Mary Fagan announces bid for GWL BOE

I have lived in the Greenwood Lake School District for 22 Years. Both of my children have gone through Greenwood Lake and Tuxedo school system. Both of my children received an excellent education.

My son graduated last year and is attending NYU. My daughter will be graduating this June and will be attending Barnard College of Columbia University.

I have worked locally for 13 years in the Greenwood Lake Post Office as a mail carrier. I have very strong ties to this community. More recently, I served on the Greenwood Lake Board of Education and was liaison to the Tuxedo School Board of Education. I am committed to the community, students and educational standards of Greenwood Lake.

I believe that the education of every generation of students is vital for our community, state and country. I believe as a community we can do more for our district. I would like to see more participation by the community in all of the important decisions that must be made to keep our elementary and middle school viable for many years to come. This would entail committees for hiring a superintendent, assessing current educational needs and analyzing the needs related to buildings and grounds.

We have a community of many talented people who have knowledge in so many areas that tapping into these resources would become a valuable asset for our district.

I have no issue with collaboration with other districts but I feel the process should be by a spec and a bid process to get the best bang for our buck. Our district’s needs must come first. My biggest priority would be to make sure that our elementary school remains as a staple of our village. We cannot allow the elementary or middle school to close or be absorbed by a larger district.

I would like to see our school district meetings posted on the school website for viewing. Our district is blessed with great technology. Let’s use it to broadcast the meetings instead of relying on Cablevision. I want to inform the community and include the stakeholders in the discussions for the future. I am interested in all voices and suggestions. After all, Greenwood Lake is one community.

If you support my bid for a seat on the Board of Education, I will work to do what is best for our community and most importantly, for our children and their education. I will not be beholden to any special interest group. No one will be able to say that they put me in office and now I owe them as has been said of some on the Board of Education. I will not do the bidding of others with an agenda. My interest will always be with the students first.

Mary Fagan
Greenwood Lake