Enfield Candidate Profile: Liz Davis, Board of Education

ENFIELD, CT — Enfield's election season is heating up, and there are plenty of contested races with candidates eager to represent their town in November's municipal election. Enfield Patch asked candidates in the town council and Board of Education races to answer questions about their campaigns, and will be publishing candidate profiles each weekday as election day draws near.

Current at-large town councilor Liz Davis is running for election to the Enfield Board of Education as a member of the Voices for Enfield party.

Name: Elizabeth "Liz" Davis
Age (as of Sept. 1, 2019): 47
Position sought: Board of Education
Party affiliation: Voices for Enfield
Family: 5 children, ages range from 14-32; 5 grandchildren in Enfield ages range from 2-14. Wife Dr Marie Davis
Does anyone in your family work in politics or government: No
Education: Bachelor degree in Business Administration, Summa Cum Laude
Occupation: 24 years experience, retired U.S. Army at rank of Master Sergeant
Previous or current elected or appointed office: current Enfield Town Council
The single most pressing issue facing Enfield is: the need to prioritize the needs of our educational system, including building maintenance and upgrades, and providing oversight to the new middle school building process. Listening to the concerns and the needs of all of our educators, administrators and citizens and providing the needed resources while also preventing an increase in taxes. Also, to bring back the second round of public communication at Board of Education meetings so that ALL citizens have a fair opportunity to speak about their concerns.
What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post: This can be addressed by developing a formal 5 Year Strategic Plan that includes maintenance of our buildings and grounds, with intermediate steps that are bound by target dates. Having a process that will provide for input from all stakeholders is a priority. This will also include reinstating the access to Board of Education meetings that has been taken away.
List other issues that define your campaign platform: My top priorities are to:

• work collaboratively with all stakeholders in order to strengthen our educational system.
• preserve, improve and maintain our buildings and grounds while also improving facilities where needed.
• ensuring that ALL students are college and career ready for life. As evidenced by our college and career ready measures, we are far from having ALL of our students ready by the time that they graduate for a profession or for college. As of our current available data reported in the Next Generation Accountability Results (2017-18) we exceed the state averages on only 2 of 20 measures. There is clear room for improvement on behalf of our students and their families. In order to address this effectively, teachers should be provided with the support, tools, resources and training that they require to meet the needs of all students.
• closing the achievement gap for ALL of our students is one of the highest priorities.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job: I have served on the town council for three and a half years. Through this, I have a clear understanding of the town and district budget process. I have over 24 years of experience in budgeting in a heavily accountable environment. I am a certified instructor in the military. I graduated with honors and hold a B.A. in Business Administration. I have years of community involvement in town wide meetings and activities. For the past nine years, I have been involved actively with PTOs in town, including serving as the past president/ vice president/treasurer at several schools in town. I am a mentor in the school system. My career in the military has trained me in how best to build a strong team that works together towards a common goal. We need to sharply improve our strategic planning for the long term, and increase fiscal responsibility. My professional background in the military included being responsible for multi-million dollar budgets for which I continually was held accountable for analyzing expenditures, engage in wise planning and then cautious spending.
The best advice ever shared with me was: to be true to yourself and your ideals, to speak strongly about what is in the best interests of all.
What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions: I hold a true passion for our great town and all of its citizens. If I am elected, I will ensure that your needs and the needs of this district will be heard over this next session.