Bio
Participating on the school board is one way I can thank and give back to the Portsmouth community. I have lived in Portsmouth for over thirty years with my wife Karen and our two children. Both our children attended Little Harbour, Portsmouth Middle, and Portsmouth High School, and participated in many of the district’s extra-curricular programs. They benefitted greatly from those experiences. I would bring four decades of experience as an educator to this work. This experience includes thirteen years of teaching at the elementary and middle school level, twenty-five years as an elementary principal, and two years as a guest lecturer and teacher-in-residence in the UNH Education Department. I am committed to working with other school board members, our school leaders, and the community to achieve multiple goals. These goals including supporting great teaching in Portsmouth, ensuring that learning takes place in real classrooms, and investing every school dollar spent toward learning. It is incredibly important to me that every child in Portsmouth receive a quality education.
Why I’m Running
I am running to give back to the community that has meant so much to me and my family and to share my forty years of experience as an educator. I have three goals I want to achieve as a school board member. The first goal is to support great teaching in Portsmouth. In order to do this I would promote research-based instructional practices that serve all students. I would also seek to improve the district’s evaluation system to support teacher growth and set high performance standards. Additionally, I would work to improve lines of communication with parents and the public.
My second goal would be to be to ensure learning takes place in real classrooms. The district just completed a redistricting plan to eliminate over crowding in one school and shift students to other schools that have space. It is important for the board to follow through on this plan and make sure it is successful to get rid of modular classrooms at Dondero Elementary School and ensure that learning is not taking place in hallways and closets. I would support the Capital Improvement Plan for New Franklin school to increase safety at that school and to also end the use of learning in public spaces and closets at that school.
Lastly I support making sure that every school budget dollar is well spent and used toward student learning. Making sure the redistricting plan is successful will save money by eliminating the need to rent modular classrooms. I also support further developing in-house SPED programs that reduce costly out-of-district SPED placements and transportation.
I am excited about the opportunity to serve on the school board and hope I will get your vote.