ELECTION 2024 -ST. MARY’S SCHOOL BOARD ENDORSEMENTS: David Drys, Elena Brewer, Brandie Edelen

The endorsements:

VOTE FOR DAVID DRYS

In District Four, an incumbent, Mary Washington, who has filed for yet another term, having first been elected in 1996, has skipped all candidate forums.

There is no compelling reason for voters to choose Washington for a run into a third decade as a member of the St. Mary’s County Board of Education.

David Drys, in his interview with THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY, spontaneously answered all questions without the benefit of notes, showing that his familiarity with the St. Mary’s County public schools comes directly from raising two children in St. Mary’s County, who attended the public schools to graduation, and his own involvement as a parent. Drys’s grasp of issues and his being the only candidate with the experience of raising children attending St. Mary’s schools in this contest make him a great choice for voters, and he is recommended to be elected.

VOTE FOR ELENA BREWER

Elena Brewer is the outstanding District Two choice. Her life story is worthy of applause on so many levels; her education, her role as an immigrant from the horrors of the Soviet Union, and her commitment as a parent are all outstanding attributes.  Brewer has stood before the school board as long ago as in 2022 and voiced her strong objection to alternative lifestyles being indoctrinated in public schools and especially in elementary schools. Her words speak for her in several statements featured here, and she is right; she has a message for voters, which needs to be stated even if leftwing members of society don’t like it.

Cathy Allen’s inartful answer in her interview with THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY for blowing over ten million on paving sports fields with astroturf instead of providing metal detectors at the high schools to prevent the entry of guns shows that voters should end her service that began in 2000 when Al Gore was ready to become president.

VOTE FOR BRANDIE EDELEN

The at-large choice is Brandie Edelen

The radical leftist agenda of DEI has also permeated the schools with critical race theory instead of critically needed excellence in education. Elena Brewer has articulated what it has been like for a parent to be shocked at the sexualization of children in schools; David Drys notes in his interview that his children found a good foundation in the school system for the future, and he wants to ensure that the fiscal policies of schools are directed with accountability.

Vote for Brandie Edelen

Brandie Edelen will be the only Board member who is an actual educator.

In short, it is time for a clean sweep in the St. Mary’s County Board of Education and ‘throw the bums out.’  The school board meetings operate like an amen choir of incompetence and have rules instructing the public not to appear and criticize teachers or administrators.  The club needs new members who know what they are doing and will advocate with the legislators for laws that will help St. Mary’s County schools instead of making lame excuses for failure.