Allie Maltais, Concord School Board Candidate

Allie Maltais

Age (as of Election Day)

33

Position Sought

Concord School Board District B

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Patrick (Husband) 35 Nurse Infomaticist at Manchester VA, Henry age 4 and Ben age 1

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My Husband works for the VA

Education

6 Months away from BA in Childhood Psychology from SNHU , Certified in Health Care Administration NHTI

Occupation

Stay at Home Mom-5 years , Paraprofessional 2 years, Nursing 8 years (LNA, Med Tech, Health Unit Coordinator)

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

n/a

Campaign website

Allie Maltais for School Board Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/alliemaltaisforschoolboard

Why are you seeking elective office?

I'm a Concord parent and I'm running for District B because I personally care about the overall well being of our families and students in our school district during COVID-19. This pandemic is serious. We are living in uncertain times and we need to be here for one another. It has affected our community on many levels. This pandemic has drawn attention to systematic inequalities in our school system involving children in special education, children of different cultural backgrounds and more importantly race. Every student regardless of sex, identity, race, religion and learning difference is entitled to a POSITIVE and SAFE learning experience. I have canvassed this community with my family and I've heard the concerns of parents. I emphasize with them. Our community is hurting especially after the Howie Leung Case last year. Concord is still trying to heal while in a pandemic. I want to see the school district move in a direction of change. I seek this position because as a mental health, special needs parent and Concord community advocate I know there are many areas of improvement before our community builds back trust. That is the first priority, building back community trust with respect, effective communication and insuring student safety. I'm personally invested in this position and with my leadership skills and passion for helping the overall well being in students I have what it takes to help us in the right direction. I have the experience with being on a board and years of community involvement and public service that have given me a strong foundation to understanding whats best for our community and our schools.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue I believe we are facing now is certainly navigating through COVID-19. We have so many families especially parents of children with special needs that are trying to do the best for their children. Unfortunately, I often hear and see many judgements on a parents decision on if their child should go remote or hybrid. This itself is heartbreaking to hear and can emphasize how difficult that decision is to make and how you are trying your best to provide what you believe is the best for your child based on how they learn. Every child learns from different angles and this itself is a gift. I'm worried though about our students in general and I fear we are facing a very urgent pressing matter and that is the social-emotionally well being of our students during this pandemic. I intend to propose a Telehealth service to students or a 24/7 safe line for students to call if they don't feel safe at home or if they are experiencing depression or anxiety along other underlying mental health concerns. We not only need to protect our students from COVID-19 but we need to protect their mental health. Our students are alone and they don't have the same opportunities as most of us have had. I have seen it first hand how it has deeply effected them. We need to address the importance of this issue and I would like to collaborate with appropriate organizations that are willing to help the Concord School District with these support services for our students.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I'm an experienced mother and advocate for children with special needs. I personally understand on both spectrums. One, being a Mom to an amazing and intelligent boy with autism. Two, being a prior student in the special education department . So yes I understand and see things from both sides and can deeply emphasize with these families.
I'm the creator and facilitator of a parent support group, Puzzled Together NH: Supporting parents of children with Autism. This I hold at Community Bridges.
I have a pretty well rounded cultural background due to my parents serving in the military. My brother and I had the wonderful experience and opportunity to live with different cultures and I have the deepest respect to diversity. We moved every two years up until I reached age 10 when we finally settled in Concord, NH. I have lived out of country and out of state from Japan to California to Virginia I was raised with cultural respect. I also grew up in a neighborhood that all shared different family ethnicities on a military base. My mother told me I needed speech in school because I was getting languages mixed up in my vocabulary when I was young. So I have childhood experience and the advantage of understanding different cultures and still applying that honor and respect because my brother and I were raised this way and it's personal to me.
I have a nursing background. Right out of high school I wanted to be like my grandmother and become a nurse. I went into the LNA program and got my license and worked in a nursing home for six years. Then I transferred to Concord Hospital and became a health unit coordinator after I finished my health administration program at NHTI and became certified. I worked on the Med-Surge wing and at Horseshoe Pond.
Then I followed my heart and wanted to focus more of my public service with children 1:1 and went into child psychology. I was a paraprofessional for Concord High for almost two years. I was a teacher of a children's LEGO summer camp. Now I'm a stay at home Mom and I'm months away from my BA in Childhood Psychology from SNHU.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

n/a

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

COVID-19
1) I want closely observe are safety protocols and the measures we are taking to make sure we are doing everything effectively and safely to ensure the safety of everyone. I also want to consistently monitor COVID-19 positive cases in our community. This will help myself and the board decide the safest plan if we hit a second wave. This is to better help protect everyone and stay well informed. I have a background in nursing and worked in the health field as I’m also married to a nurse so health and safety is always top priority. If we hit a second wave in which I believe we will as we approach flu season it never hurts to be extra vigilant.
- OUR TEACHERS, OUR JANITORS, CAFETERIA WORKERS, ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF and more importantly our FAMILIES at home are all at risk and putting their health on the line. I intend to make sure every measure is going above and beyond regarding sanitation, social distancing and meeting compliance in regards to CDC Guidelines. This shows our community and staff that make up are schools how much we support and care about their health and the health of others especially our children.
TRUST
2) With the aftermath of the 2019 Howie Leung Case our Concord Community’s trust is shattered. Students and parents are very concerned. The position we are at right now in our community is still processing this case and now we have entered a pandemic. With lack of trust and uncertainties we are at a fragile state. OPEN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION is crucial to building back our communities trust. We are in this together. We need to work together. Concord is a wonderful community and I’m proud to raise my boys here and have so many roots here. I believe in our schools and I know we can make are school district better. We have above and beyond teachers and paraprofessionals that we are lucky to have in our schools and serve our students.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
This area I’m mostly passionate about for my own personal reasons. These are the areas I would like to focus on or help in Special Education:
-Making sure all of our students are receiving have accessibility to assistive technology if needed to help them learn
-INCLUSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT in our classrooms. I would like to see more students stay in class, be involved with their classmates and learn with the class. This is important because it removes barriers and welcomes all learning needs. It also helps our students socially and emotionally while navigating through their school years.
-Family and School communication log that is filled out by the Special Education teacher or paraprofessional. I would like this to be mandatory. I would like to see this offered more to our families on a daily basis to help the team and family regarding academics and an update on how they are doing. Being a parent, I can emphasize with how important this is and it gives parents reassurance as to how help their child further succeed. This also helps with open communication between the team and the family and how we can all be on the same page.
-I want to closely look over our budget each year and make sure are Special Education Departments are receiving everything thing they need to support the needs of our students and their learning styles.
- PARAPROFESSIONAL DAY needs to be recognized more in our schools. The 1:1 instruction, guidance, work, support and above and beyond services they provide our students I notice and our families do too. Often, they don’t get enough recognition and we need a day to reassure them they are greatly appreciated . They make up a lot of our Special Education classrooms.
RACE AND EQUALITY
This is extremely important especially with the times and movements we are living in. Students need to feel safe and welcomed in our schools by all staff and students. Here is my focus:
- Racism will not be tolerated in the Concord School District in any forms. Period.
-Students that have traveled from other countries that may be immigrants or refugees need more services in our schools. We need mental health services to help these students that may have experienced trauma or may have other underlying conditions. Moving from one country and entering our school system is I can imagine is very challenging. We need to help support them with the emotional transition.
- I would like to help address that we need to approach and treat every student as a whole. This meaning we make sure they know the resources that can be provided to them . I would also like to establish and setting up more after school clubs to help them meet other students that may share the same stories or interests. This helps our immigrant and refugees students with emotional security and trust with each other . They need a safety net besides the ELL department.
-I would like to see the board communicate more with our ELL department regarding needs of our students and what or how can we make it more welcoming and successful including the staff.
SAFETY
Safety is a topic that we need to work on. It’s still ongoing and I know this has been something the district was working on before the pandemic. We need go over our policies such as what I was working on in the Task Force Committee with the Concord School District. It’s still a work in progress after the Howie Leung Case. So, I only have one area of focus:
-Continue to still work on our policies and reconstruct new ones to help protect or students

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

-Council Member of the Family Support Council through Community Bridges
-Committee member on the Concord School District's Safety Task Force
-Creator and Coordinator of Puzzled Together NH
-Supporting Event Coordinator for "Kids We Lose" Documentary at Red River Theater 2019
-Former Nursing employer at Concord Hospital and Merrimack County Nursing Home
-Paraprofessional
-Stay at home Mom to two boys

The best advice ever shared with me was …

"Always be kind. You never know somebody's story and , how much as a simple smile and a hello can make a difference"
-My late grandmother and well known Concord Community member, Jean Dineen

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I ask for your vote on November 3rd. Please reach out to me with any questions and concerns . I'm here to listen. I'm Allie Maltais and I thank you for your time and I hope you consider me your next Concord School Board Member for District B.