RSU 21 School Board election: Candidates emphasize communication at forum

KENNEBUNK, Maine — At a time of tension in the district, RSU 21 School Board candidates emphasized communication, teamwork, and mutual respect during a recent question-and-answer forum.

Held in late May, the forum capped a couple of weeks that included an often-confrontational annual budget meeting, the resignation of the School Board chair over a social-media controversy, and two meetings at which teachers and parents questioned and criticized the School Board and Superintendent Teri Cooper about the leadership and communication skills.

Eight candidates are vying for five seats representing the towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel at the Tuesday, June 11, election.

Seven of the candidates gathered at Kennebunk Elementary School for the forum. The eighth could not make it due to a work obligation. The moderators of the forum were KHS students Lorien Schulte and David Rush.

Arundel

In Arundel, incumbent School Board member Britney Gerth is not seeking another term, making the race for a single three-year term a contest between newcomers Rodney Sparkowich and Kirstan Watson.

Of those who participated in the forum, Sparkowich spoke most critically of the current direction in which he believes the school district is headed.

“My biggest concern is that this country has lost its way in terms of education,” he said, telling moderators Schulte and Rush that their futures “have been capsized.”

In terms of communicating, Sparkowich said it is important to identify goals and keep teams on track in reaching them. Sparkowich, who served in the Marines, owns a K-9 consulting company and has grandchildren in the school system. He said communication is critical, “but there has to be a point” when it stops and “the mission must be carried out.”

Sparkowich said he feels “overarching angst” over the “liberality” that “has taken society as a whole.” He said such “degradation” has found its way into local schools.

“I’m going to try to slow that down,” he said.

Sparkowich said he is most interested in serving on the board’s policy and curriculum committees if elected.

“I believe that taxpayers and most parents are very tired,” he said. “The mission creep is going way off center ... and I think the vast majority of citizen taxpayers in all three towns are tired of the drift. I think the policy and curriculum committees are the place to start.”

Watson owns and operates a property management and cleaning company with her husband. At the forum, she said that she had a difficult childhood, one in which she was one of 12 children growing up in poverty in Arundel. She shared why she was seeking a seat on the School Board.

“School was a refuge for me,” she said. “It provided me the structure, safety, stability, and support that I needed to grow into the person I am today. The school system saved my life, and I can’t think of a better way to repay the gratitude I feel than to offer my time and service to the School Board.”

Watson described her communication style as “collaborative,” an approach she learned while growing up with so many siblings.

“My parents ran a tight ship,” she said. “We had to learn early on how to work within a team ... We somehow managed to understand that without the survival of the group, none of us had a chance independently. I took those lessons with me into adulthood.”

If elected, she said she would like to serve on the board’s communications subcommittee.

“I understand the power that good communication can have, especially within a large community,” she said. “Communication isn’t just about me clearly expressing how I feel. It’s about the ability and willingness to listen.”

On Tuesday, the polls will be open at Arundel’s municipal center at 257 Limerick Road, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Kennebunk

Three newcomers are running for two seats to represent Kennebunk on the board. They are Abigail Spadone, Matthew Stratford, and Rebecca Lewis. Incumbents Amanda Downing and current Chair Peter Sentner have opted not to seek another term.

At the forum, Spadone, a clinical social worker who’s married with two young children, described herself as a “listener and an observer,” someone who, in order to make informed decisions, tries her best to understand where people are coming from and how their opinions have been shaped. She said she values mutual respect most.

“If you have mutual respect, that’s where you can really have open dialogue and exchange ideas and challenge each other without defensiveness, which I think is really important and crucial for strength in a team and an entity as a whole,” she said.

If elected, Spadone expressed interest in serving on the board’s facilities, finance or human resources subcommittees. She said the responsibilities and details surrounding the school district’s buildings “intrigues” her and added that “budget season’s my favorite season.”

“I’m committed to putting the work in with whatever committee I end up on,” she said.

Stratford, who is married with two children in the district, owns and manages a technology consulting company. He described his communication style as “to listen first, be respectful, and approach everything with an open mind.”

“I believe that teams that have diverse people with different perspectives and different backgrounds and different experiences ... are the best types of teams,” he said. “Everyone has valuable input. We don’t always have to agree. I think that if we always agree, then that’s probably not healthy – that’s not in the best interest of the organization that’s put us together to serve them.”

While willing to serve on any subcommittee if elected, Stratford said he would most be interested in joining the ones focusing on finance, communications, and human resources. Regarding finances, he acknowledged the challenges of budgeting, given rising expenses, the need to pay teachers “top dollar,” and other pressures.

“I’m happy to roll up my sleeves and dig into the budget,” he said.

Lewis could not make the forum due to a work commitment, according to Sentner, who hosted the forum. During a recent phone interview, however, she was able to discuss her own approach that she would take to the board if elected.

“While I can articulate pretty directly, I think it’s important to listen first to concerns and ideas,” she said. “Working with other people, it’s important to be respectful all around ... when trying to reach common ground and achieve goals.”

Lewis, who is married with a daughter who attends Kennebunk Elementary School, is a salesperson for a local food distributor. If elected, she said she would be “happy and grateful” to serve on any of the board’s subcommittees, but she expressed interest in focusing on curriculum, first and foremost, and then communication and facilities.

The polls on Tuesday will be open at the Kennebunk Town Hall at 1 Summer Street on Tuesday, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Kennebunkport

In Kennebunkport, there are two races. In one, incumbent appointee Diane Franz and challenger Rachel Kennedy-Smith are competing to serve one year of an unfinished term. In the other, incumbent Megan Michaud is unchallenged in her bid for three more years on the board.

At the forum, Franz, appointed to the School Board in 2023, said her style is to observe, listen, and ask questions if there are issues with which she is not familiar. She said she tends not to voice her agreement with others because “if it’s already been said, it’s been said.”

“I think probably one of the finest experiences of my life has been working with the School Board team that is currently in place,” she said. “I hope to be able to contribute as I have over the last nine months to move things forward.”

Currently, Franz serves on the board’s human resources, facilities, and communications subcommittees.

“To me, communications is the most important committee,” she said. “I think it has been evident over the course of the past couple of weeks just how important that committee is. My hope is, if I were to remain on the board, that that would be my prime committee.”

Kennedy-Smith, the head of communications at a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, has two young children in the school district, with a third who “is eager to join her sisters real soon.” She described her communication experience, as it relates to teamwork, as “extensive,” first because she grew up as one of four children and secondly because her profession has involved working with many people on significant projects.

“What has been successful for me is aligning on the goal as your North Star, and then reverse-engineering in small increments, as is needed, to bring everybody along the journey,” she said.

If elected, Kennedy-Smith would be happy to serve on any of the subcommittees, she said.

“I’m extremely interested in all of them, quite frankly,” she said. “My top two would be finance and HR because I think that’s where we need the greatest attention and the ability to communicate what’s going on.”

Though unchallenged in her bid for reelection, Michaud participated in the forum. She has three children who attend school in the district and professionally has spent her career at nonprofit organizations and has focused on public policy. She said her experience with communication is rooted in the group facilitation and coalition work she has conducted in her professional life.

“I have a natural tendency to try to understand where everyone is coming from ... and see if we can find a path forward,” she said. “That is not always possible, so sometimes it is about making the right call and communicating the right call.”

On the School Board, Michaud has served on the communications and HR committees and currently serves on the ones for finance and facilities.

“I would like to stay there, if given the opportunity,” she said.

On Tuesday, the polls will be open at the Village Fire Station at 32 North Street, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: RSU 21 School Board election: 8 candidates vie for 5 seats