Education First Shawnee Mission, the advocacy group formed earlier this year, has decided to weigh in on the race for the SM East area seat on the board of education, endorsing Mary Sinclair in the race.
The group made a dual endorsement of Mandi Hunter and Heather Ousley in the at-large race ahead of the five-candidate primary in August. It also endorsed Laura Guy for the SM West seat before primary day.
In its announcement regarding the endorsement of Sinclair, EFSM cited her years of work on both school-level PTAs and larger PTA groups like the Shawnee Mission Area Council PTA.
Sinclair is running against retired SM East science teacher James Lockard.
EFSM’s full endorsement announcement is below:
Education First Shawnee Mission (EFSM), a Political Action Committee (PAC) and parent advocacy group for the Shawnee Mission School District, has endorsed Mary Sinclair for the Shawnee Mission East seat in the upcoming School Board General Election on November 7, 2017.
“Mary exemplifies the change and ideas that we believe are critical to being a member of the Shawnee Mission School Board,” said Tiffany Johnson, EFSM Chairman. “We are excited to have such an experienced education advocate running in this race and look forward to the upcoming election.” EFSM, which is comprised of parents and community members in the Shawnee Mission School District, sent formal surveys to all the candidates running for Board of Education. These surveys included questions based on EFSM’s six core issues: Transparency, Budget, Cultural Competency, Special Education, School Funding (including vouchers and privatization), and Positive Working Culture. Candidates who completed the survey were then invited to meet individually with members of EFSM to share more about their positions.
Mary Sinclair (East) has worked as an education advocate in the Shawnee Mission School District since 2002. She served as the PTA Legislative Chair at Highlands Elementary School, Indian Hills Middle School, and Shawnee Mission East. She also served on the Shawnee Mission Area Council PTA and Kansas PTA.
She is a former PTA President at Highlands and also served as VP of Advocacy for Kansas PTA. Sinclair participated in the MVP program at Rosehill Elementary School, following her student to Middle School this year. She has a professional background in education research, including 15 years focused on student engagement and dropout prevention for youth with learning and behavioral disabilities.
In addition, Sinclair is a member of the Fairway Parks and Recreation committee. EFSM released endorsements for the At-Large race and Shawnee Mission West race in July 2017. EFSM dual endorsed Mandi Hunter and Heather Ousley for the At-Large position and Laura Guy for the Shawnee Mission West position. The General Election will take place on November 7, 2017.
