Daniel Popovici-Muller: Candidate, Windham School Board

WINDHAM, NH — Daniel Popovici-Muller

Age (as of Election Day)

52

Position Sought

Windham School Board

Party Affiliation

Republican, but I am running in a non partisan race for the School Board.

Family

Married, raising two children educated in the Windham public schools.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

I am the Finance Director for the Town of Windham.

Education

B.S. in Electronic Engineering from the Politechnica University of Bucharest, Romania. MBA from Boston University.

Occupation

In my fifth year as the Finance Director for the Town of Windham.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Windham School Board, 2015-2018.

Campaign website

tinyurl/dpmwindham

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am a proven fiscal conservative who will fight to maximize lifelong student achievement in a fiscally responsible manner. We made huge strides during my previous school board term, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to improve our schools, and I can be part of the solution.
The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

While the immediate challenge is reaching a fair union contract with our teachers (where I can contribute a lot), we need to have an open discussion about the culture of the school district. Too many teachers and staff members feel they cannot speak up about school issues without the fear of being retaliated against, and the school board and administration need to ensure that nobody is afraid to openly speak their mind in our school district.

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

If elected, I will be the only school board member that was on the negotiating team during either the last two successful negotiations with the teachers' union - my experience and inside knowledge will make a big difference in our ability to reach a deal that is fair to both the teachers and the Windham taxpayers. I also have more financial expertise (both government and private sector) than any other school board member or candidate.

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

When the proposed school budget is $55,000,000.00, it is clear that the school board does not feel the need to justify every dollar they are asking from the Windham taxpayers. We need to move towards a more transparent approach to budgeting. Any resident should be able to understand where every dollar in the budget goes towards and exactly why it is needed, like the Town of Windham does in their budget.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

Improve education through empowering teachers and tailoring education to each student's needs. Proven union negotiator who can help the school board reach a fair contract with the teacher's union. Fiscal responsibility. Transparency. Accountability. Continuing to fix district policy, including replacing failed zero tolerance policies with policies that allow our teachers and staff to handle every child's mistake on an individual basis, instead of a one size fits all approach to discipline. Address school district culture issues.

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

During my previous school board term, we were able to solve the district overcrowding issues by passing a warrant article approving $40 million to rebuild Golden Brook School and renovate portions of the Middle School. We hired the current administration (I was the swing vote in a 3-2 vote to hire our current superintendent) and many other excellent administrators, which led to great improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of our schools. We fixed the many internal control problems uncovered by the Melanson and Heath internal control review. The quality of the budget was hugely improved compared with previous budgets. We simplified and cleaned up a lot of the policies on the books, but that effort needs to continue. I was on the negotiating team for three successful union contracts (two with the teachers, one with the instructional assistants), all of which were approved by the voters. And most importantly, we build back the trust between Windham residents and the school board by listening to public input, and supporting the right ideas, no matter who they were coming from.

The best advice ever shared with me was …

You can learn much more from carefully listening to people who disagree with you - we all have unique backgrounds and nobody has all the answers. The best discussions are between people who passionately disagree but always express their thoughts in a professional, constructive manner.

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

Everything I do, I do out of love for this town - I serve my town during the say by ensuring that our finances are in order, and would be grateful if town voters give me another chance to serve on the school board, so every one of 3,000+ children we educate in our schools can achieve their full potential.