I have enjoyed serving three years as a Farmington representative on the Mt. Blue Regional School Board, and had intended to run again – the election is Monday, March 25. However, when I first went to get papers, I was told they weren’t ready yet. Then I took a group of students to Italy for much of January, and when I returned I found I had missed the filing deadline. The school board requires considerable time and lots of meetings, so part of me felt relieved! But seriously, I am willing to continue service. I do not know who is on the ballot for the three year term, and if it is someone who supports the schools and understands the funding dilemmas, I would support that person. If, however, no one is on the ballot, or the person is one who is critical and negative towards the schools, I would welcome being a “write in” candidate. I believe the new Superintendent is doing a magnificent job setting us up for a better future, and I have enjoyed working with School Board President Cherieanne Harrison – indeed, the board has a diverse set of very good, committed independently minded people. I may be relieved to have less meetings, but I’d miss the people at the meetings quite a bit! So when Farmington residents vote on Monday, I would appreciate being considered as a write-in for the three year term. Feel free to contact me with any questions at serb@mtbluersd.org
Scott Erb
Farmington
Thank you for your time Scott but perhaps it is time for someone that is in fact an independent thinker to have a turn. Just because someone is critical of something doesn’t mean they are against it, they are simply doing what all people should be doing and that is questioning everything to be sure it’s true. Again thanks for your time.
Mr Erb,
I don’t know you personally.
I tend to disagree with your opinions most of the time.
I have wondered whether you type “1000 words per minute” or just spend a “lot” of time typing your endless essay opinions on here.
One thing I have never wondered about is your genuine concern for improvements and your willingness to work towards that.
I’m not immersed in academia like you so we have a different point of view.
But I’ll say Thank You for your service and I hope you get to continue to serve our district.
Just do me a favor and ease up a bit on us old conservatives once in a while would ya.
Good luck to you.
Write Him In Folks,, He’s genuine.
Apparently you would support a person who has your views, basically another rubber stamp, tax and spend in the name of the students. Up until now, I haven’t seen anyone on the board that is anti education. Now that the live streaming has been taken away, and my Tuesday nights are not free to attend meetings, I will not have that opportunity to view the meetings at a later date. Hopefully what is reported to the press will be true. Only time will tell.
“Just saying,” the live streaming issue is a prime example of the difficulties in making a budget. It’s expensive, especially if we were to upgrade to the equipment that would be needed to do it right. Even with what we have, there are real costs involved. Yet most of the time meetings are watched by less than five people. Is it worth spending that money for such small audiences? You might think so, since you want to use the service. That kind of issue permeates the budget, and it’s always a balance. My own personal view is that we can’t justify the cost if so few people use it, this is an area to save money – and not spend more to upgrade equipment.
While of course everyone supports people who share their values, I can assure you that nobody is a rubber stamp – the board is full of independent minded thinkers who are about education. As I stated, I’m fine with someone else winning and me getting my Tuesday nights back – and I will do what I can to welcome my replacement, if that’s what the voters decide. I’m also happy to continue – I’ve learned a lot and enjoy having the chance to contribute to my community.. As always, these are my personal views, not representing the board.
Scott there may only be 5 watching live stream but most of the videos have been viewed closer to 100 times. The public record of what happened is worth more than some might think it is. The minutes are vague to say the least. There is no who said what to keep people at their word. Good luck with your election.
Aww – come to the school board meeting and make a public comment in support of continuing live streaming. I’ve not heard that videos have been viewed that often. I will not be on the school board after July – but I’ve learned a lot and enjoyed the last three years. And I guess if one has to have a reason for missing the filing deadline, going to Italy is an enjoyable one. Cheers! And congrats to Isaac Raymond who will be the new Farmington rep on the school board. You’ll be working with great people who believe in and care about education!
Scott I will do what I can to get there. My schedule is very tight. If you go to the district website you can see how many people viewed each video. As far as costs go I’m not sure that cutting a few thousand from the budget is going to do much as it’s already looking at increasing over a million this year just for contractual obligations plus what ever else is deemed necessary for our kids education. No sour grapes just looking at the big picture here. Good luck and again Thanks for your time.
Awww – good points, transparency is important. It might be worth the money to assure transparency, even if viewership is low.
From watching the livestream of the meetings at my own convenience and attending several meetings, “transparency in RSU 9 appears to be cloudy at best. The live streaming of the meetings hold all of the directors and the superintendent and everyone else involved, accountable to their words used in the meetings.This is the best record of a meeting that could possibly exist. Seems to be many more executive sessions in the past year than ever with little to no clarification of what is going on behind closed doors (always a good way to raise suspicion). I would like to think that after the new members are in place that the clouds hanging over RSU 9 might thin out or disappear. Thank you for your service on the board. I do realize that it isn’t always an easy job.