I am a Native Mainer and graduated High school from Nokomis Regional High in Newport Maine. After graduating High school, I went in the military and served in the Field Artillery. After getting out of the military, I went to WA state to go to Bible College and met my wife of 19 years. We have 4 school aged children. We moved back to Maine in 2007 and we have been residents of New Gloucester for 14 years. I served for 8 years as a Youth Pastor at Bible Believing Baptist Church alongside Pastor Darwin Vail and served there until shortly after his retirement from the ministry. I am a Master Electrician and the Director of Education at The Maine Electrical Institute where we are training up the future work force. I am very supportive of trades and want to see GNG continue to support students who are interested in the trades. I am running for school board because I believe that the concerns and values of parents need to be heard. I was recently told that the school board was instructed to remember, "You do not represent parents and tax payers, but students and staff". I disagree with that idea and want to ensure that parents are not sidelined in the process of educating their children. I also believe that taxpayers (parents or not) have a voice. The town's tax burden continues to creep up... and every person who pays tax dollars has a right to be heard and their concerns considered. The budget needs to reflect the priorities of strong education in the areas where students need to be most competitive: English, Math and Science.... as well as teachers wages. We need to ensure that we are paying our teachers in a way that they do not burn out and have to leave the school district because they cannot make a reasonable living. All other budget items need to be considered in light of these most important areas and weighed carefully so that we don't increase tax burden unless it will truly benefit the student in real and meaningful ways. I appreciate the consideration of each New Gloucester resident and will strive to keep these things in mind as I represent parents, tax payers, students and staff. Sincerely, Adam Lee
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