Janet Williams, 49, is running for Gorham’s School Committee as a write-in.
She spearheaded a community yard sale to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims and ran out of time to take out nomination papers to get on the ballot.
“I believe everyone is called to serve in some way. It’s my responsibility to offer what I have,” said Williams, an attorney.
Her husband, Sterling Williams, suggested a write-in campaign. They have lived in Gorham two years and have four children, Greg, 24; Jody, 22; Jolie, 12, a seventh-grade student in the middle school; and Jordann, 8, third-grade in the Village School. They live on Queen Street.
Williams previously was elected to a board of education in a town in New York. Serving in the education arena is a pleasure and an honor, she said. Here, she has been president of the board of directors of United for Education and the Maine Advisory Council of the Education of Children with Disabilities.
She sees White Rock School as the biggest upcoming challenge and is glad that the School Committee is working on it. Williams would be willing to look at a regrouping of grades, “perhaps Kindergarten through Grade 5,” for the elementary schools.
What happens with White Rock School could offer options for a regrouping of grades, according to Williams. She said a grades realignment with more kids going to school in their neighborhood could relieve some bus transportation problems. Less traveling would reduce maintenance of buses and save money as fuel prices rise. The biggest impact on the budget will be fuel costs, she said.
She sees improvement of Maine Educational Assessment scores in Gorham. But because of No Child Left Behind, she said teachers have to do more with less. “They don’t have adequate support,” she said to pay for the mandate.
She suggested “brainstorming” if no additional money comes from the federal government and resources could be talent, not just money. She doesn’t object to sharing resources with other school districts.
She said definitions of what “local” means could be broadened. She said she’s not worried about loss of autonomy. “There are resources dripping all over the place we can tap into,” Williams said.
About Maine’s new educational funding formula, Essential Programs and Services, she said it would take time to fully implement it and work out the bugs. “If it doesn’t work, we need to go back to the drawing board,” Williams said.
She wants parents to become more involved and encourage them to voice opinions. “Parents are an overlooked resource,” she said.
She said nothing needs fixing, but she wants to see good schools become great schools. Her children have had an outstanding experience in Gorham schools, she said.
Williams, who has a law degree from Georgetown University, now has a private law practice. She spent 15 years working for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and traveled extensively throughout the world. “We’re as good as any,” she said, comparing U.S. education to other countries.
Gorham schools, she said, are placing an emphasis on civics and good citizenship. Those traits can help students after they graduate, she said.
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