BRATTLEBORO-Three candidates have expressed interest in being appointed to the Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) School Board seat left vacant by former town representative Eva Nolan's recent resignation.
All three met with board members after press time on Jan. 21, after which the board was expected to make a decision and appoint one of them to fulfill the seat until the March 4 annual election, when a one-year term will be available.
• Gretchen Lanterman has already decided to seek the one-year term and is a candidate for the appointment as well. The 45-year-old mother of one daughter in the WSESD school district hails from Rhode Island and moved here in the winter of 2022. She has been an event manager for nonprofits and will be doing more wedding planning here.
Asked why she's running, Lanterman said she doesn't have the time to keep close track of the school system, as is the case with many other parents. She wants to understand what's going on and to serve as a liaison of sorts to share information and represent those who don't have time to serve.
Lanterman says representing a constituency "kind of takes all the angst out of it because I really am a civil servant. There's no other agenda - just to make sure I understand how the system is running."
Because she works with lot of nonprofits, Lanterman said she'd "typically take my skills and community work and put it into [an entity] I believe in, which this is. School is new to me, parenting is new to me; these are all things that a lot of parents I've met who've moved here share, and a lot of people don't have that time and space - listening in on board meetings, going to Leadership Council.
"I want to better understand the entire system; where I can be useful, bring a parent's voice to the board and share information back to the parents. I come as a collective parent. All the parents I talk to and information I get from parents and teachers, that's my voice. I'm hoping that's a fresh voice for parents. I just hope I can be of use to the community now that I'm here."
• Jody Normandeau, 83, is also throwing her hat in the ring to serve - just until the March election.
No stranger to the district, she served on the Dummerston School Board before the district merger, first when her son was in school and then again when her grandchildren were in school. She is a frequent attendee at WSESD board meetings still.
"I'm very happy to see we have people who are stepping up to run for the board," Normandeau says. "I've done my full duty […] but I didn't want [the seat] to go vacant, especially during budget season. I've been attending all the board meetings and the budget meetings, and I feel qualified."
• Jessica Everlith, 34, also intends to run for the one-year term and is seeking the interim appointment. She moved to Dummerston in June of 2022 after leaving her native Pennsylvania and spending some time in Connecticut.
"We moved to Dummerston because we visited the Brattleboro area and we wanted to live somewhere where neighbors supported each other in community - something I had growing up in a rural town that was missing from the culture in Connecticut," Everlith said.
A parent volunteer at Dummerston School, Everlith says she believes "real change happens at the local level."
In Connecticut, she was elected to Representative Town Meeting and served as clerk. Her career has consisted of "supporting nonprofit organizations and small businesses through program development and management, fundraising, and communications."
She is the current communications and development manager for North Star Health in Springfield, Vermont.
Everlith says she's running "to support policies that prioritize student and teacher safety and foster an environment of belonging and inclusion."
"I want to work towards creative solutions for an increasingly tight financial situation without compromising the quality of education or well-being of staff or students," she says.
"I believe real solutions come from real listening, understanding, and compromise. I am a creative, solution-focused, and values-driven individual. The strength and sustainability of the district matter deeply to me not only as a parent, but also as a member of this community who wants every child and teacher to thrive."
Still time to run
If you are considering running for election to the WSESD Board, petitions to be on the ballot can be picked up at your town clerk's office and are due back by Monday, Jan. 27.
Open positions for the WSESD Board are:
• One 3-year term representing Brattleboro. Must be a resident of Brattleboro. Pick up petitions at the Brattleboro Town Clerk's office, 230 Main St.
• One 3-year term and one 1-year term representing Dummerston (recently vacated seat). Must be a resident of Dummerston. Pick up petition at the Dummerston Town Clerk's office, 1523 Middle Rd.
• One 3-year term representing Guilford. Must be a resident of Guilford. Pick up petitions at Guilford Town Clerk's office, 236 School Rd.
Voters from all towns in the WSESD vote for all candidates regardless of the hometown that they seek to represent.
• In the Vernon Town School District there are three open seats: One 1-year seat, one 2-year seat, and one 3-year seat. Must be a resident of Vernon. Pick up petitions at the Vernon Town Clerk's office, 567 Governor Hunt Rd.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.