Hollywood, MD — Justin Fiore of Leonardtown is a candidate for the 2nd District seat on the St. Mary’s County Board of Education in the Nov. 8 General Election. Fiore talked to TheBayNet in a recent video interview.
Fiore describes himself as being in a second career after becoming an auto mechanic upon graduating from Chopticon High School in Morganza. He came to realize, he said, that his career path was being coopted by technology so he went to the College of Southern Maryland on Saturdays and eventually graduated with degrees in Public Policy and Political Science from St. Mary’s College.
He initially thought national polices would be more of an interest to him but he quickly realized he had a greater interest in local politics and immersed himself in that. Last year he worked for Maryland Senate President Mike Miller [D; Calvert County] as a budget analyst with the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. Fiore feels that experience will translate into helping him work on the Board of Education budget.
Fiore is involved in an organization working for a youth community center in Lexington Park. He said that sitting on that board will help him if he is elected to the school board.
When asked about budget process that included a $6 million deficit several years ago and a $5 million surplus this year, Fiore said, “It’s not easy to budget $200 million.” But he observed that the most recent surplus is much better that the previous deficit.
The candidate will press, if elected, for more para educators, who were removed during the budget deficit problems. He said that effort does not necessarily mean the county will have to ante more money for the schools. He said he is optimistic that more state funding for education will take up the slack.
Fiore’s and his opponent Jim Davis are about 50 years apart in age. He was asked to comment on the age versus experience issue. He said he is a more recent graduate of the local school system so he is more attuned to contemporary problems of the school system.
Fiore said he valued the experience of other sitting school board members and noted that the county’s current legislators were all new and learned quickly. He said both he and Davis share that lack of knowledge of having been on the school board.
Fiore noted that Davis is retired and has time to serve, But Fiore said his boss, an Anne Arundel County legislator, will give him time off to attend meetings and any other necessary school board duties. That legislator is a former school board member himself.
When asked to assess the school system and the school board, he said, “I think it is a great school system,” and used the success in some metrics including the graduation rate as an indicator. He credited the teachers with the school system’s success.
Fiore is concerned that the PARCC testing is taking too much of the students’ time and taking away from teaching. And he is opposed tom using the test scores as a measure of teacher performance.
Regarding term limits, Fiore said there is value in having institutional knowledge on the board, but in the citizens voted for term limits he would support that decision.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com
The complete video interview of Fiore can be viewed here:
