David Ford and incumbent Alison Perera are vying for the fourth seat in the Coupeville School Board in the upcoming general elections.

Both candidates were interviewed in 2022 to fill the position left vacant by Glenda Merwine, which ultimately went to Perera.

Perera has two teenage children who have been attending school in the district since kindergarten. Over the past 10 years, she has been involved with various organizations to support Coupeville schools.

She was the treasurer of the Central Whidbey Cooperative Preschool, the treasurer for the Coupeville Elementary Parent-Teacher Association, later shifting into the secretary role while also being treasurer of the Central Whidbey Soccer Club. She’s worked on the Strategic Planning Committee, the Instructional Materials Committee and the Budget Committee. She also volunteers as coach for the Coupeville Middle School Robotics and is the secretary of the Coupeville Farm to School program.

All of these experiences, she said, taught her the ways in which the community supports the district and what it expects from the school, and how to collaborate towards a common goal.

Ford works as a software engineer for Boeing, has over 28 years of Naval experience and currently is a Navy reservist. According to the voter’s guide, he has also been a youth sports coach and has contributed to various student activities and fundaisers. He has three granddaughters, two of whom attend school in Coupeville.

As he got closer to retiring, he felt the need to give back to the community where he grew up. He was further encouraged by members of the community who would tell him he’d make a good board member.

He believes his experience in the Navy and Boeing have given him the skills to be the right candidate for the role.

“My relationship with diversity and getting things done is something that the school district needs at this time,” he said.

Perera said she became more familiar with how the district operates after she joined the board.

The recent budget cuts left many community members dissatisfied, affecting their trust in the district. Both candidates said communication and transparency with the stakeholders are important when working on the budget, and they want to see more community involvement.

Ford acknowledged that reducing the budget was a necessary decision.

“With the budget issues, cuts had to be made,” he said. “If that was better communicated, I think that would have helped the community and the staff understand the perspective that the district was coming from.”

Perera said the board takes public input seriously, but the budget process could be improved to allow for more timely feedback which can then be reflected in decisions, rather than simply being presented to the board just weeks ahead of the budget deadline. According to her, the board has been discussing holding multiple listening sessions throughout the year, as board members don’t respond to public comments during board meetings.

Perera said she would address equity issues in the district to build a sense of belonging for everyone. She believes there is room for growth, as she found from achievement data and climate and culture surveys.

“The more that we can pay attention to it and listen to the issues that are raised, the better that we move our district in a direction that serves every student.”

When asked about students with special needs, Perera said she has faith in Special Services Director Allyson Cundiff in making sure that the student’s individual needs are met under the oversight of the board.

Ford said he wants to make education the district’s priority. He also wants to empower students, promote mental health and adequate resources for special needs students, and support teachers, who he are often the first to be eliminated when reducing budgets.

“Teachers are the backbone of the school district,” he said. “I want to make sure that they have the resources and the time they need to focus on the students.”