FARMINGTON – John Frary will be challenging incumbents Joyce Morton and Robert Flick for two posts on SAD 9’s school board when Farmington voters cast ballots Monday. Polling will take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Community Center on Middle Street.
Frary was raised in Farmington but moved to New Jersey in 1965 to attend graduate school at Rutgers University. He received a master’s degree in Byzantine history and went on to teach history and political science at Middlesex County College. He is an associate editor for the International Military Encyclopedia. He is a member of the Farmington Rotary Club and the local chapter of the Elks.
Recently returned “from exile,” Frary said he would like to contribute to the community “which is dear to my heart.”
As for his plans as a school board director, he said, “All I can promise is to do my homework.”
Morton, a lifelong resident of Farmington, has been Franklin County’s register of probate for 36 years. A member of the school board since 1998, she said her service has satisfied her desire to be more connected to the community.
She thinks financial issues in education are important to all citizens and believes her job has given her a good understanding of property taxes. In her role on the policy subcommittee, she was involved in updating the district’s 3-inch-thick policy book during the course of a year.
As a member of the negotiations committee, she hopes to be able to provide staff with an increase while still maintaining a reasonable budget.
“Everybody has to have an increase, but we need to keep the monies reasonable,” she said. “The education is more important than anything as long as students have the resources they need,” she added.
Flick has lived in Farmington for five years, but has been vacationing in Clearwater for 50. He is president of the Farmington Historical Society, member of the pastoral relations committee and choir at Old South Church, member of a Masonic Lodge, vice president of the Clearwater Lake Association and volunteer at Franklin Memorial Hospital. He has 38 years experience as a teacher, high school administrator and guidance counselor.
Having served for one three-year term, he said he is interested in working on a statewide good sportsmanship study, of which Mt. Blue will be a pilot school.
“As an active and very interested citizen of Farmington, I would be pleased to have my Farmington friends and neighbors support my desire to continue to serve the children, parents and staff of our schools,” he said. “I did not nor will I bring any radical forms of belief to the board and will continue to be somewhat conservative as to budgetary matters but will strongly support the needs of our children,” he added.
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