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After working at Collier County Public Schools for 18 years, Mary Ellen Cash is again running against Roy Terry in the Collier County School Board race.
Cash unsuccessfully ran against Terry, the board chairman, in 2010. One other candidate, Darlene Alvarez, is also in the running for his seat.
More: Collier School Board candidate Darlene Alvarez starts bid for Roy Terry's seat
More: Erika Donalds won't seek re-election to Collier County School Board
Cash unsuccessfully ran for School Board in 2008.
A Collier resident since 1993, Cash, 62, has worked at Immokalee Middle School, Lely High, Calusa Elementary and Vineyard Elementary teaching English language learners, Spanish and working as a counselor. Before moving to Collier, she taught at schools in Georgia, Louisiana and Europe.
Cash received a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in education counseling from the University of Central Florida. She was born in Cuba and her family moved to New Jersey when she was 4 years old.
Since retiring in 2012, Cash has participated in community outreach efforts through the League of Women Voters, Lighthouse Collier, the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce and other organizations.
Cash has one daughter, who graduated from Collier schools, and three grandchildren, who live in Pennsylvania.
If elected, Cash said her primary goal is to improve school safety by hiring someone at each school to patrol the grounds, ensuring that windows are closed and cameras are being monitored. Cash said she would also like all students to use see-through backpacks and wear uniforms so intruders don’t blend in.
Cash said she also intends to lobby state legislators to eliminate the Florida State Assessment and replace it with the ACT college entrance exam. The Florida State Assessment does not accurately represent student achievement, she said, and the ACT exam would better prepare students for college.
Collier County’s A grade — which is based on Florida State Assessment results — is “misrepresenting our true performance,” she said.
“According to the state, we’re meeting the standard. But as a professional educator and member of this community, I don’t think it’s enough,” she said.
Cash said she hopes to increase academic achievement and narrow the achievement gap between racial groups by expanding tutoring services and improving minority student services.
Cash said she would push for the district to establish separate classes for English language learners, including math and sciences, and would increase minority parent outreach efforts.
“I know what it’s like to be the only kid in class who doesn’t know how to speak English,” she said, noting that her parents didn’t speak English when they moved to New Jersey. “We’re not doing the best we can for our kids.”
When asked for her stance on charter schools, Cash said, “We need to make sure the parents are so happy with their (traditional) school that they won’t want a charter.”
More: Former teacher and principal Jory Westberry seeks Collier School Board seat
More: Roy Terry confirms he will seek 2018 re-election to Collier School Board
More: Estates Elementary teacher Victor Dotres enters Collier School Board race
The first Collier School Board candidate forum is planned for 6 p.m. May 7 at the Norris Center in Cambier Park in downtown Naples.
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