MONROE — Two political novices are challenging Tom MacIntyre for the Monroe School Board seat he’s held for 13 years.
His challengers are stay-at-home mom Janan Elnasser and Monroe police officer Ryan Moody.
MacIntyre, the retired director of the regional branch of Catholic Community Services, is proud of the work he’s done as a school board member, especially standing up for alternative education programs. He said he helped found the Sky Valley Education Center a decade ago, and would like to continue making sure there are options for kids who don’t do well in traditional classrooms.
“One of the things I feel good about is we really have alternative styles of education,” he said. “When I went to school if you didn’t fit the traditional high school, you were kind of out of luck. That’s what you had and that was it. Now we have a lot of them.”
Elnasser believes there are too many school board members who don’t have kids currently attending Monroe schools. She has five children, including four current Monroe students, and believes she knows better than most how budget cuts and board decisions affect kids.
“I’m really concerned about how the educational cuts they’re doing are affecting the students and teachers,” she said. “I’m also concerned that the board members are removed. Without having kids in our school system, the choices they make don’t really affect them.”
Moody believes sometimes the school board settles for average. The Monroe native is not happy with kids merely passing state tests. He wants them to excel.
“Our standards should not change even if our money goes down,” the father of three said. “We can still expect good things and high numbers and high quality education from our teachers and school district without the money. I understand there’s going to be some cuts made, but I don’t think the quality of education should go down because of that.”
He would rather spend money on good teachers than on programs like the new reading curriculum the district implemented last year.
MacIntyre supports that program and believes it will help make sure that all kids can read well by third grade.
Elnasser said she would look to cut new construction spending. With the district’s enrollment declining, it’s makes sense financially to improve current schools, rather than build new ones, she said.
Elnasser has a high school diploma and has taken some college courses, but does not have a degree.
MacIntyre earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history from St. Thomas Seminary in Kenmore. He earned a master’s degree in school counseling from the University of San Francisco, and taught for a few years in Montana.
Moody grew up in Monroe, graduating from Monroe High School in 1990. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Central Washington University.
School board members earn $50 per day for attending meetings or carrying out board business with a limit of $4,800 a year.
Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292, kmanry@heraldnet.com.
@List subhead:Janan Elnasser
Age: 40
Stay-at-home mom
@List subhead:Tom MacIntyre
Age: 69
Retired director of Catholic Community Services for Northwest Washington
@List subhead:Ryan Moody
Age: 37
Monroe Police officer
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