Wiscasset school committee candidate Tracey Whitney
Occupation: Retired Teacher/Early Ed. Director
Education: Bachelor of Arts in Education
Political History: I just completed a 3 year term as a member of the school board for my former school. This school board was an advisory board with members appointed from the school community.
Clubs and Organizations: I am the president of the Wiscasset Friends of the Public Library. I am one of the founding members of the Wormfest committee. I am the Rear Commodore of the Wiscasset Yacht Club. I run Storytime on Fridays at the public library, and I help with outreach from the library summer reading program to the Rec. Center summer camp program. I help to run a costume exchange at Halloween for the children at the elementary school in cooperation with the PIE group.
Considering the office you are running for, what do you feel are the three most pressing issues (350 words or less): I am running for School Board because I want our children here in Wiscasset to have every opportunity to succeed. I want their time in school to be positive and constructive. I want them to be able to move forward in life with a bright future ahead. I am concerned that this outcome is being tarnished by the decline in our school’s state standing, in our standardized test scores, and in the overall negative attitude that seems to permeate much of the discussion about our schools.
I believe we can overcome these challenges. I feel that the first thing we need to address is what I consider to be a breakdown in trust. We need to rebuild trust between our community, our schools and our school board. We need to put clear policies and guidelines in place and make them accessible to the public in a manner that is easy for anyone to find and navigate. We need to have transparency with decision making and the planned implementation of those decisions. We need to look at the trends in our test scores and figure out where our curriculum is falling short for our kids. We then need to be clear with the community as to how we plan to fix these shortcomings. These things will not happen overnight, but we must start moving in the right direction.
Any other thoughts on why you are running or what you can bring to the office? (150 words or less:) As a former educator, director of a school program, and a member of an advisory school board, I will bring a career’s worth of experience to the Wiscasset School Board if elected, but most importantly, I will bring an earnest desire to support our faculty, parents, and above all our students.