- Name: Gary Harriman
- Occupation: Videographer/Webmaster, RSU 14 WIndham Raymond
- Education: B.A. University of Maine
- Community Organizations/Service: Currently finishing 4th term MSAD 15 school board, Friends of the Shakers board of directors; formerly board of directors, Skyline Farm, North Yarmouth
- Interests/hobbies: Love rural life, hate traffic, avid reader. Crafter focusing on repurposed metal products. Amateur jewelry maker.
- Family status: married with two adult children. Son Spencer 2014 GNG grad
Why do you want to serve in this role? I think it’s important to find a way to serve the community you live in. It’s a way to say “thank you” for all that you receive as a citizen. And I believe that the success of any community is immeasurably influenced by the quality of its school system. Trying to make the best use of our communities’ resources to give our kids a great education has been just the place to invest my time and energy.
What experience and expertise do you bring to the MSAD 15 board? When I was first elected, what I brought to the board was primarily the perspective of being the parent of a student-athlete in the SAD15 school system. But now, after 4 terms, I bring the experience and expertise gained from having served on the finance, personnel, facilities and curriculum committees. I’ve been through 12 budget cycles, multiple contract negotiations, facility improvements, growth in educational opportunities, and expanded athletics.
What are the three most critical issues facing the schools and community, and how would you address them? Before the time of Covid 19, I would have said the most pressing issues were related to things like controlling budgets while faced with growing fixed costs, maintaining our existing facilities/improving our athletic fields, and reviewing our curriculum areas for updates.
But not now. Not in the age of Covid 19. Now I think almost all of our most pressing issues involve what school will look like in the fall and beyond. How do we prepare for a future when we have incomplete and constantly changing information surrounding best practices? Do we reopen? Do we stay closed? Split days, alternating days, remote learning? How can we still provide the best possible educational experience and how will we pay for it, should we face a curtailment in state funding? Teachers, administrators, and students in SAD 15 did an amazing job when faced, almost overnight, with the need to shift to remote learning. The question now is what’s next. That will be the challenge for the next school board.
Tell voters something about yourself that they don’t already know and might surprise them. For many years my wife and I were horse owners and competitive carriage drivers.
Eds’ note: Harriman suspended gathering signatures for his nomination papers after Covid-19 hit and sought advice from town and Maine Department of Education officials. They recommended he run as a write-in candidate.
