To the Editor:
I am a candidate for the MSAD 44 Board of Directors and I ask for your vote on June 14, or sooner if you choose to vote absentee at your town office ahead of election day.

I have lived on Mechanic Street in Bethel for twenty-three years, during which time I have consistently stood for an honest government that is accountable to the public interest. These are the principles that will guide my service as an elected school board member.

I am a 1979 graduate of Warwick Valley High School in New York and hold degrees from Cornell University and the University of Maine. After college, I spent six years in the Army and then worked in municipal and county government in Maine for thirty years. My dad was a school superintendent and my mom was a gym teacher. I do understand the role of public education from all sides and perspectives.

The youth of our community deserve a decent, formal education in a safe, nurturing environment. Our community, in turn, deserves a school system whose operation reflects both local needs and the larger demands of a complex, ever-changing world.

This is what I will expect of administrators, faculty, and staff if elected to the school board.

Thank you for your consideration. And again, I ask for your vote.

Scott G. Cole
Bethel