OROL: Kathy McWilliams 2001

Candidate for ORSD School Board 2001

Kathy McWilliams Durham, NH

Kathy McWilliams
for School Board

• I moved from Farmingdale, NY in August of 1997 to ORCSD because of its excellent reputation. I am a married, full-time mother with 4 children ages: 10, 7, 4 and 18 months.
• PTO secretary for the OR Middle School.
• Curriculum Enrichment parent liaison at Moharimet '98, '99. Instrumental in construction of entryway sculpture bringing the "femme m'amie" concert to Moharimet.
• Member of the Education Committee. Projects include: Language Arts Presentation, Family Math Night, up coming foreign language presentation.
• Profile Committee in creating school report cards for the NH State Board of Education.
• Regular attendee of ORCSD school board meetings.
• BBA in Finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Professional work experience has been as a cost accounting manager at high tech companies.

Issues

High School Funding: I have supported the high school renovation bonds in the past. It’s time to move forward with what has been au
ized and build the building.

High School Principal and Accreditation: Currently a search is underway for a new principal at the high school and our probationary status may change. We need to be prepared to fully support a new principal at ORHS during this transitional time.

Curriculum: I strongly support the development of a clear, concise, and measurable curriculum across all grade levels, and the regular use of assessment to monitor student progress. I will push for the district to offer more classes in advanced placement.

Teacher Support: I would work to find ways of supporting teachers and improving communication between the schools and home. For example, new teachers should have a mentoring program to help with the issues unique to a first year teacher. Also there seems to be a lack of professional development time for teachers. One area for improvement may be the early release for one hour the second Wednesday of each month.

Public Access: We need to make the school board more accessible to the community. More opportunity for public comment at SB meetings and written responses indicating from the School Board the status of your concerns should be standard policy.

Special Education: Get a better handle and understanding of our special education costs. I propose working at the county level with other districts in order to create more local placements. I also wonder if it's possible to create an educational consortium between neighboring towns.

Gifted and talented program for K-8: We need to explore the viability of a program in ORCSD. Recently the New Hampshire State Frameworks has included this concept in the frameworks. Should we offer our students an in school or after school enrichment program?

I will be a valuable addition to the OR School Board. I bring a different perspective to the board, and am not afraid to ask tough questions and to push for change when necessary. Please support me in the School Board election on March 13.

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Last update on 7-Feb-01 at 10:18 PM.

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