Three seats open

Voters in the Churchville-Chili Central School District will choose from four candidates to fill three seats on the board of education May 15. School board members are elected to a three-year term, and serve without pay.

Nancy Barron, 34 Alana Drive, is currently serving out an unfulfilled term on the board of education. "It has been an enjoyable experience to serve the community in this way," she said.

Barron and her husband have lived in the district for more than 20 years, raising three children who graduated from C-C schools. She said she considers one of the board’s biggest responsibilities to be creating a friendly environment for learning through policies and goal setting.

"The educational environment … is the most important issue we can address," she said. "It impacts the children’s ability to learn, it impacts recruitment and retention of our teachers and administrators, and it establishes expectations for safety."

Barron has served on the Committee Advisory Board for Monroe #1 BOCES, the Monroe County Educational Outcome Project, the North East Rochester Health and Human Service Agency Coalition, the Rochester City School District’s Youth Apprenticeship Committee, and the Kodak 21st Century-Franklin High School Partnership Management Team.

As a human resource professional, with an educational background in public administration, Barron said she sees recruitment and retention of teachers and administrators as one of the district’s biggest challenges.

Kathy Dillon, 22 Mapleton Drive, is also currently serving out an unfulfilled term on the board of education. "I have had a taste of it, learned a lot, and want to continue," she said.

A social worker, Dillon has resided in the district for 17 years, and been involved with the school system through her two children who are now students in the district. As a parent, she served as a library aide, on the SHADE Team at Chestnut Ridge Elementary School, on the Middle School PEP Team, the Junior High Focus Team, a chaperone for school events, and, "pretty much anything else the teachers asked me to do as a parent volunteer," she said.

She has also been a Girl Scout leader for the past ten years, a soccer coach, helped organize events at St. Christopher’s Church, and served on the Churchville Beautification Committee. "I bring experience and enthusiasm to pursue quality education for our children," she said.

She said she considers the completion of the building project and the continuing strive for excellence in education to be the top two issues facing the board of education.

Marjorie Hassert, 34 Jenkins Road, is a retired C-C teacher who has lived in the district for 27 years. "I not only know the history and culture, but was an ongoing part of it," she said.

She served on the district’s committees for discipline, the superintendent search, and the new building, as well as the K-12 science committee. She has served as a docent at the Seneca Park Zoo for the past five years and is now helping with a research project on polar bears at the zoo.

She volunteers at Genesee Country Museum, in a first-grade classroom at Fairbanks Road Elementary School, and as a computer volunteer in the elementary schools.

"The strength of the school board is in acting as a board not as an individual," she said. "You need to be a team member and not a star in order to accomplish goals." She said her tenacity and sense of humor will help her succeed as a member of the board.

"Monitoring, implementing and improving discipline and safety policies for all students K-12 on a set schedule and case-by-case is a very important issue for me," she said.

Mark Hill, 31 Bishopgate Drive, is an international marketing manager who has lived in the district for 17 years. "Much of my involvement in the community and school activities was centered around my children and their activities," he said.

Hill was a member of the C-C Sports Booster Club, and chaperoned on school field trips. He actively supported school sports, band and chorus and was involved in Boy Scouts.

He called the district "dynamic" and said that his business background will bring a new perspective to the board of education. He said he has been very involved in the technology arena and that "technology is the way" for students today.

Hill said the proposed New York State Thruway exit in south Chili could have a huge impact on the tax base for the school system, and is something the board should keep abreast of. "These are issues that are going to face us in the next few years," he said.

"I believe the two top issues facing C-C schools in the next three years are managing the annual budget in a responsible fashion and implementing the recently approved building expansion project," he said.