The first two candidates have filed for the November Saline Area Schools election.
Diane Friese, a retired teacher who now illustrates children’s books, and Smita Nagpal, a psychologist who owns her own business, filed at the county clerk’s office Monday morning.
To date, they are the only two candidates for the two available seats on school board. Incumbents and Chuck Lesch are not running. Dawn Ducca, who had is now mulling over a run.
Friese and Nagpal are running a joint campaign around the idea of collaborating with stakeholders to promote quality education and improve the school climate while ensuring the financial sustainability of the district.
“I’ve been committed to education for a very long time. It has been my lifelong career and love,” said Friese. “I want to make sure I have a voice in the educational community.”
Friese, wife of former school board trustee David Friese, taught for more than 30 years. She retired from Wayne-Westland schools and also worked in other districts, such as Manchester, Milan and Ann Arbor.
Friese said recent events have left her concerned about the future of public education.
“I am concerned about the feelings of the public towards public education. I believe public education is a fundamental right,” said Friese.
This is Nagpal’s first run for office. She is no stranger to Saline Area Schools, having been involved with the district in various capacities as a psychologist. Her son, Aaron Mukerjee, recently graduated from Saline High School.
“I feel strongly about issues occurring right now in our community, particularly the quality of education,” Nagpal said. “I would like to bring more focus to the needs of the students.”
Nagpal owns Still Waters Counseling Services.
“As a small business owner, I know about the balance between quality of service and being financially sustainable,” Nagpal said.
Other objectives of the campaign are to:
According to their campaign, other objectives are to promote policies that are financially sustainable
- Promote cutting edge techniques to maintain and improve the quality of education in the district.
- Promote a stimulating and positive school climate for all students.
- Promote great teaching by measuring both the science and the art of teaching (go beyond test scores).
- Promote an environment that fosters civility and collaboration.
The deadline for filing is at 4 p.m. Aug. 14. Petitions must be filed at the Washtenaw County Clerk’s Office, 200 N. Main St, Ann Arbor.
Yes, let's go back to the spend , spend, spend of Diane's husbands way when he was on the school board. The last thing we need as taxpayers is another retired public school teacher getting on the school board ( no less the wife of the one we kicked off the school board last fall) and demanding we support their ability to retire at the age of 52 with a 3000 dollar a month pension ( current dollars) and healthcare till they die 40 years later. This is all about "self preservation" for Diane and David's unions. They will once again play how the selfish taxpayers don't want to support the children but the bottom line is this. The taxpayers have been bled "dry". Business has been bled "dry" . But leave it to the unions and they will throw their youngest and brightest under the bus to get fired, thus increasing class size which shows no repsect for the students, parents and taxpayers. Finally , with folks on the school board with real leadership leading the way, the unions gave up reasonable and fair concessions. Diane Friese and Smita Nagpal hope to erase all that has been accomplished. We will do our best to help them lose.
Jude Levinson
I find it disheartening that a few people posted comments against these two candidates without any specific facts about their ideas. I don't believe that one can assume that because someone is a retired teacher, he or she would not be a worthy candidate and automatically advocate " demanding we support their ability to retire at the age of 52 with a 3000 dollar a month pension ( current dollars) and healthcare till they die 40 years later." This statement seems to be more of generalization that stems from a personal position regarding unions and public employees rather than a substantiated statement about the qualifications of the candidate . It seems to me there was not enough information in one article to support a well- informed voting decision.