Two incumbents are seeking another term on the Bangor School Committee against a newcomer who’s still a student in the school department.
Sara Luciano and Benjamin Sprague are running for reelection to hold their position on the Bangor School Committee for another three years, but newcomer Dawson Nevells is challenging them for a seat.
Bangor residents can vote from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, at the Cross Insurance Center at 515 Main St. in Bangor
Absentee ballots are available up until the third business day prior to the election, according to Brewer’s website.
Voters can request absentee ballots online, by calling or visiting the city clerk’s office, or by visiting the Cross Insurance Center Oct. 28 through Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the city’s website. Further details on how residents can vote early, request an absentee ballot and what will be on the ballot are available on the city’s website.
The candidates are listed in the order they appear on the ballot.
Sara Luciano
Sara Luciano, who has lived in Bangor for more than seven years and has two children in Bangor elementary schools, is running for her second term on the school committee.
Luciano, who works as a research project manager for a local health care provider, said she’s running for reelection because she wants to continue the work the city council has done recently. She also wants more time to work under the school department’s new superintendent, Marie Robinson, who was appointed over the summer.
In the last three years, Luciano said she’s pleased with the council’s decision to create the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee, of which she’s a member.
She was also a supporter of the new health clinic in Bangor High School, which offers physical and mental health care to students and has proven to be very popular, Luciano said.
She also advocated for the adoption of Centegix, a security system that allows staff in every Bangor school to call for help by pressing a button on a wearable badge.
“When we had the chance to adopt Centegix, I jumped at the chance because I can’t imagine anyone not wanting their kids to come home every day,” Luciano said.
As a strong supporter of labor unions, Luciano said she’d like to continue her role on the negotiations committee if reelected to ensure everyone in the school department earns a fair contract.
Luciano said she will also continue to encourage the council to consider students and families of all socioeconomic backgrounds and abilities in any decision they make.
“We have a lot of academically gifted students who participate in a variety of sports, but that’s not every student,” Luciano said. “We need to remember that every kid is their own amazing story and we owe it to them to remember they deserve the best.”
Dawson Nevells
Dawson Nevells, 18, is a senior at Bangor High School and is running for the school committee for the first time.
Although the committee has student representatives who fill the body in on news and events taking place within the schools, Nevells said those members don’t get any voting power.
“I represent the interests of the students, and to have that vote shows students matter too,” Nevells said.
One of Nevells’ priorities is to increase teacher pay. Ideally, he said he’d like all teachers to earn at least $50,000 annually, and he’s open to the idea of reducing administrators’ wages in order to accomplish that without raising taxes too much, he said.
“While many teachers make more than $50,000, we also have plenty who don’t,” Nevells said. “I believe everyone needs a decent base to start from.”
Additionally, Nevells is interested in finding grants to help pay for new school buildings, which the city’s aging infrastructure desperately needs.
“I remember when I came here in 2017 and started fifth grade, Fairmount School turned 100 years old,” Nevells said. “When schools are that old, it makes it difficult for them to incorporate new technology.”
If elected, Nevells said he’d like to bring a school resource officer into Bangor High School and increase the amount of training school staff, including substitute teachers, receive on the department’s new security system, Centegix.
Lastly, Nevells said he’d firmly reject any proposal to ban certain books from school libraries.
“Everyone has a right to learn and reading is how you learn,” Nevells said. “If you don’t like something and don’t want to read it, then you don’t have to. But, you should let others have the chance to.”
Benjamin Sprague
Benjamin Sprague is running for a second three-year term on the Bangor School Committee.
Sprague was elected to the committee in 2021 after serving on the Bangor City Council from 2011 to 2020. He joined the school committee because he believes schools are “the cornerstone of our community,” Sprague said.
Born and raised in Bangor, Sprague returned to the city in 2011 and now works as a lender at a bank. He has three children in local elementary schools.
In the last three years, Sprague said he’s proud of how the committee prioritized improving safety in Bangor schools, and the addition of the new Centegix security system exemplifies that, while maintaining the same expectations of academic excellence.
The biggest challenge the department faces now, Sprague believes, is teaching students at a time when modern technology gives them all the information they could need at their fingertips. While this can be helpful at times, Sprague said he’s concerned students aren’t building strong information recall skills.
Furthermore, school leaders need to consider how technology and social media are impacting students’ mental health. If reelected, Sprague said he’d like to start a conversation with community members and the Bangor Public Health Department about whether to ban smartphones from classrooms.
“Screens are so highly disruptive that they’re hijacking kids’ brains,” Sprague said. “It’s hard to focus when your phone is pinging all day long. It’s emotionally exhausting and overwhelming and I think we need to have a conversation about it.”
Additionally, Sprague said the school department needs to take a close look at how to address the city’s aging school buildings, which are costly to maintain.
Whether the department decides to combine schools or construct new buildings entirely, he’d like to explore bringing students from both sides of Bangor together at the middle school level.
Sprague also wants the school department to prioritize ensuring students in every school have equal access to resources and opportunities, regardless of what side of Bangor they come from, he said.
