In this year’s Windham School Board elections, three seats are open with six candidates running. Incumbents Kate Brix, Michael Duffy and Toby Pennels will be running for their second term on the board while Anita Charles, Marge Govoni and Michael Mack are challengers.

Kate Brix

Kate Brix, 52, of 5 Wildflower Lane, is running for her re-election to the Windham school board.

Brix is a full-time mother who lives with her husband John. She has three children, two of whom are currently in the Windham school system. She received a business degree from Bowling Green State University of Ohio. She has served on the board for one term so far.

Brix describes herself as an “advocate for children” and has been a member of the Windham Parent/Teacher Association for many years in addition to her time on the board. As to her past term, Brix says the experience has been a learning process, but has given her a “firm foundation to assist in the work of the district.”

One of Brix’s concerns is the progression of the Maine State Learning Results and their effect on improving student achievement. If re-elected, Brix hopes to help explain those Learning Results and the evolution of the No-Child-Left-Behind program (with its new graduation requirements) to parents and students.

“It’s a whole shift in paradigm that’s going to need a tremendous amount of communication so parents and students understand it,” Brix said.

Another of her concerns is the school budget, which she describes as “a balancing act.” She plans, if elected, to be involved in the formation of the Sebago Alliance, a collaboration of surrounding school systems who will work together to be more cost-effective.

“We’re going to have to start getting creative and start looking outside of the box,” Brix said. “I don’t have an agenda, per se. I’m just passionate about education.”

Anita Charles

Anita Charles, 42, of 218 Albion Road, is running for election to the Windham School Board.

Charles, an English teacher at Deering High School, lives with her husband Chris Gelder. She is the mother of four children, two of whom she and her husband adopted from India. She received her Masters in Education from Harvard and has written several articles on education for various magazines. Charles was nominated by the Windham Democratic Party as a candidate.

“I am running because I see a need for change,” Charles said. “What I’d like to see happen is better communication which would include a clear voice as well as active listening.”

Specifically, Charles would like to improve communication between the School Board and the community. In addition, Charles, if elected, plans to make “responsible decisions” and “intelligent and informed actions.” She would also be committed to looking at the budget creatively in order to find ways of doing business without jeopardizing the quality of Windham’s education.

Charles cites literacy and the support of “at-risk youth” as concerns of hers. Having been an educator for many years, Charles believes her experience has given her the expertise to deal with these concerns and the ability to “respectfully” communicate with students, parents and community members.

“I would bring a lot of strengths (to the School Board),” Charles said. “I would bring a fresh voice to the table that is non-judgemental of families and years of experience as a teacher and a parent. I have an open mind that sees potential.”

Charles acted as the spokeswoman for a group of concerned parents during the investigation of Manchester Principal Ronald Cote. It was this group of parents that prompted the investigation after Manchester teacher Boyd resigned claiming that she was been “verbally abused” by the principal. Charles says she was disappointed by how “unresponsive” the school board was during the investigation.

When asked what she would have done differently had she been a member of board, Charles says she would have responded immediately to the parents’ concerns and not have “judged” the situation before investigating the facts.

Michael Duffy

Michael Duffy, 58, of 54 Forbes Lane, is running for re-election to the Windham School Board.

Duffy, an employee of UnumProvident Insurance, lives with his wife Kathleen and their son Matthew. Duffy studied at the University of Southern Maine where he received his Associate Degree in Business Administration. He also is the president of the Windham Little League Baseball and Softball as well as a founding member of the Windham Youth Football program. He served on the Windham School Board for three years so far. This past year (2004-2005), Duffy has acted as the chairman of the committee.

Duffy says he is running for re-election so as to continue support for the implementation of the Comprehensive Assessment System that directs instruction at the Windham schools and works to improve student achievement.

“I’m focused on the total quality of education in the Windham community for all students, Kindergarten through Adult,” Duffy said. “These are challenging times for schools in an era of continued federal and state mandates. Collaboration with our Town Council and the support of our taxpayers will be crucial as we keep our promise of providing ‘success for all’ as we educate our youth in the 21st century.”

If re-elected, Duffy hopes to balance “the educational needs of Windham with the town’s financial realities” by partnering with local and state representatives along with the community at large. As chairman of the board, Duffy also worked with the community to create the schools’ new strategic plan for coming years.

Duffy, if re-elected, said he would continue to work for better communication between the board and the public. Duffy hopes the new Windham schools Web site will help with this process. Currently, residents can access past school budgets via the Web site along with access to teachers and assignments and information on school events. In addition to the Web site, the school newsletter Windham Link is mailed to each home in the area.

“Communication is constantly an issue and I feel that we have come a long way in bettering the communication,” Duffy said. “I feel that we have a long way to go to meet the ongoing needs of individuals.”

As to the contentious investigation that led to the resignation of Manchester Principal Ronald Cote, Duffy said that, while he understands that some parents wanted to know more information, the board was not at liberty to elaborate on the information due to confidentiality issues.

Marge (Marjorie) Govoni

Marge Govoni, 63, of 83 Johnson Road, is running for the Windham School Board.

Govoni, retired, lives with her partner of 24 years, David Nadeau. She has four grown children and 15 grandchildren. She studied management at Bunker Hill Community College in Massachusetts and worked for 19 years as the manager of Global Electronics Manufacturing Company. At present, she works part-time at the Windham Primary School as a “noon-aide.”

Govoni says that it is her love of children that has prompted her to run for school board. As a “noon aide”, she has worked closely with the children of Windham Primary. During lunchtime and recess, says she acts as the children’s temporary guardian by making sure the kids eat right and watching out for their safety on the playground.

“I love kids and I want to get more involved,” Govoni said. “I’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of complaints from people who are not satisfied with the way things are happening on the School Board. And the only way to really know what’s going on with the school board is to be on it.”

If elected, Govoni hopes to bring more communication between the School Board and all members of the Windham community- “not just the parents.” Having worked part-time at the Primary school for four years, Govoni feels she has an intimate knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes there. She plans to visit all the schools on a regular basis, if elected, to keep abreast of the issues facing teachers and students of the Windham school system.

Govoni sees attracting and “keeping” teachers as a major priority for Windham schools. Having designed budgets as a company manager, Govoni believes she has the experience to balance the school budget while at the same time maintaining competitive teacher salaries.

“I want to make sure that the money that’s being spent is allocated the best way to give the students the education they need, but not burden the taxpayers.” Govoni said.

Michael Mack

Michael Mack, 47, of 78 Varney Mill Road, is running for election to the Windham School Board.

Mack, a juvenile probation officer, lives with his wife Sara and their two daughters. He received his bachelors of science in Psychology from the University of Maine in Orono. Mack was nominated by the Windham Democratic Party as a candidate.

Mack decided to run for school board in order to have a voice on issues that impact the school system.

“I’m tired of being critical of what’s going on politically and I want to try and make a change,” Mack said.

Mack’s top concern is the student-to-teacher ratio at the schools. Mack says that too many students in a classroom adversely affects the learning environment. He cites that if a class exceeds 20 students, the teacher has to do more crowd control than teaching.

Mack is also concerned about disciplinary measures and the expulsion of Windham students. He would like to reduce expulsion and rehabilitate the students instead.

“One thing I’d like to do is keep the number of expulsions down in the school if possible,” Mack said. “One of the things that we are doing with kids that are on probation now is getting them into a 8-week cognitive skills group. And that basically has to do with role-playing and discussions about how to make decisions. A lot of the kids that get through that say it was really worthwhile and that they wish it were taught in the Junior High.”

Mack believes his experience as a probation officer has prepared him for the duties of the School Board. Mack has worked with many area guidance counselors and assistant principals in order to help with the education of troubled students. Mack says he is also familiar with the budget process from his work at the Maine Department of Corrections.

Toby (Stuart) Pennels

Toby Pennels, 45, of 20 Ward Road, is running for re-election to the Windham School Board.

Pennels, an independent stock broker, lives with his wife Brenda and three children, two of whom are students at Windham High School and one who will be graduating this year. Pennels studied at UMass Amherst where he received his bachelors in business finance. Pennels serves as a colonel in the United States Army Reserve. In 2002 and 2003, Pennel served in the current Iraq conflict with the US Army Reserve.

Pennels said he is running for re-election because he is pleased with the direction of the board and the school system. Pennels originally ran for School Board back in 2001, worried about accreditation issues at the Windham schools. Though he did not get elected in that race, he won election the following year and has served for three years on the board thus far. Since then, Windham’s accreditation has improved, bolstering Windham students’ chances of getting into the college of their choice.

“I’m a big proponent of kids going to college,” Pennels said. “And not just for education. I think it’s a halfway house to growing up.”

Pennels, a Windham High graduate, would like to see 90 percent of Windham students pursue further education after high school, this being the exact opposite of his graduating class. If elected, Pennels will continue to see that the Maine Learning Results for Windham improve and that the standards put forth by the No-Child-Left-Behind Act are upheld.

Pennels believes his military experience has trained him to work effectively with others and make informed decisions. Pennels has also been actively involved in the community as the president of the Windham Rotary Club that runs the Ice Fishing Derby every year on Sebago Lake.

As to the contentious investigation that led to the resignation of Manchester principal Ronald Cote, Pennels said he was disappointed with how the process unraveled, but continues to support the school administration and their decision on the matter.

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