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School board candidate brings parent viewpoint

HANCOCK — A Hancock High school graduate, daughter of a district teacher and now mother of Hancock students, Wendy Chynoweth has been a Bulldog for a long time.

She is hoping to apply that history and the perspective she has gained as a parent to the School Board and will appear on the ballot Nov. 6. Chynoweth is one of three candidates competing for the two six-year terms.

She has four kids in the district with two in high school and the remainder in elementary, a fifth will join them next year.

Chynoweth decided to take a more active role at the school last year.

“I think it’s important that I do my part to maintain the success of our district,” she said.

She would like to bring parent concerns to the role, something she has seen issues with in the past year.

“I have been very pleased as a whole with the whole teaching staff and the education that my children are receiving in Hancock, I have been extremely happy with that part of it,” she said. “It’s become apparent to me especially in the last year talking to other parents, they are raising concerns with our district and I have had a raised concerns myself.”

Retention of students and staff is a major focus for Chynoweth. She would like to look into the causes behind student and staff departure to help fund programs through good student numbers and keep quality educators in the district.

“We have to retain the great staff that we have and if they’re leaving we don’t have the option of filling these positions easily,” she said, noting a shortage of teachers in the market.

Ideally, Chynoweth would like to bring back some of the programs lost or decreased by low enrollment. She said she would be interested in hearing ideas from her fellow parents and the community.

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