Candidate Profile: Wendy Geehreng Want More Consistency, Continuity

The annual budget votes and board elections take place throughout Long Island on May 21. In East Hampton, there are six candidates — Alison Anderson, an incumbent, Nicholas J. Boland, JP Foster, Wendy Geehreng, Mary Ella Moeller, and Rich Wilson — vying for three positions on the board of education. The following is a profile of Wendy Geehreng:

Wendy Geehreng and her husband Tim Walters have four children — ages 14, 13, 10 and 6 — all of whom are East Hampton School District students. Geehreng is an active member of the school community, holding the position of East Hampton Middle School PTA president for the past three years. She also served on the site base committee for the middle school.

Geehreng, 41, has lived in East Hampton most of her life. She attended public school in East Hampton until ninth grade, before going to the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT. In 1993, she graduated from Colgate University with a BA. In 1998, she earned a BSN from the Columbia University School of Nursing, and an MSN in Pediatrics in 2001. She is a New York State licensed Registered Nurse and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

She has worked at Southampton Pediatric Associates for 12 years as a nurse practitioner.

Q: What qualifies you to be a member of the school board?

I am not certain any one skill or trait qualifies an individual to serve on a school board. What I hope to bring to the table is a respectful, thoughtful, kid-centered voice. I think teamwork is essential and collaboration is paramount. I am used to working in a team environment with a collaborative approach to problems where discussions are constructive and insightful.

Q: Why do you want to be a member of the school board?

I have a vested interest in the well-being of our schools, having four children matriculating through. I want our community to offer the best public education we can, while being fiscally responsible. I want other communities to look to East Hampton as role model and say “What are they doing? They are getting it right.” I am a strong believer in and advocate for public education. Education is the great equalizer in a democratic society. We need our students to be competitive when they apply to colleges and then jobs.

Q: If elected, what changes would you like to see at East Hampton Schools?

I would like to see better communication between the school board and the community. I think the current board has been very transparent with budget workshops and discussions and would like to see that sentiment cross over into other areas. I would like to see us have more consistency and continuity in our school administrations. Our eighth graders in the Middle School have experienced three different principals and three different assistant principals in the same number of years. The elementary school is not faring much better. This fall, we will have our fourth principal in six years. I think for real progress to be made, we need to ensure that our administrators are educators we believe in, ones we will support and also give the tools they need to be successful.

Q: What is the most serious issue facing East Hampton schools?

The tax cap, or the discussion of piercing the tax cap, will become a very serious issue shortly. The discussions and decisions surrounding this issue will be a challenge, but a worthy one.

Q: ls there anything else you'd like to add?

We live in a dynamic, caring, talented, and generous community that loves its public schools. They also want the best for the students of East Hampton and have proven their commitment time and again. I hope to continue this tradition and offer whatever knowledge, passion and insight I have. The role of a board member, in my mind, and according to New York State School Board Association, is to act as a representative of her community, a steward of its resources, an advocate for public education and leader of the school district (www.nyssba.org). I would look forward to serving the children of this community, while representing the East Hampton community members as well.

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