Support James Kennedy for Florence-Carlton School Board

My name is James Kennedy, and I am announcing my candidacy for the Florence-Carlton School Board. I am an architect by training and run a small design-build company here in Florence. My wife, also a local business owner, was raised in the Bitterroot valley, and we moved to Florence 12 years ago to raise our family. Our two sons, now in second and fourth grade, are enrolled in Florence Elementary.

Over the past five years, I have actively volunteered in my sons’ classrooms and coached various team sports. More recently, I have also been involved with the Florence Carlton Parent Organization in finding new ways to utilize our community resources for the installation of new playground equipment for our elementary school. To further support this project, I am currently working through the process of becoming a certified playground installer so that I can oversee the installation of the new equipment at no cost to the district.

I am a strong advocate for public schools and firmly believe in their ability to unite our community and provide our children with valuable opportunities to learn, grow and participate meaningfully in a wide range of activities. As a school trustee, I hope to continue serving the community by developing new learning opportunities, fostering community engagement, and exploring creative solutions to the challenges facing our small school district.

As YOUR trustee I want to:

• Promote effective communication and increase transparency between the school board and parents.

I would like to see the school board engage with the community more and increase communication about the challenges facing our district and tough decisions that face our trustees. An informed parent base is key to our district’s success.

• Support community involvement and engagement.

Help the district partner with the community to continue to make upgrades to our facilities and support our programs. In that same spirit, I’d like to support more opportunities for our students to engage in a variety of service projects within our community.

• Promote academic opportunities within the district.

A primary role of the school board is to support our children’s education. I want to find more ways to support our existing special services, title, enrichment and honors programs and provide meaningful opportunities for students outside of the programs we currently offer to expand opportunities for learning.

• Solve problems and think creatively about district resource challenges.

As a small district we will always have funding challenges. We need to think creatively about ways to meet these challenges and provide every opportunity possible for our students.

I am asking for your support to help my campaign spread the word to our community. Campaign funds will be used for mailers and signage.

Thank you.

James Kennedy