Perry brings support for children and parents in D26

Brings vital skills and experience to the position

Loraine has lived in Cary for almost 15 years and is a proud mother of three children who attend Cary School District 26. Loraine’s children are active in various sports, including soccer, basketball and wrestling. Through the district and in other programs within the community. Loraine is also a licensed foster parent.

Loraine is a coal-miner’s daughter, born and raised in eastern Ohio. After high school, she went on to college at Miami University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Russian. Loraine then moved from Ohio to Chicago to work as a Legal Secretary at Jenner & Block. During her evenings, she attended Roosevelt University and obtained a Paralegal Certificate with Honors. Loraine has spent over 20 years working as a paralegal in Intellectual Property in law firms and corporations.

As a paralegal Loraine has experience with more than just legal issues. She has managed people, portfolios, and deadlines; researched and implemented new processes and technologies; and created and managed a budget. Loraine believes this expertise provides a knowledge base from which to draw and reflect on when developing and reviewing policy for the management and governance of Cary District 26.

Loraine is running to be a Cary D26 School Board Member because she feels not all parents’ voices are currently being represented within the district. She kept waiting for a board member with whom shared, or would at least raise, the concerns that she had regarding curriculum and the Dual Language program; transparency of the boards’ actions; and fiscal responsibility of taxpayer money. Loraine got tired of waiting and instead decided to run for the position herself.

Dual Language

Since its inception seven years ago, the dual language program [in my opinion as a parent of two children in the program] has been on the decline. The program is having a hard time keeping teachers, and parents are withdrawing students from the program. It is also my opinion that the program is not successfully preparing the elementary students for success in junior high. I would like to be an advocate for the program to ensure the educators have all that they need to make Dual Language in Cary a standard to look up to within the state.

How to make it more successful?

Review the data. What has testing of the dual language students shown? Is there still a large gap once the students are in 5th grade?
Re-evaluate teaching strategies within the program. Should a new curriculum be evaluated and implemented? What are other districts doing?
Stop teacher turn-over in the program. Why are many of the teachers in the program leaving? Is it pay?
Implement an Extended Family culture. Parents should have opportunities to engage with each other; without the support of both the English and Spanish speaking households the program will not succeed.

Transparency

Transparency in school administration is necessary to provide a solid answer to such questions as where a majority of the budget is being directed and what percentage of students are failing or passing each year. The district is required to report this information to the state. However, they do not make such information readily available to the community.

How can D26 be more transparent?

Provide as much information as possible
Ask open-ended questions to parents or the community as a whole
Promote sharing by creating opportunities that invite individuals to open up such community forums
Provide opportunities for one-on-one conversations with parents
Consistent Communications. This can be as simple as a more robust Board of Education website or monthly emails providing updates on what the board/all schools in district are doing.

Fiscal Responsibility

Is Cary D26 doing everything it can to be fiscally responsible while at the same time keeping taxes low? In November 2022, the current Board of Education voted to increase property taxes by 5%. Was this increase necessary during a time of high inflation or could this increase have waited?

I believe there are strategies and reviews that can be taken to ensure the district is being fiscally responsible.

Minimize unnecessary administrative costs
Manage district assets appropriately
Ensure Transparency and Accountability
Create a strategic plan. This can be for 3, 4 or 5 years with action steps.