with disabilities could be included in all school activities, and that the new playground at Presumpscot had wheelchair accessibility.
b. Low-income backgrounds?  Also as a PTO member of a socio-economically diverse school, I have worked to involve kids from all backgrounds in school events.  We offered ways for parents to involve themselves in their child’s school outside regular school hours for our neighbourhood’s large number of single & working parents.  I was involved in the East Deering Asset Builders where we worked to bring a sense of community back to the neighbourhood, and to give neighbours the sense of being valued.  We hosted storytelling where we invited neighbours from all age groups and cultural backgrounds to talk about their heritage.  We hosted seminars about child safety and bullying, and held bike safety classes, etc.
c. In the process of English as a second language?  East Deering has a growing ELL population and I have been thrilled that my children have had the opportunity to attend a culturally diverse school.  I have also seen the challenges that are present in educating ELL students.  For example, at Presumpscot there is no ELL program, and yet some families choose to decline services at the East End School in order to send their children to their neighbourhood school.  These children essentially experience full immersion in the English language, and while they seem to pick up the language quite well, there are challenges with reading and writing.  To see that the needs of these children were met, we worked with Central Office and the School Committee to have a full time ELL teacher.  Both the school and the PTO also do an excellent job with involving ELL parents in the school as much as possible, and are diligent in ensuring that word gets out about important events.

11.  How would you work to increase diverse constituent participation in:
a. School committee meetings?  Better ways of informing constituents of agenda – this would be a good one for a more inclusive email list, which is an inexpensive way to get the word out.  It has been my experience that most people have email (including ELL community members who look to family and friends to help translate).  We could also look at holding meetings at different locations and/or have transportation, but these are methods that are already practiced occasionally and may have costs associated.
b. Public forums around school issues and the superintendent hiring process?  Same as above.

12.  In a few sentences, describe yourself in high school. 
I attended 2 very different High Schools:  An English girls’ boarding school from age 11 – 16, and then a Scottish co-ed school from 16 – 18.  In both schools I was popular and friends with everyone.  I received good grades in all subjects, but my favourite class was Art.  I was in the drama club and played the flute, and in athletics I played on the lacrosse, tennis and netball teams.  Overall my experience of going from private to public school slapped me with a huge reality check, and gave me an appreciation of people from all walks of life.

13.  How effective are the Maine State Learning Results?  What do you think a good evaluation of our public school students would look like? 
As a means of being in compliance with the NCLB act, I believe the Maine State Learning Results are an effective way to evaluate learning in different schools, and give schools the data they need to see where they can improve.  On the other hand, I worry that they don’t show the full impact of various subgroups in the data, and make it look like Portland ranks lower than other districts in the area.  I think this perpetuates middle class family migration to the suburbs.  I would like to see a better way of tracking our subgroups and a better formula to apply their scores to the MSLR data.

14.  Do you have kids and where do they attend school?  If they attend private institutions what was the single biggest factor in removing them from public school?
I have 3 children in Portland Schools:  One at Presumpscot Elementary, one at Moore Middle, and the other at Deering High.

15.  How would you work with principals and teachers to address school policy changes and issues?
I believe it is essential to solicit feedback from principals and teachers with regard to any school policy change/issue that may affect them.  I would welcome hearing from them/meeting with them to work out any kinks before changes are instituted.

16.  How would you work to ensure quality education is provided to students who are learning English as a second language?
I do not know enough about the ELL program to speculate on how they would be better educated, but I would love to see their families involved in their child’s education more, and encouraged to practice English with their child. 

17.  What are your thoughts/perspectives about the process of the Ocean Avenue Elementary School development plan? 
I have been involved in the process for a while.  I participated on the EFTF2, and attended most 3x3 meetings.  I was initially opposed to the idea of closing Nathan Clifford, and felt that renovation was in the best interest of the Nathan Clifford population.  I was taken aback by the political agenda surrounding the issue.  Ultimately, when it became a matter of State money for a new school or no money at all, the decision to support the Ocean Ave School was necessary.  I am now a member of the Building Committee, and am excited to work with a good group of people on Portland’s newest school.

18.  What criteria do you find necessary in the hiring of the future superintendent? 
Experience with diverse school populations
Ability to work with a tight budget
Someone who has been successful in marketing his/her district
I would NOT like to see a person with a history of cutting programs and/or closing schools

19. Studies show that students benefit when attending schools that are more balanced, socio-economically.  Would you support considering socio-economic status as a factor when it comes to school redistricting?
I agree completely that students benefit from attending such schools since my children have experienced this.  I am supportive of maintaining as much diversity as possible in redistricting, but do not support forcing a balance on schools that may not otherwise have it.

20.  Younger students are the most adept at picking up foreign language skills.  Do you support the creation of an early foreign language program for Portland's schools?
I am 100% supportive of an early foreign language program.  My eldest child benefited from the program we used to have which started in 3rd grade.  My other 2 children missed out.  Early foreign language programs are important to families when researching schools, and I am convinced that it needs to be part of the district’s offerings in order to be competitive with neighbouring school districts.