Bobby-Jo Bechard, 51, a director of peer-support programs at Motivation Services; Jaden Siracusa, 28, a direct sales representative; and William Clardy, 67, a database developer, are battling for Kati McCormick’s Ward 4 seat on the Augusta Board of Education.

Bobby-Jo Bechard

Bechard has lived in Augusta for most of her life. She and her husband of 31 years are parents of three adult sons and have a teenage daughter, adopted through foster care, who has attended Augusta schools since kindergarten. She serves on the KVCAP board, the cabinet for the United Way of Kennebec Valley’s Impact 2032 board, helped open the Warming Center and is part of other community groups.

Tell me about yourself. Why did you decide to run for the school board?

I care deeply about schools, teachers and kids, especially as a parent. For a long time, I didn’t think my voice mattered and I didn’t feel I had one. I learned that speaking up does make a difference and I want to empower other parents to see and do it as well. I am proof that change can happen if you get involved. 

What is one thing that the Augusta schools do well?

The schools are really good at building relationships and at having a strong sense of school pride. The school staff generally care about the students, not just as students, but who they are as people. 

What could Augusta schools work on?

Communication, I think anyone would say that. Communication and consistency between schools, the community and families. There are so many great things happening in the schools, but not everyone feels informed. I think they do well reaching out on Facebook, but it’s thinking outside the box and thinking of new ideas on how to communicate. I think that’s why I want to get on the board so much — to work with the board on how we can do that with what’s currently being done and how we can be better. 

Anything else that you want to add?

This is such an important opportunity. I think it’s important for the community to know that every student should feel seen, supported and inspired, no matter their background or circumstances and that’s really important to me. My approach is to listen first with my ears, not my mouth, and to not have an agenda. We can accomplish great things when we all come together. 

Jaden Siracusa

Siracusa considers his son the most important human in his life. An Augusta native, he has worked in sales and restaurant management in the city since earning his GED certificate. He left school during his junior year in high school.

“I simply never got a call about when to return after a suspension and so I roughed it out with some support of a friend’s parents,” he said.

He’s reflected on his choices and on the environment he said he failed to thrive in; those experiences have given him the basis to contribute to solution-based approaches to Augusta’s public education system.

What made you decide to run for school board? 

As my son is entering the Augusta School District I reflected on my years in public education; the good, the bad, and the routine. I learned to read, I learned to write, and I gained skills that helped me get a job. I also learned to be left behind and left without a solid education/workforce transition plan in place. I want to continue to support the positives and foster discussion and work together to support change in the areas that help our youth plan for the transition into the workforce. The transition to higher education has support that I don’t believe the transition into the workforce, including the trades, has in place, things such as this need to be at the forefront for our Cony Middle and High School.

 What is something the Augusta schools do well? 

Our grade schools do a nice job with welcoming students, connecting them to each other and offering support that gives our young the opportunity to thrive. I know that our schools are safe and well-maintained and that a majority of our teachers go to work every day to do the best they can to teach our young.

 What could Augusta schools improve on? 

Our recent reports show a standard of proficiency that is significantly below the state and national average. We need a renewed focus on academic success and the fostering of a positive and supportive environment that includes clear goals and regular feedback from our students. Collaboration between parents and teachers is essential; particularly when we have a child who is struggling to attend or achieve a desired outcome. Balancing the needs of our schools and the cost to our residents is a topic that is comprehensive and at times appears overwhelming, I believe with enough questions and enough accountability we can set performance indicators that ensure our dollars are successful in achieving the outcome our students and our community deserves.

William Clardy

McClardy served in the U.S. Army in his 20s, enlisting after dropping out of the University of Virginia. With a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholarship, he attended a couple of more colleges. He received a commission as second lieutenant in army reserves.

After a decade working as a reporter for a newsletter, he shifted careers, moving into software development. After the invasion of Iraq he spent a decade as a defense contractor and continued to work with databases, including for MaineCare. About a decade ago, he started getting interested in politics. He moved to Maine in 2013 in part because it’s small enough for voices to be heard.

Why are you running for school board?

This sense of duty I have that people should have a choice when they are voting. I have a lot of friends who supported me when I was running for state representative and some other political misadventures since then, and they badgered me into running for the Augusta school board. I told them if no one else would run, I would. Honestly, my own preference is that the folks who have kids in the system should be paying attention and vying to be in charge. That was my spiel when I was door knocking for state representative to anyone complaining about the school system, I would encourage them to run. I do think I have some background experience that could be useful and relevant. You don’t think it would be at first blush, but I remember the leadership stuff from the military and mentoring bosses from underneath for a couple decades. 

That and also having watched the education system evolve from the 1960s to where it is today. There is a lot of stuff that I think got taken for granted, or someone wanted to do something different and they get embarrassed to admit that maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. There are a gazillion reasons why I am running with varying degrees of importance but think I could do a good job at getting the Augusta Board of Education back (to) being an effective, responsible, responsive bit of government. 

What is one thing the Augusta schools do well? 

I do like that they have embraced vocational education much more so than a lot of other schools. That is something that is a long time coming. I’d like to see some metrics as far as how effective it is and how effective it is in terms of students getting out there and earning a (living) without incurring college debt. A lot of the other stuff, it’s hard to tell whether they are doing well or not because finding consistent metrics to measure progress. Teachers out there doing a great job I’m sure and no one notices because they are not a problem, but also, there are teachers who are not doing so well, so it’s just hard to pick out something out. 

What could the Augusta schools improve on? 

The way they run their meetings is one, but the biggest thing is they need to focus on what’s happening in the classroom. I was in infantry in the Army. We were the pointy end of the spear and teachers are the pointy end of the spear for schools. Nothing else matters beyond the classroom and when they go home. To teach students to learn, be curious and think for themselves, that is the way. I think we need to focus on classroom rather than administration. The other, is honestly, finding ways to measure how well they are doing on that. I noticed here in Maine, criticism is person first and constructive last. Being able to tell your best friend that you need to do better, or the person you worked alongside for 20 years to do better, this is what you have to do better and work at. That’s going to be critical to getting schools back to where they are. If I had a kid in Augusta schools, I’d be embarrassed we are so close to Mississippi for educational measures.

Anything else to add? 

The cards I’ve sent out focus on budget and getting our money’s worth out of schools. Schools are expensive and we need to make sure that they are spending the money they get wisely, we can’t afford to waste it.