Twelve candidates will compete for nine positions when the new Windham-Raymond school board is elected next month.

Residents of both towns will vote Tuesday, Jan. 27, with Windham choosing among seven candidates for six positions and Raymond electing three members from five candidates.

The Windham-Raymond school merger was approved overwhelmingly by voters in both towns at the polls Nov. 4. The new Regional School Unit 14 board will take office July 1, 2009. Until then, the current boards for each town will operate as usual.

Candidates for the RSU 14 board from Windham include current Windham School Committee members Kate Brix, Mike Duffy, Marge Govoni and Toby Pennels, as well as Stephen Dow, Kane Loukas and Michael Mack.

In Raymond, the candidates are Jeraldine Keane, Abigail Davis, Jennifer Mains, Catriona Sangster and Alizah Shriver.

Last week, the newspaper profiled the five candidates vying for the Raymond seats. This week are profiles of the candidates from Windham, where voting takes place from 7 a.m.-8 p.m., at Windham High School’s auxiliary gymnasium.

Kate Brix, 56

Family: Married, three kids

Occupation: Stay-at-home mother

Currently serving her seventh year on the Windham School Committee, Kate Brix has been involved in many facets of the school department, from serving on the finance, policy, facilities and technology committees, to being one of three board members working directly on school consolidation.

“Given the complexity of merging two school districts into one, I believe my experience in different capacities of leadership, as well as my involvement in a wide range of committee work, will give me the foundation needed to be an experienced and contributing member of the new school board, one who has knowledge of past practice as well as being involved for the past 18 months in the plan to merge Windham and Raymond’s schools,” said Brix.

Managing the changes brought on by the consolidation, and communicating those changes effectively to the public, will be the most important job of the new school board, Brix said.

“This is a whole new ballgame for all of us and new information is received from the state on a regular basis,” she said. “Change of this magnitude can be difficult and confusing, particularly since schools provide identity to towns.

“As a result, it is important for Windham citizens to know that I want to hear from them if they have concerns, comments or questions. I am a resident of Windham and have a child attending school here so my commitment to Windham residents is unwavering.”

The next budget cycle will be the most difficult one in recent memory, Brix said. Windham has historically had one of the most efficient school systems in Maine, with the cost per pupil below the state average.

But this year, contractual obligations will push the budget up around $1 million, while state aid decreases, Brix said. Essential programs and legal obligations cannot be cut, so the new consolidated school department will have to look at those programs that are not essential, but are still valuable to the students and staff. It will not be easy, she said.

“We will have to thoroughly study the budget and proposed cuts, understand the impact on our students and staff and give very careful and thoughtful consideration to comments made by citizens,” she said. “In the end, every effort should be made to communicate to the public the reasoning behind the proposed cuts and the proposed budget.”

Steve Dow, 46

Family: Married, two children

Occupation: Stay-at-home father

Steve Dow, who has lived in Windham for eight years, began volunteering three hours a week at Windham Primary School when his children started kindergarten, and continued for four years. He also served on the town’s Economic District Advisory Committee, and is in his third year as a Chess Club facilitator at Manchester School and Windham High School.

Now, he wants to do more to make Windham “the best town it can be,” he said.

“I’m not a lawyer, I’m not an accountant,” he said. “I’m just a concerned citizen who wants to see a reasonable return on tax dollars spent.”

With many people in Windham and Raymond concerned about how the two school districts will merge, Dow said, it is important that any structure allows each town to be what it wants to be.

“I don’t think the communities need melding,” he said. “I attended a regional high school. Each town had its own identity. The only commonality was the high school. Raymond should stay Raymond; Windham should stay Windham.”

As a member of the new school board, Dow would encourage the regional school department to look for ways be more efficient, just as a private sector company would do. The answers, he said, lay with the people who work in the schools on a day-to-day basis.

“Has anyone encouraged the faculty and staff to come up with ways they can do more with less?” Dow asked.

Michael Duffy, 57

Family: Married, one son

Experienced hands are going to be needed to help guide the Windham and Raymond school districts toward a merger, and Michael Duffy feels he has plenty to offer.

A member of the Windham School Committee for the last six years, Duffy served for two years as chairman and for the last two years as the head of the Finance Committee. He also served on the Windham Raymond Consolidation Committee that developed the merger plan adopted by voters.

“With the consolidation of the two school communities, there will be a need for experience, reasoning, negotiation and understanding,” Duffy said. “I feel that I can assist in the successful coordination of the two school communities to do what is in the best interest of the two communities as well as the students and taxpayers.”

Now that the two school districts are officially one, Duffy said, he will have no problem making sure both towns are happy with the consolidation. The seeds for a successful joint school district have already been sown, he said.

“We have welcomed and enjoyed the Raymond students attending our high school for many years and I believe that the transition from two school districts to one will be almost seamless,” Duffy said.

Given the decrease in state aid and the overall poor health of the economy, formulating the budget will be a challenge for the new school board, Duffy said. Windham itself will be faced with a decrease of around $430,000 in the current year due to the cuts, with more of the same for the next two years.

Facing those kinds of reductions, the board will have no choice but to cut programming, Duffy said.

“We need to prioritize the programming to ensure that the core subjects are thoroughly understood and to evaluate ways to offer more distance learning, online learning and alternative ways of accomplishing the educational needs,” he said. “I believe that we need to continue to focus on literacy and numeracy as these are the basis for continuing learning.”

Marge Govoni, 67

Family: Living with partner of 28 years, four kids

Occupation: Retired manager of manufacturing facility

First as a manager of an electronics manufacturing facility then later as chairwoman of town groups like the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Human Services Advisory Committee, Marge Govoni has worked with many different kinds of people while minding departmental budgets.

That experience, and her time as a volunteer and aide at Windham Primary School, give her the knowledge to be an effective member of the new school board, she said.

“I care about children and their education,” said Govoni, was named to the Windham School Committee in July to finish the term of Jeff Vermette, who resigned. “I believe that all children deserve the best education we can give them.”

If elected, Govoni said, she would take steps to learn as much about Raymond as she does Windham, and be open to hearing questions and concerns from all residents.

“I would add the Raymond schools to my schedule for visits,” she said. “I now visit each school to walk around and check in with teachers and staff. I believe that both towns should be treated equally. I think this is a union that could be beneficial to both towns.”

As school board members look to pare down the budget following cuts in state aid, Govoni said, they need to be careful to impact education as little as possible. While she thinks students need to be well-rounded, she said some cuts could be made in extracurricular activities, and a pay-to-play system could be considered.

She would also like to see the school department combine services with town government whenever possible, and to be as frugal as possible with the use of electricity and oil at school facilities.

“I would like to serve again because I care and I do not have any agendas except for doing what is best for the children,” said Govoni. “I will be fiscally responsible, as I, like others, live on a fixed income. But we have to be mindful that some times we have to make tough decisions.”

Kane Loukas, 52

Family: Married, two sons

Occupation: Senior vice president of Children and Family Services at Youth Alternatives/Ingraham

During the last 18 months, Kane Loukas has been involved with the merger of two social service agencies, Youth Alternatives and Ingraham. It’s an experience, he said, that would help him if elected to the new school board being formed by the towns of Raymond and Windham.

“The biggest concern in a merger is respecting the cultures of the two different school systems,” said Loukas, who has lived in Windham for the last 19 years. “We will need to learn both cultures and adapt to their needs as we move forward. Communication will be the key to success in this process. We will need to gain input and involve school personnel and the community in our decisions.”

As the towns move into unchartered territory, the new school board will have to be open about the process, and make sure all views are heard, Loukas said.

“As we make decisions it is important to share both the positive and any concerns those changes may generate,” he said. “We will look at the educational practices and the unique aspects of both districts and combine the best of each to become one school community.”

Loukas said he would lean on his experience to make tough decisions. As a senior vice president at a social service agency he is responsible for a budget of around $10 million, and as a licensed social worker, he has worked with children and families from all walks of life. He has also volunteered extensively for the Windham School Department, logging hours for the school athletic and performing arts programs.

Many of these tough decisions will involve the budget, especially as schools experience cuts in state aid. Loukas said the new school board should look at centralizing and reorganizing services like purchasing and transportation in order to save money.

Further, Loukas would take a closer look at the budget and speak with school personnel to find areas where tax dollars can be saved, and to make sure the students and their education are the top budgetary priority.

Michael Mack

Family: Married, two daughters

Occupation: juvenile probation officer supervisor

Michael Mack, who has lived in Windham since 1987, has gotten an inside look at what can go wrong in a kid’s life from his 20-plus years working in the juvenile justice system.

At the Maine Youth Center, he helped manage up to 40 kids in a unit at one time. Later, as a juvenile community corrections officer and now as a supervisor, he also sees the problems first hand, and said schools play a big role in the solution.

“Since I began working as a juvenile field officer in 2000, I have often advocated for keeping youth in school or keeping them busy and accountable in the community,” Mack said. “I sit on several committees that include teachers and principals of local schools and Department of Education representatives. I am aware of many of the issues that schools have to deal with.”

He also has experience managing a regional budget for community corrections. As the new school board looks to institute budget cuts, Mack said they need to make sure there are no unintended consequences.

“I am no expert but most every service in a school system influences other seemingly unrelated services,” he said. “Health programs, teachers, athletics, maintenance, transportation: everything intertwines. So to suggest that any one chunk of the budget can be surgically removed without affecting the school as a whole would be irresponsible.”

Most importantly, Mack said, a school board member’s job is to listen to everyone with a stake in the school system, and make decisions accordingly.

“I am a good listener and I will be open to hearing from Windham parents, students and other community members to address their concerns,”

Toby Pennels, 49

Family: Married, three kids

Occupation: insurance agent

Asked to name the most important attribute for a member of the new Windham-Raymond school board, and Toby Pennels gives out his phone number (892-1314) and e-mail address (spennels@verizon.net).

“Here’s my invitation to share a cup of coffee and talk shop with any community member,” said Pennels, currently vice chairman of the Windham School Committee. “As far as Raymond goes, we have now legally and officially embraced a partnership that was important to Windham when I graduated from the high school. I supported and continue to support the new RSU. Building consensus while we build our new partnership will be an absolute priority.”

With regards to budget cuts, Pennels said the new school board has to move cautiously, and listen to those who know the school system the best.

“Deciding what is and what is not priority curriculum or programs will be the challenge, and our community should have confidence in our administration’s ability to make recommendations about what the priorities should be,” he said. “And make no mistake, the taxpayer, be it parents or simply community residents who do not have children in our school system, have a big say here too.”

During his time on the Windham School Committee, Pennels feels he has demonstrated the ability to work with others to build consensus and find common ground among disparate views. He would continue that philosophy on the new board.

“I’m not afraid to go to battle for a particular issue or cause, but it needs to be respectful,” he said. “Regardless of how my reelection bid turns out, our community needs to be supportive to changes from the status quo, and it may not always appear to be fair.”