To the Editor:

On Tuesday, May 17th the voters in the Hermon DeKalb School District will be voting for a new member to serve on the Board of Education. As a member of the Board for the past six years I am supporting Ann Coloton Williams for this position. Ann is a 1976 Alumni of the school district and has lived her entire life within the district. She is very familiar with all aspects of the school having graduated from it and her children attend the school. I have personally known Ann for more than thirty years as a fellow employee at SUNY Canton where she is highly respected by all her peers and is known for her dedication and ability to solve complex issues and projects.

I believe strongly that Ann will put the students, school and community first in all decisions and discussion that come before the Board. These are values that I strongly believe in and represent as well. Decisions and planning needs to take place with the best interests of our children, the school and the community as the priority even when that may conflict with what the administration of the school may prefer. Ann is an independent thinker and I believe will speak her own mind on issues and is not afraid to look to make positive changes for our school that will lead to long term improvement. During difficult economic times it is important to have strong leaders on the Board of Education at Hermon DeKalb and Ann Coloton Williams will be a strong contributing member of the Board with your support this coming Tuesday.

Michael Perry

Hermon