Amanda Butcher, Londonderry School Board Candidate

Amanda Butcher

Age (as of Election Day)

36

Position sought (including ward or district number if applicable)

School Board (Two-Year Term)

Party Affiliation

Family

I have lived in town for 8 years with my husband, son (10yo), daughter (8yo)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Pinkerton Academy (2003); University of New Hampshire: B.A. Psychology (2007); University of Massachusetts Boston: M.Ed., Leadership, Teaching, and Educational Transformation (2011); University of Massachusetts Boston: Graduate Certificate; Applied Behavior Analysis (2011)

Occupation

Senior Educational and Behavioral Consultant; Board-Certified Behavior Analyst; Worked in education for 15 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

N/A

Campaign website

http://www.facebook.com/amandaforlondonderry

Why are you seeking elective office?

I believe in Londonderry schools and providing students with a strong public education. I’m running for the school board to make sure a fair and equitable representation of our community's beliefs are being served. I feel strongly that respect, professionalism, and effective communication are necessary for affecting change and will help restore the positive culture in our town and schools.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Our most significant problem as a community, is the discourse within the community that is leaking into schools and impacting teacher job satisfaction. This is extremely concerning, as without teachers we don’t have schools. The pandemic has resulted in educators being asked to do more with less. Adequate staffing is already difficult to come by, so it’s important to ensure our educators are happy, compensated appropriately, and that we are attracting highly qualified professionals. To address this, I plan to set the best example for our kids by collaborating with all parties respectfully with the goal of helping to reunite our community. It will also be important to consistently collaborate wtih administrators, teachers, and parents to identify where they need additional support and ensure this support is consistently provided

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have worked in schools for just short of fifteen years and have a great understanding of how children learn. I earned my M.Ed. while working my way through college as a paraprofessional. In my current role as an educational and behavioral consultant, I collaborate with parents, administrators, teachers, and paraprofessionals to help solve problems and effect positive change. This requires an understanding of everyone’s priorities, use of evidence-based intervention and methods, and data to drive objective decision making. There is so much more to education than standardized testing. We need to meet kids where they are at. Time lost to remote learning cannot be made up overnight. This multifaceted perspective is what makes me different.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Masking is currently optional in Londonderry and I support this. Like everyone else, I hope that with a better understanding of Covid and a less severe variant, we can keep masks off of kids. No one likes wearing a mask. A petition to end masks which ignores the federally and state recommended covid mitigation matrices designed by public health professionals, however, is shortsighted and premature. It does not consider the perspective of medically fragile families, those who have lost loved ones to this virus, or the fact that our situation could change in the future. Our priorities as a district should be ensuring students and staff members are safe, while keeping our schools open for in-person learning.Once these variables are ensured, then it’s important to look at family preferences.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

In my role of Educational and Behavioral Consultant, I am brought in to support students and teams when traditional methods aren't effective. This means I'm typically arriving to a meeting table that is emotionally charged and/or contentious. Neither parents or educators enjoy seeing kids struggle. In these situations, my job is to build relationships and cohension, identify problems or barriers, and provide recommenations and solutions as how to best move forward as a team.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Always approach a charged or contentious situation with the attitude of, "How can I best support you moving forward?" You only know what you know about someone or their situation, so offering to listen and support is the typically the most effective way to understand problems and perspectives that is crucial in moving foward toward a positive outcome.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

My professional experience, perspective, collaborative style, and ability to communicate are what we need to move forward, and what makes me the best candidate for this role.