Mike Burkholder, publisher of the local news website eastcountytoday.net, announced his candidacy Tuesday for a seat on the Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees in the November 8th election.

He released the following statement:

I am running for Antioch Unified School Board because I am a concerned parent and taxpayer. My wife and I are excited that we will have two children in the District this year; but I recognize that the school district faces multiple challenges and needs leaders, not politicians to get it going in the right direction. Improving the community starts and ends with improving the schools.

One of my top priories is student and teacher safety. Not only should I have peace of mind while my children are at school, but the entire community should have that same peace of mind. We must find better ways to address high-risk youth while working to encourage them to go down the right path.

Equally important is improving the way the District communicates with the public. Given my background as publisher of www.eastcountytoday.net, I know public outreach is an area that will be addressed immediately and improved through improving outreach opportunities. Parents deserve to know what is going on in our schools regardless if it’s good, bad or ugly.

Finally, teachers and staff who are doing great work should be rewarded for their efforts, we must work on creative ways to improve district morale and incentivize staff to ensure we can retain and attract quality teachers.

As an East County leader, and a parent, I would like the opportunity to make a difference on the Antioch Unified School District Board and would appreciate your support.

The Antioch Unified School District includes all of Antioch and portions of both Oakley and Pittsburg.

This is Burkholder’s second run for public office, having run unsuccessfully for the Ironhouse Sanitary District Board in Oakley in 2012.

So far, he is one of seven candidates who have pulled the required filing papers to run, including incumbent Diane Gibson-Gray, appointed incumbents Fernando Navarro and Alonzo Terry, former school board member Joy Motts and two others, James Beck and Crystal Sawyer White. Only Burkholder, Gibson-Gray and Terry have filed their papers, as of Monday. Candidates have until this Friday, August 12, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. to file with the County Elections Office in Martinez. If one of the incumbents does not file, the filing period is extended five calendar days to Wednesday, August 17th.

For more information about Burkholder’s campaign visit www.facebook.com/burkforausd where his slogan is “A Voice For All” or email him at burk4ausd@gmail.com.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 10th, 2016 at 11:32 am and is filed under Education, News, Politics & Elections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.