{"id":12680,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/erin-steorts\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T14:49:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:49:48","slug":"erin-steorts","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/erin-steorts\/","title":{"rendered":"Erin Steorts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Appointed to the Winthrop School Board in April 2026. This is my first time running for elected office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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My top priorities are supporting student achievement and well-being, strengthening communication and trust among families, staff, administration and the School Board, and ensuring responsible use of district resources. I want decisions to be thoughtful, transparent and focused on providing students with strong schools while supporting the educators and staff who serve them.<\/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 because I care deeply about our students, families, educators and community. As both a parent and educator, I bring firsthand knowledge of what happens in our classrooms and the challenges schools face. I want to continue serving Winthrop by listening to our community, asking thoughtful questions, and helping make decisions that support our students and strengthen our schools.<\/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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One of our biggest challenge is balancing the growing needs of students and staff with the financial realities facing our community. Our biggest opportunity is the people within our schools. By strengthening communication, supporting educators, using data thoughtfully and working together with families and the community, we can continue improving opportunities and outcomes for Winthrop students.<\/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 be proactive rather than waiting for facilities to reach a crisis point. As a board member, I would support regularly assessing our buildings, identifying and prioritizing needs, planning for long-term costs, and exploring available state and other funding opportunities. We also need to communicate clearly with taxpayers about what is needed, why it is needed, and what options are available.<\/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 the state has an important role in establishing academic standards and supporting the funding of public education, but there are areas where it has become too involved. Locally elected school boards should have meaningful authority to make decisions that reflect the needs and values of their communities. I believe in strong local control, accountability, and giving families and communities a meaningful voice in their schools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12870,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Erin","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Lee","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Steorts","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12666,"voter_guide_candidate_age":40,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Teacher","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Winthrop parent, educator of nine years, and current school board member committed to supporting students, families, staff and the continued success of our schools.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Bachelor\u2019s degree in elementary education, Montana State University; Master\u2019s degree in educational leadership, Grand Canyon University","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=18Ug7uYDsSk3oYYJ7vteGMuOnkks_735B","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[564],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12680","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-republican"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12680","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\/12680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12681,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12680\/revisions\/12681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12680"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}