{"id":12574,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/lucia-rico\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","slug":"lucia-rico","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/lucia-rico\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucia Rico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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First time running for office<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Making sure every student has the educational opportunity, support, resources and tools to succeed, now and into the future. \n\n2. Creating safe, stable and supportive schools that help students and families reach their fullest potential. \n\n3. Building a responsible and sustainable (Portland Public Schools) budget that doesn't place an unfair burden on taxpayers, and advocating at the state and federal levels for the additional resources our schools need.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I am running for School Board At-Large because I believe every Portland Public School student deserves the opportunity, support, and right tools to succeed. Public schools are places that offer students more than academics. Our schools should also be environments where children feel secure and supported so that, as they learn, they can grow more confident and prepared for their future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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What is the biggest challenge facing your area\u2019s schools? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The biggest challenge facing (Portland Public Schools) is building a sustainable budget that ensures Maine's largest school district provides students with a strong, supportive learning environment without further burdening local taxpayers. \n\nOur district's greatest opportunity is our investments in STEM education. We have to keep teaching our students how to use new technology responsibly while thinking critically as AI and technology are transforming education, careers and everyday life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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A top issue for many parents is the age of Maine\u2019s school infrastructure. How would you address this issue locally from your position on the school board?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I believe we need to approach it with both urgency and long-term vision. As a school board member I would support assessing our buildings based on safety, maintenance costs, and long-term needs of our students and community and then making some tough choices. Sentiment is important, but we also have to be pragmatic with limited resources in uncertain times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Do you think the state government is too involved in local schooling? Not involved enough? The right amount of involved? Explain your answer.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I believe we need a balance between state oversight and local decision-making. The people closest to our schools understand their students and their needs best. At the same time, the state has an important role in education. My focus would be on making sure Portland has a strong voice in statewide conversations and receives the resources and support our schools need.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5034,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Lucia","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Rico","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12572,"voter_guide_candidate_age":53,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Senior Manager Volunteer Engagement","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Mother of three children who went through Portland Public Schools; former substitute teacher in Portland schools; volunteer member of the Superintendent\u2019s Family Partnership Advisory Committee.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Declined to provide","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1AsxitLlCQ5h6wB3hF5TiVEdQe5GQzYPP","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1186],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12574","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-non-partisan"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12575,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12574\/revisions\/12575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12574"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}