John P. (Jack) Kennealy is a former member of the Cape Elizabeth Zoning Board and a current member of the planning board. Along with the experience he has gained from these two positions, he believes his work in corporate management will also help prepare him to be a part of the school board.

“I think I bring a lot of experience to the table,” he said.

Kennealy, 66, now works as a photographer. He has two grown daughters and a son in sixth grade.

He said that being the oldest candidate for school board, as well as having a young son, allows him to “see different points of view.”

“I care very deeply about education, and I care very much about the Cape Elizabeth school system,” he said. Kennealy believes the quality of schools reflects on the quality of an entire town.

Kennealy is concerned about the school budget. He said over the past two years he has seen “a very bitter division in town between two philosophical camps.”

“I hate it to be so divisive,” said Kennealy, who can “sympathize with both camps,” and believes he can bring “maturity and intelligence” to the budget debate.

In order to get the budget passed by the citizens of Cape Elizabeth, Kennealy said the school board and the town council need to have a better working relationship.

Kennealy believes that, rather than focusing on small differences in the budget, the school board should be having broader discussions on how the schools can be improved. He thinks there needs to be a discussion about what languages would be most helpful to students in today’s world. Though he sees the value in teaching Latin, he said there might be even more cultural value in teaching Chinese.

He said he believes he is attentive to people’s problems and would like to be the one to help figure out the solutions.

Cape Elizabeth School Board – Kennealy: Would bring maturity, experience to board