Three candidates vie for two open SAD 5 director seats

ROCKLAND – A few good men are running for SAD 5 director seats, but only two may be chosen.

Two three-year seats are up for grabs in the district that covers Rockland, Owls Head and South Thomaston.

Robert Armelin, Jeffrey Boggs and Kyle Reniche, all Rockland residents, seek one of those two available spots.

The expiring terms are those of Director William Sternberg, who did not seek re-election, and Boggs, who seeks a third term.

Boggs, 46, has served four years on the board of directors. After an initial three-year stint, he opted to run for an unexpired one-year term last year. Now, he said he wants to stay on the board a while longer.

“The main reason: I believe there’s a very good administration, staff and board,” Boggs said.

“I think [Superintendent Anne Demers] has good vision for the future and is very resourceful,” he said. “Good things are going on in the district, and I want to help support the board and want the community to feel it’s getting straightforward information.”

Boggs has a bachelor’s degree in biology from LaFayette College in Easton, Pa. He and his wife, Melissa Boggs, have three children who attend Rockland schools.

Armelin, 53, has worked as the city finance director for seven years. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Villanova University near Philadelphia.

Armelin said he would bring a strong financial background to the board.

“It would make a well-rounded board,” he said, pointing to his financial expertise. Many board members have backgrounds in education, he said.

“I have no agenda,” he said, explaining he does not have children. “I’m anxious to learn their budget the same way I know” the city’s budget.

Reniche, 38, is a clinical social worker for Sweetser, a mental health organization. He works in its Belfast office. He previously was a school-based therapist at SAD 5’s MacDougal School for two years.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, N.H., and a master’s degree in social work from the University of New England in Westbrook.

“I’m hoping I am as popular with the voters as I am with the kids,” he said. If elected, Reniche said he promises to “bring a real interest in the human element of administration to the school district.” He said he would like to foster good emotional health in students and staff.

His listed his main asset to the board as “knowledge of what’s going on in the schools at ground level – because I’ve been there.”

The biggest issues in education today is “resources,” he said, pointing to unfunded mandates.

“No Child Left Behind [is required] without the bus fare to get there in the first place,” Reniche said. Another issue is a “lack of community involvement,” he said.

“It’s not fair,” Armelin said, concerning unfunded mandates. He stressed the district’s need for “proper funding by the state.”

Boggs argued that meeting the standards of No Child Left Behind is “a huge challenge” financially, but that it also adds to the workload of teachers and staff, he said.

If the Palesky tax cap passes, all of the candidates agree the school district should participate in reductions, but indicated that support should be limited because of the needs and importance of children’s education. The tax cap would limit property taxes to $10 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Armelin likened the school district to one of the city’s or county’s “core” essential services. “The school is just one big service,” he said.