Current occupation and employer (may also list up to two previous jobs you’ve held); if retired, list your last job and employer: Retired paralegal/estate administrator/office manager for Towson law firm

Political experience (public offices held and when; as well as unsuccessful campaigns for office and which years; do not include political party positions): Ran for Board of Education three previous times. The last time was 2018.

PTA or other school district-related experience: Sat on the Family Life Advisory Committee; brought a claim before the Board of Education to protect parental rights and won; advocated and won an increase in air conditioned buses for summer runs for special education students; advocated for and won increased time to review textbooks and resources up for adoption; advocated for and won the removal of politically biased classroom resource; was a parent volunteer in the classroom.

Campaign information:

• email: cindyroseforboe@gmail.com
• website: eni2022.org
• Facebook: ENISlate

1 – Why are you running for the school board? (75 words max)

I am running on the Education Not Indoctrination slate with Nancy Allen, Olivia Angolia and Mark Joannides. The four seats open on the BOE represent the majority and our goal is to fill all four of the seats. We want to refocus FCPS back to a schedule of solid academics and apply sound fiscal policies in the management of resources collected from the taxpayer. Go to ENI2022.org to fully review our platforms.

2 – What is the most important issue in this race? How specifically would you address it? (100 words max)

Getting people to understand there is systemic failure at FCPS is an important issue and understanding it takes FOUR board members voting in unison to make any kind of change. FCPS has moved from instruction based in critical thinking to one based in emotions and identity. Students spend time on “identities” to the point FCPS no longer requires memorizing multiplication tables or spelling tests.

Educators are instructed to teach through an “equity;” we should be instructing through an “ability” lens.

We need to focus on academics, school safety, communication, transparency and restoring joy.

3 – What experience (work, political or other) has prepared you to hold this position? (100 words max)

Having worked in a law firm for 15 years before retiring prepared me to be observant, skeptical and ask the tough questions. Being a parent advocate for over 10 years has given me insight into how FCPS deals with parents, students, teachers, staff and the public. I’ve seen a lot during my advocacy that needs attention. I have a realistic view of how the “system” works as well as how it can work better. The Board of Education has more power than the public is lead and allowed to believe.

4 – What is one major issue the current school board has handled poorly? What would you have done differently? (100 words max)

FCPS should never have closed their doors for over a year. Children’s education suffered as well as their emotional well-being.

FCPS could have taken a brief pause while it sought the advice of multiple medical sources from diverse backgrounds. They relied on one-sided medical reporting and our children suffered.

We would have recommended a brief pause while reading and researching what was happening. Children were not getting ill. School should have been reopened to everyone who felt comfortable being in the buildings.

5 – Has the district responded appropriately to the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into restraints and seclusions? (100 words max)

I have yet to read an apology from the school board, so I would have to say no, they haven’t. How are parents supposed to be confident things will improve if they haven’t seen the BoE take responsibility for this failure? Parents have been complaining for decades that staff who support our children with special needs lacked appropriate training. Special Education Instruction Assistants (SEIA) spend the most time with these children but do not get proper training on handling emotional melt downs, sensory issues, coping skills, etc.

Why has only Dr. Alban been dismissed for this mistreatment of vulnerable children?

6 – What do you think of the district’s family life curriculum? (100 words max)

Has the public seen the family life “curriculum?”  Locating FCPS curriculum on any given subject is a confusing task. I believe we’ve been made aware of some of the “framework” by the Board’s adoption of MSDE’s new health guidelines but the curriculum is still being created.

I do not approve of teaching kindergarteners that they are “sexual” beings. Nor do I approve of teaching middle school children about anal sex. Schools are “government” entities, as such they should hold no opinions nor teach opinions on what is an “acceptable” lifestyle. These are parental decisions based on family beliefs and morals.

7 – What do you think of the school board’s choice of Cheryl Dyson as superintendent and of the process for choosing her? (100 words max)

Dr. Dyson appears qualified on paper. It would be unfair to form an opinion of her until I have had a chance to speak with her. How does she feel about Critical Race Theory? Forcing children to wear face masks? Sexualizing kindergarteners and teaching anal sex?

A new superintendent should not have been chosen until after the 2022 election. It’s possible we have a new majority on the Board in December of 2022. This majority may have an entirely different vision of public education’s mission.

8 – Frederick County ranks below other similar school districts for teacher pay. Does the district need to address that? How? (100 words max)

If Frederick county’s lowest paid teacher is — choosing a number at random — $200 different than another county’s highest paid teacher, is there a problem? We rank “below,” but that never seems to be clearly defined. The Unions and the media would have you believe it’s tens of thousands. Is it?

At what point is there an actual discrepancy in comparable pay? If Frederick isn’t free to negotiate teacher salaries based on what the taxpayers of the county can afford, why don’t we just have the State of Maryland set the pay rate?

9 – The school district has an achievement gap between students of different racial and ethnic groups. How should the district address this? (100 words max)

The BoE has been discussing achievement gaps for decades. Gaps are socioeconomic, not racial/ethnic. FCPS hasn’t properly identified “where” the gap is. Maybe that’s why we keep talking about it year after year?

FCPS removed the requirement to memorize multiplication tables and have spelling tests. Maybe we focus on foundational skills and not physical characteristics? Maybe stop requiring teachers to teach through an “equity” lens and allow them to teach through an “ability” lens?

Stop focusing on emotional, identity and sexuality driven lessons and refocus on building strong foundations in math and reading.

10 – How well did the district handle instruction and safety during the pandemic? (100 words max)

I feel they did horrible overall.

For instruction, some teachers did great while others failed miserably. Some teachers spent little time (10 minutes), with a student before ending lessons. IEPs were neglected.

Keeping children and staff safe while not instilling fear and panic should have been an objective. FCPS seems to have stoked fear in the school population. They sent children home to be socially isolated from friends, family and peers. They focused on death instead of life along with high rates of recovery and low rates of serious illness.