Five candidates stump for two Board of Education seats
By David Harry
Staff Writer
Voters will choose three Board of Education members from a field of five candidates in the elections on Nov. 3. Each candidate is seeking a three-year term.
Three of the candidates, Jane M. Wiseman, 49; Jacquelyn A. “Jackie” Perry, 72; and Annalee Z. Rosenblatt, 65; are incumbents. James P. Shields, 48, is making his first run for public office and Robert C. Mitchell, 49, is looking to return to the board he served on from 2000 to 2006.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Scarborough High School.
Shields said he is running because he worries about potential deterioration of local schools.
“We have excellent schools, our test scores are high,” Shields said, adding that he moved to town because he heard it was a good place to educate his two children. Shields and his wife Linda Faber-Shields moved to Scarborough from Madison, Wis., in 2001.
Shields, who is a marketing analysis manager for Westbrook-based Idexx Labs, said the disparity between per pupil spending between Scarborough and neighboring towns and lower teacher salaries could create deterioration in the system “that is hard to come back from.”
In considering how he would like to serve if elected, Shields said he hopes to work on the curriculum and budget committees, and would like to see the schools offer more technology courses as a way to help attract more businesses and jobs to town.
Shields has volunteered as a scoutmaster and teaches science on weekends at the Chinese School, operated in Portland by the Chinese and American Friendship Society of Maine.
“I am hoping people want a fresh face,” Shields said of his run for the board.
Seeking her second term on the board, Wiseman said she places an emphasis on providing the best resources for students and teachers.
Doing so will be challenging, she said, because she anticipates more decreases in state funding in the next budget.
“I do see state curtailments, and that is where the hard work begins,” Wiseman said.
Wiseman, who has lived in town with her husband Cash Wiseman since 1991, currently has one child in local schools and another who graduated from them. She said her volunteer work as a cheering coach and with football boosters led her to run in 2006.
In her first term, she said helping the policy committee create procedures to help students with food allergies and a competitive bidding process for purchasing are the accomplishments most important to her.
Wiseman said she felt communication between the board and town councilors was good although “the budget process last year was very difficult.”
Wiseman, like Shields, said she would like to see more technological courses in the curriculum.
“We need to be sure to provide the curriculum required to meet the needs of all of the students to ensure their future success,” she said.
When he decided not to run for a third term in 2006, Mitchell said, “It was time to step down.”
This year, he is seeking to return to the board, where he was chairman in 2006 and first elected in 2000.
“I am going back because of the environment,” Mitchell, said.
An actuary for Portland-based UNUM, Mitchell said he is a Scarborough native raised by Scarborough teachers. He and his wife Barabra have a daughter in high school.
While on the board, he served on, and was chairman of, the finance committee. He said the accomplishments he helped with included eliminating the use of bonds to pay for district projects and operations.
‘The only things that should be bonded are big buildings, large fire trucks and public works equipment,” Mitchell said.
He liked the addition to the high school because it was “not high frills, but high quality and practical for years to come.”
Mitchell said the town delivers good value for what is spent on schools. He would like to see a “collaborative, upfront effort” between the board and Town Council when setting the budget each year.
“I have always been more of a moderate,” Mitchell said about budget issues, seeking “maximum opportunity for each $1 given.”
Perry first won a board seat in 1977. She has not served continuously since then, but is seeking a full term now after finishing two years of an unexpired term.
“I haven’t finished what I would like to do,” Perry said.
A former physical education teacher in Portland, Perry is unmarried and has no children.
Now serving as the chief negotiator for the board as it works with teachers and administrators on a new contract, Perry said she wants to see the process through.
“Both groups have been very patient,” Perry said about negotiations.
At the same time, she said a lack of communication between the board and Town Council made the last budget process “a little more difficult.”
“The toughest thing as a school board member is not being able to have a meaningful dialogue with the council on priorities,” Perry said.
Perry said she is unsure what to expect for next year because of potential state subsidy reductions while labor negotiations continue.
More state and federal demands on local education mean the school day should be extended, Perry said.
“We need to inform the citizens why we need more time and we will have to pay for it,” Perry said.
An educational consultant seeking her third term, Rosenblatt said serving on the board “is a natural progression.”
“I have always been highly involved in civic affairs,” she said.
She said she was frustrated during the last budget process when councilors called for additional cuts without suggesting where they might be made, but said overall disagreements should be part of creating a budget.
“I like a collaborative, not a begging process,” Rosenblatt said, adding she wants more meetings between the board and Town Council finance committees to clarify budget goals and objectives.
Rosenblatt said some of her accomplishments in her first two terms include helping add student representatives to the board and creating a competitive bidding process for purchases and services.
She is also working to create job descriptions for school department positions and helping evaluate salaries and benefits for union employees in the department.
Rosenblatt said she is also negotiator with the teachers and wants to continue in the process.
Rosenblatt said too much time is being spent teaching things better left to parents.
“We devote a lot of time to teaching social and behavioral skills and nutrition and eating habits,” Rosenblatt said.
That eliminates time and money that could be spent on other subjects, she said.
Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219
Staff Writer
Voters will choose three Board of Education members from a field of five candidates in the elections on Nov. 3. Each candidate is seeking a three-year term.
Three of the candidates, Jane M. Wiseman, 49; Jacquelyn A. “Jackie” Perry, 72; and Annalee Z. Rosenblatt, 65; are incumbents. James P. Shields, 48, is making his first run for public office and Robert C. Mitchell, 49, is looking to return to the board he served on from 2000 to 2006.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Scarborough High School.
Shields said he is running because he worries about potential deterioration of local schools.
“We have excellent schools, our test scores are high,” Shields said, adding that he moved to town because he heard it was a good place to educate his two children. Shields and his wife Linda Faber-Shields moved to Scarborough from Madison, Wis., in 2001.
Shields, who is a marketing analysis manager for Westbrook-based Idexx Labs, said the disparity between per pupil spending between Scarborough and neighboring towns and lower teacher salaries could create deterioration in the system “that is hard to come back from.”
In considering how he would like to serve if elected, Shields said he hopes to work on the curriculum and budget committees, and would like to see the schools offer more technology courses as a way to help attract more businesses and jobs to town.
Shields has volunteered as a scoutmaster and teaches science on weekends at the Chinese School, operated in Portland by the Chinese and American Friendship Society of Maine.
“I am hoping people want a fresh face,” Shields said of his run for the board.
Seeking her second term on the board, Wiseman said she places an emphasis on providing the best resources for students and teachers.
Doing so will be challenging, she said, because she anticipates more decreases in state funding in the next budget.
“I do see state curtailments, and that is where the hard work begins,” Wiseman said.
Wiseman, who has lived in town with her husband Cash Wiseman since 1991, currently has one child in local schools and another who graduated from them. She said her volunteer work as a cheering coach and with football boosters led her to run in 2006.
In her first term, she said helping the policy committee create procedures to help students with food allergies and a competitive bidding process for purchasing are the accomplishments most important to her.
Wiseman said she felt communication between the board and town councilors was good although “the budget process last year was very difficult.”
Wiseman, like Shields, said she would like to see more technological courses in the curriculum.
“We need to be sure to provide the curriculum required to meet the needs of all of the students to ensure their future success,” she said.
When he decided not to run for a third term in 2006, Mitchell said, “It was time to step down.”
This year, he is seeking to return to the board, where he was chairman in 2006 and first elected in 2000.
“I am going back because of the environment,” Mitchell, said.
An actuary for Portland-based UNUM, Mitchell said he is a Scarborough native raised by Scarborough teachers. He and his wife Barabra have a daughter in high school.
While on the board, he served on, and was chairman of, the finance committee. He said the accomplishments he helped with included eliminating the use of bonds to pay for district projects and operations.
‘The only things that should be bonded are big buildings, large fire trucks and public works equipment,” Mitchell said.
He liked the addition to the high school because it was “not high frills, but high quality and practical for years to come.”
Mitchell said the town delivers good value for what is spent on schools. He would like to see a “collaborative, upfront effort” between the board and Town Council when setting the budget each year.
“I have always been more of a moderate,” Mitchell said about budget issues, seeking “maximum opportunity for each $1 given.”
Perry first won a board seat in 1977. She has not served continuously since then, but is seeking a full term now after finishing two years of an unexpired term.
“I haven’t finished what I would like to do,” Perry said.
A former physical education teacher in Portland, Perry is unmarried and has no children.
Now serving as the chief negotiator for the board as it works with teachers and administrators on a new contract, Perry said she wants to see the process through.
“Both groups have been very patient,” Perry said about negotiations.
At the same time, she said a lack of communication between the board and Town Council made the last budget process “a little more difficult.”
“The toughest thing as a school board member is not being able to have a meaningful dialogue with the council on priorities,” Perry said.
Perry said she is unsure what to expect for next year because of potential state subsidy reductions while labor negotiations continue.
More state and federal demands on local education mean the school day should be extended, Perry said.
“We need to inform the citizens why we need more time and we will have to pay for it,” Perry said.
An educational consultant seeking her third term, Rosenblatt said serving on the board “is a natural progression.”
“I have always been highly involved in civic affairs,” she said.
She said she was frustrated during the last budget process when councilors called for additional cuts without suggesting where they might be made, but said overall disagreements should be part of creating a budget.
“I like a collaborative, not a begging process,” Rosenblatt said, adding she wants more meetings between the board and Town Council finance committees to clarify budget goals and objectives.
Rosenblatt said some of her accomplishments in her first two terms include helping add student representatives to the board and creating a competitive bidding process for purchases and services.
She is also working to create job descriptions for school department positions and helping evaluate salaries and benefits for union employees in the department.
Rosenblatt said she is also negotiator with the teachers and wants to continue in the process.
Rosenblatt said too much time is being spent teaching things better left to parents.
“We devote a lot of time to teaching social and behavioral skills and nutrition and eating habits,” Rosenblatt said.
That eliminates time and money that could be spent on other subjects, she said.
Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219
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