On Wednesday, Hull School Committee Chair Stephanie Peters released a statement announcing that she will not be a candidate for re-election this May:

SCHOOL COMMITTEE CHAIR STEPHANIE PETERS WON’T SEEK ANOTHER TERM IN MAY.

After serving for 17 years, it is time for new energy on the school committee, and I will not be running in the annual town election. If you are interested, you need to visit town hall and obtain nomination papers before March 23 and return them with 50 signatures to get on the ballot. School Committee is one of the most important positions in our community, as it guides our future leaders and is the cornerstone of a strong community.

These past 17 years, we have accomplished so much, and I have enjoyed every minute of serving, which has had a lot of ups and downs. You need thick skin in this age of social media, but a guiding principle should be that if you are making decisions in the best interest of all children, you can ignore the noise created by the vocal few on social media. For as much negative energy that is out there, there is much more support from people in private regarding committee’s decisions.

Please get in touch with me if you are interested in running. It would be great if we could get a parent with younger children to serve, as there are a lot of decisions to be made with realigning the district that should have parent input. I am happy to sit down and talk with anyone about the process. Leaving the district well cared for, with people who value public education, is my top priority.

When I first decided to run, a friend at work who had served in another district said that being on a school committee is like pushing a big boulder up a mountain. You really can’t do that; you can only go a little bit, side-to-side. You can never really move it up. I will never forget that story, and how different my experience was – we moved that boulder up the mountain with all our improvements and decisions made for the children of Hull. We still have a way to go, but we are headed up, and not down!

I could not have made it through serving on the committee without the support of my family and friends, who always offered a supportive environment, even through the harshest of times. Being on a public board is not easy, but when you have a core group of supportive family and friends who offer words of support through the years, it makes it well worth it.

Please get involved, and Go Pirates!