Four candidates are running for two seats on the Port Washington Board of Education, and Karen Sloan, board president for the last decade, is not one of them.
After 12 years on the school board and serving as president for the last 10, she will be stepping down.
The four candidates on the upcoming ballot for a three-year term are Emily Beys who is seeking re-election, Jonathan Geisler, Deborah Abramson-Brooks and Robert Young.
In a telephone interview, Sloan said it was an incredible experience to serve on the board as long as she did and to have been voted in as president by her fellow board members each year for the past 10 years is a huge source of pride for her.
“I think it is time for a new person to come play this role and bring new perspectives and participate in the school district,” Sloan said.
She cited the great relationships forged within the school district and the Port Washington community as one of her favorite achievements as president of the board.
In the past seven years, while Superintendent Kathleen Mooney has been in her position, Sloan said, she thinks there has been a sense of trust and goodwill with the community at large, parents in the district and the district’s bargaining unit that wasn’t as strong when she started 12 years ago.
She said when she first joined the board, it was a pretty good time in the district but there was a period after she joined when there was a dip in the relationships and trust within the district.
She said that the board and employees of the district grew together and learned to work together over the years and she thinks that the strong relationship will outlast the current board.
Sloan said that Port’s Board of Education has worked tirelessly to ensure transparency with the community but she said there is always “room to grow and improve.”
Over her time serving on the board, Sloan said social media emerged which she said has been “hard to master” but the district has tried its best to use the tool to get word out about the goings-on in the district in the fastest way possible.
With her children having been out of the Port Washington school system for quite some time, Sloan said it is a good time to depart the board because over the last few years board members seem to be on the same page in terms of goals.
She said the current board is filled with incredible people “that may not all share the same personal opinions” but respect one another and listen to each other’s opinions.
Of her time serving on the board with Sloan, Beys said: “Karen Sloan has worked tirelessly on the behalf of the school district for the past 12 years and I am grateful for my time on the board with her.”
She added that Sloan’s leadership “has set the bar very high and we have lots of work to fill her shoes.”
However, Sloan said it is not farewell and she will always be around and hopes to stay involved with the Port Washington school district and the Board of Education.
The election for the Board of Education will take place on May 21 in conjunction with the budget vote in Weber Middle School’s all-purpose room.
