School Board Candidate: Anne Moonan

Eight candidates are vying for seats on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. Today, Wall Patch continues its election coverage with the latest in a series of candidate profiles.

All candidates have been invited to participate in a short interview and provide a brief biography and a photograph.  Additionally, Wall Patch has provided a short slide show of the candidates’ closing statements from the April 5 candidates’ night, which can be accessed by clicking on the icon to the right.

Candidate: Anne D. Moonan

Age: 50

Address: 1910 Sherwood Drive

Children:  Four, two in district

Employment: Community Volunteer 

Experience: Seeking first term

The next school board needs to find ways to get the community involved in their decisions, begin working on the district’s budget earlier and find a superintendent that meets the community’s requirements, according to school board hopeful Anne Moonan.

Moonan, 50, a longtime school volunteer in a variety of capacities, identified the district’s budget process, a search for a new superintendent and broadening community involvement as among the top issues facing the board in the near future.

The most pressing concern, Moonan said, was getting next years’ budget passed. Beyond that, she said, the school board should look at its overall strategy in the budget process and find ways to bring in the community into the process through the school year, not just in March when its time to gear up to pass it.

“I think we could start bringing in more ad hoc committees and keeping people involved in the process,’’ Moonan said. “You start early and keep people involved. What could be the harm in reaching out to the public?”

Communication will be key for the next school board, Moonan said, and something she would work to foster.

“We as a board should want the community to know that we value their opinon and want them to be in a partnership with us for our children,’’ she said. “And we need to make sure our community has the information they need.’’

And that communication goes both ways, Moonan said. If elected, she said she would try to be a good listener and conduit for information.

“I will be focused on trying to learn and answer questions for people,’’ she said.

Moonan said she was a big supporter of arts programs as part of a well-rounded education and she would fight to retain or augment those programs. She also said that extracurriculars in general were important to a solid educational experience.

“I’m huge into the arts, don’t want to see us cut more from them,’’ she said. “And we need the sports and the clubs. We’ve already cuts so much from them.”

Moonan also cited community involvement in the search for a new superintendent as a main focus of her attention, if elected.

The contract of schools Superintendent James Habel expires next year. Although Habel has not said publicly that he will not seek an extension, the school board at its Jan. 11 meeting cited the search for the district’s next superintendent as one of its top priorities, according to meeting minutes.

Moonan said in preparing herself for the campaign she looked at other like-sized school districts searching for new superintendents for guidance. What she found, she said, was a lot of input from community members.

“I saw many many schools involving their community,’’ she said. “There’s huge documents that were made from their community committees in what they’re looking for  in a new superintendent.’’

Moonan said that was the model the Wall district should follow in finding a new leader for the district.

“That is going to be the most exciting part,’’ Moonan said. “He or she is the driving force in the school district.”

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Other School Board Candidate Profiles: