Flor Diaz Smith
Flor grew up in Guatemala City. She is a licensed architect in Guatemala, and has been designing in Vermont since 1997. She obtained a degree from Francisco Marroquin Architecture School in Guatemala and also studied at Texas A&M, and won a scholarship to the Prince of Wales Urban Task Force in 1996. She came to Vermont for an internship at a local architectural firm and fell in love with Vermont and her future husband.
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She started her own design studio, diazsmithSTUDIO, 9 years ago to have more time for family and her community volunteering. Her Design Studio consults with other architects and works on interior design, residential, school design and retail. Residential and interior design are her passions but she also enjoys small commercial and retail design.
Flor’s other big passion is education. She believes that education is a human right and devotes a lot of time learning and understanding how to support all kids and how to have a stronger public education and childcare system. A strong public education is the basis of our democracy and the key to successful communities. Flor has served on several boards that support public education. She has been a local school board member for her community for the past 10 years. She is currently the Vice Chair of WCUUSD, also a member of the task force on Diversifying the Educator Workforce in New England and Vermont. She is also an appointed member to the State Advisory Council for Building Bright Futures in VT.
She understands that it is not easy to represent all voices, but she is a patient listener and a good communicator. She is thankful for the opportunity to serve in the VSBA again.
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Flor and her husband Dan Smith live in their farm house in East Montpelier with their children Mia Isabella and Lincoln.
Neil Odell
Neil is a school board member from Norwich VT serving on both the Norwich School Board and the Dresden School Board representing the communities of Norwich, VT and Hanover, NH. A board member since 2009, he served as chair of the Norwich School Board from 2012 to 2016 and is currently chair of the Dresden School board. During his tenure on the boards he has been involved with contract negotiations, budgeting, long range planning and work related to Act 46.
Neil lives in Norwich, VT with his wife Christine and twin sons Tyler and Eamon. He’s been a software developer and technology planner for over 25 years, starting his career with AT&T in New Jersey and currently working at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
In his spare time, Neil enjoys cooking, biking, playing music and enjoying time with family and friends.
Suzanne Buck
Suzanne Buck of Bridport has served on the ACSD Board since its creation in 2016, and also served on the Board of Directors for the Hannaford Career Center. Suzanne is serving her third term on the ACSD Board, and is a chair of the Policy & Governance Committee and serves on the district negotiations committee. Suzanne grew up in a small farming community in rural New Hampshire, and applies that community spirit and farming work ethic to all of her public service. She holds degrees in Dairy Management and Occupational Education from the University of New Hampshire, as well as a Masters degree in Special Education. Suzanne and her husband raised their two children in Vermont. She has over 20 years teaching experience as a special educator and education leader. She has served on local school boards for over 13 years and continues to contribute to the community through her service work as a Bridport Lister, and volunteers with 4-H, and FFA.
Addison
Regional
Representative
mkoenig@anwsd.org
Addison Northwests SD
School Board
(Term ends 2024)
Mark Koenig
Mark has been a member of the Addison Northwest School District since its consolidation in 2016. During that time, he has been part of the negotiations, superintendent evaluation, and finance committees. In addition, Mark is one of the employer commissioners on the statewide School Employee Healthcare Commission. Aside from his work with school districts, Mark has also been a member of the Vergennes City Council, as well as a part of the Citizen Review Board Exploratory Committee which drafted a report regarding community policing in Vergennes. Mark has worked as a teacher, property manager, lawyer, analyst, and medical researcher. Mark and his wife, Erin, were Peace Corps volunteers who worked as college instructors in the Kingdom of Tonga (in the South Pacific). They have one son, Chance, who attends Vergennes Union High School, as well as a dog (Cruze), cat (Hanuman), and snake (Pia). Mark spends any spare time he might stumble across renovating his 1870s home.
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Melanie Virgilio
Melanie was first elected to the Sunderland School Board in 2011. Since then she has continued to serve on a number of elected positions as a school board member of Sunderland, and later the Taconic and Green Board, the Bennington Rutland Supervisory Board, the Sunderland Selectboard.. Currently, an she is an educator at Burr and Burton Academy in the area of Ceramics and Visual Arts. As an educator, she approaches her subject area with an emphasis on developing the whole child, as a lifelong learner, with a focus on a growth mindset, resiliency, and self-advocacy. Melanie firmly believe that all students should be afforded equal access to education, regardless of the challenges they have been presented with throughout their lives. As a mother and a long-time Vermonter, she also understands the struggles of affording a quality education for all students at a rate that is reasonable to all Vermonters.
Education policy and fiscal policy can often come into conflict with each other, though, with a careful hand and a steady heart, Melanie believes it is possible to educate our youth and help strengthen our greatest asset, our kids.
Bennington
Regional
Representative
jsalsgiver@brsu.org
Taconic & Green School Board
(Term ends 2024)
Jim Salsgiver
Jim Salsgiver has been a school board member in Vermont since 2008. He served on the Dorset School Board until that board was replaced in 2017 by the new Taconic and Green Regional School District Board (Act 46 Merger). Jim now serves on the Taconic and Green Board. Jim has also been a member of the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union Board since 2008, and currently serves as Chairman. Jim was appointed to the VSBA Board on August 8, 2018 to fill a vacant Bennington County position.
Jim’s background is in Finance, and he has also been a Board Member and Treasurer of several Vermont-based not-for-profit organizations.
Sonya Spaulding
Sonya serves on the Barre Unified Union School District board representing Barre City and has served as a school director for the past 12 years. She is a partner at the family business, Miles Supply Inc., which sells supplies and equipment to the stone, industrial, construction and maple sugaring industries. Sonya graduated from Spaulding High School in Barre, and then received a BA in Psychology from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, VA. She received her master’s in counseling psychology from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. She has volunteered with the BCEMS PTO, BYSA Soccer, Barre Community Baseball, and Hedding Methodist Church. She lives in Barre with her husband, Kevin and, during college breaks with their children Parker and EmilyGrace.
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Sonya is a strong advocate for public education and has been chair of the local Barre City Elementary and Middle School board, as well as the chair of the Barre Unified Union School board after merging under Act 46. She is currently chair of the Finance Committee and serves on the Negotiations Committee.
Bart Bezio
Bart Bezio resides in Waterville, Vermont and is a School Board member serving on the Board of the Lamoille North Modified Unified Union School District and Lamoille North Supervisory Union, where he has served since 2019. Bart lives in Waterville with his wife, Kylee, and their 3 children, Caleb (18), Meghan (18) and Hayley (14). Caleb and Meghan (twins) are both college students and Hayley is in High School. Bart grew up in South Burlington and attended the University of Vermont, graduating in 2003. He is a Certified Public Accountant and works as a Finance Director at Cox Automotive, Inc. in Technology Finance.
Bart is a strong advocate for public education and creating access to equitable learning opportunities for children in Vermont. He wants to see Vermont's public schools maintain their high quality of education while continuing to find ways to evolve to best meet the needs of its students. He wants future students to be confident they can compete on equal grounds with students from out-of-state that went to either public or private schools.
Eastern Chittenden
Representative
tara.arneson@mmuusd.org
Champlain Valley School Board
(Term ends 2025)
Tara Arneson
Tara Arneson is the Registrar at Champlain College and holds a dual appointment with NEACRAO (New England Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) as Secretary and President-Elect. Tara has been involved in higher education for over 15 years. She joined the Mount Mansfield Unified Union School Board in 2020 and is dedicated to supporting the learning community in her district. Tara lives in Richmond, VT, with her spouse and 2 sons. Passionate about the outdoors, the family enjoys camping, mountain biking, hiking, and skiing together.
Diane.Kirson-glitman@mmuusd.org
Mt Mansfield School Board
(Term ends 2024)
Eastern Chittenden
Representative
Diane Kirson-Glitman
Diane joined the Mount Mansfield Union School board pre merger and has been on the board for 16 years. She has held many leadership positions including clerk, policy chair, community engagement chair and was a member of the merger committee. She has continued on post merger as the board became the Mount Mansfield Modified Unified School district. Diane is passionate about offering students choice in style of education, keeping students motivated and engaged and the emotional and physical health of our students. She has been a strong advocate for student voice not only on the board but on all committees. She states her philosophy is to never rest on our laurels as there is always something else to question, a process to improve, new research or techniques to learn from and integrate into greater educational success for our students. Diane believes the school nurse perspective has given her insight into the struggles of students and families as they navigate the Pre-K- 12 school experience and enhances her work on the school board.
Diane is a native of Washington DC and moved to Vermont in 1990. She has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Maryland and a BS Nursing from The Catholic University of America. She specialized in Neonatal Intensive Care nursing with an early interest in transcultural nursing and medical ethics. After moving to Vermont, she went on to be a nursing educator in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UVMMC. She then found a new interest in school nursing and has been a school nurse for Essex High School for many years including the District Nursing Leader for 3 of those years.
Diane and her husband have two daughters who have graduated from Mount Mansfield Union High School and college and are now starting their adult careers. Biking, hiking, skiing, dragon boating and travel are passions for the whole family.
Franklin
Regional
Representative
minners@board.gisu.org
Champlain Islands UUSD
School Board
(Term ends 2024)
Michael Inners
Michael Inners is currently the Chair and has been a member of the Champlain Islands Unified Union board since formation of the district in the Act 46 process. Before that he served on the Grand Isle Town school board for many years. He is an attorney admitted in Vermont and the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is currently employed by Gainwell Technologies supporting the Vermont Medicaid program. He holds degrees in Chemistry from Carnegie-Mellon University, a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a JD from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. He had a long-term career in the information technology industry before returning to obtain his law degree. Besides serving on the school board, he currently serves as a Justice of the Peace in the Town of Grand Isle and as the Treasurer for the Grand Isle Consolidated Water District.
Tara Sweet
Tara Sweet joined the Fletcher Elementary School Board in September of 2015. At that time she also became a member of the Franklin West Supervisory Union Board. She became chair of the Fletcher School Board in March of 2018, and became chair of the Franklin West Board in March of 2019 for a one year term. In March of 2022, she became chair again for a one year term. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Champlain College and has worked in the accounting field for 20 years; she is currently employed at Smugglers’ Notch Resort, as a staff accountant. In addition, she previously was the treasurer, vice president and president of FOFE- Friends of Fletcher Elementary; the PTA of Fletcher Elementary. She was the vice-president of BFA Project Graduation for the Class of 2020, treasurer for BFA Project Graduation for the Class of 2022. She can also be found working many community suppers in her town of Fletcher, VT. Tara and her husband and their three daughters work on the family owned dairy farm.
Gaston Bathalon
Gaston retired after a 30+ year Army career as an Army Colonel in 2012 and returned to the Northeast Kingdom where he and his wife Rose grew up in bilingual families. He is a member of the Troy School and North Country Supervisory (NCSU) Boards and NCSU Policy, Finance, and Negotiations Committees. Gaston was the first in his family to attend and graduate from college, having earned his BS from the University of Vermont and PhD from Tufts University. He also serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and is a member of the Snelling Center for Government, Vermont Leadership Institute, class of 2022. Serving on the VSBA Board provides him the unique opportunity to broaden his perspective and understanding of the many issues Vermont and local schools face that inform his discussions with educators, administrators, and community. In his spare time, Gaston enjoys biking, skiing, woodworking, and spending time with family and friends (especially on the slopes of Jay Peak).
Barbara Postman
Barbara moved to Brownington with her husband, Arthur, in the early 70’s. She has a long-standing interest in education and education policy and serves on the board of Lake Region Union High School.
She developed and managed affordable housing in the Northeast Kingdom with her husband, and also worked in consulting, facilitation and training for business and non-profit organizations. After her children left the nest, she served in the Vermont House of Representatives, where she chaired the Joint House/Senate Committee for Livable Income and then went on to work as a child advocate and lobbyist for early care and education at Voices for Vermont’s Children. She was the founding director of Vermont Birth to Three, a project of the Permanent Fund for Vermont’s Children, which later became Let’s Grow Kids. She spent much of her public policy career focusing on affordable child care and education equity.
Kingdom South
Regional
Representative
mclough@communitynationalbank.com
Peacham School Board
(Term ends 2024)
Mark Clough
Mark and his wife Lorraine live on the family farm in East Peacham. Mark has been in commercial lending in northern NH and VT for more than 30 years, including the Northeast Kingdom and the Upper Valleys. He is currently serving as chair of the Peacham School Board. Mark also serves the community as a Peacham Community Housing board member, Corporator and former Treasurer of Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, Treasurer of the NEK Astronomy Foundation, and also devotes time to Opera North in Lebanon. A graduate of UVM and Northeastern University, Mark enjoys giving back to the community where he lives and works.
Kingdom South
Regional
Representative
mark.kaufman@ccsuvt.net
Twinfield School Board
(Term ends 2025)
Mark Kaufman
Mark is a member of the Caledonia Central Supervisory Union Board and the Twinfield Union School Board. He has served as a school board member in three other states.
He has also served as U.S. Marine, teacher, administrator, psychologist, and director of a variety of national programs in education.
He currently provides consulting services to educational organizations and nonprofit agencies on education, community integration, and student assessments. He resides in central Vermont and loves retirement, martial arts, music, and working with his local and regional school boards.
Lisa Miser
Lisa Miser is a Proctor representative to the Quarry Valley UUSD board. QVUUSD is made up of Poultney, Proctor and West Rutland communities, that provides educational services to students from Pre-K-12. Lisa is also a QVUUSD representative to the GRCSU board.Lisa has been a schoolboard member for 10 years and involved in education for 25+ years.
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Lisa is an active volunteer in her community. She is a member of Our Yard an organization that provides community events ranging from concerts in the park, holiday party for Proctor children and the annual Fall Festival.
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Lisa is the director at the Proctor Free Library.
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Lisa is married to Ted Perkins,their daughter is a sophomore at Siena College.
During her free time she enjoys attending Proctor Phantom events, hiking with her dog Reese and watching Jayhawk
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Linda Smith
Linda resides in Poultney, Vermont with her husband Rod and their many dogs and cats. Four of her eleven grandchildren go to the Poultney Schools. She is a retired Poultney High School special educator and has a masters in special education. Linda is on the Quarry Valley Unified Union School Board which represents Poultney, Proctor and West Rutland and she is the clerk. Linda was on the ACT 46 committee and decided after to run for the school board. She and her husband have two daughters and one son. She loves her town and wanted to do some community service when she retired. Linda believes the principals and teachers are the best and she is pleased to represent all the residents and students.
Western Chittenden
Representative
lwilliams@sbschools.net
So. Burlington School Board
(Term ends 2024)
Laura Willliams
Laura Williams currently serves on the South Burlington School District School Board as one of five school directors. She has been serving on the board since August 2022. During her tenure on the board, she has worked on long range planning, budgeting and community engagement.
Laura lives in South Burlington and teaches Spanish at Essex High School in the Essex Westford School District. She has two grown children, a daughter, 22 and a son, 25.
In her spare time Laura is an avid tennis player and commutes by bike to Essex, a 22 mile round trip, three times a week.
Martine Larocque Gulick
Martine has served on the Burlington School Board since 2018. During her time on the board she has served as Co-Chair of the Community Engagement Committee, the Superintendent Search Task Force and represents the board on the Burlington Education Coalition. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Finance and Facilities Committee.
Martine is a retired public educator who has taught French, English and has served as Library Director in Vermont and overseas. She attended public schools in Chittenden County and has a BA and MA from the University of Vermont.
Martine’s two children attended Burlington public schools and she is ever thankful for the wonderful education and opportunities the district provided. Martine is eager to work with the VSBA in their continued support of a thriving public school system.
Windham
Regional
Representative
dmacarthur@windhamcentralboard.org
Marlboro School Board
(Term ends 2025)
Dan Mac Arthur
Dan MacArthur grew up on the hillside that he and his wife still live on in Marlboro. They raised two children who also live and are raising their families on the same road.
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He is a member of the Marlboro School Board, and has been on the board for much of the last 40 years. Dan and his wife Gail run a small diversified farm making maple syrup, growing raspberries, blueberries and many types of vegetables for their farm stand.
Dan believes strongly in public education, and that we all need to work hard to give our students a chance to become our future leaders, thinkers and doers. He believes that it is crucial to integrate the school with the community, and to give the community a voice in the education of their children.
Windham
Regional
Representative
jwinrich@windhamcentralboard.org
West River SD School Board
(Term ends 2024)
Joe Winrich
Joe is a school board member from Townshend VT on both the West River Education District and the Windham Central Supervisory Union boards. Joe was elected to the Leland & Gray Union High School Board in 2004 and is currently vice chair of the WRED Board. As a board member he has been involved with contract negotiations, RED consolidation, Act 46 and long-range planning.
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Joe is a Vice President and co-founder of Universal Registered Agents, Inc. He is a veteran legal professional and combines a love of technology with a strong legal background to manage the legal department.
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In his spare time, Joe serves on the local food shelf board and enjoys cooking (both competitive and just to eat), antique tractor pulling and spending time with family and friends.
Nancy Russell
Nancy Russell, a native Texan, moved to Vermont in 1997. She currently owns and is the Director of a licensed childcare center in White River Junction. Her background encompasses a wide variety of professions and interests. Nancy joined the White River Rotary club in 2007, served as president in 2009-2010 and spent three years as Assistant Governor. She has served as a member of the Polio Plus team, the Disaster Relief and Crisis Management team, the Strategic Planning Team, the Finance Committee, The Public Awareness team, the District Assembly, YEO and chaired the District Membership Committee. She has also served numerous years on her club’s Board of Directors and on their Charitable Fund Board. Nancy is a graduate of the Rotary Leadership Institute. She is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Paul Harris Society, and a sustaining member and a Major Donor.
Nancy serves her community as a Director of the Hartford School Board, a Director of the Hartford Community Coalition, and as a Director of the “Take Bite Out of Hunger for Hartford.” She is also deeply involved in Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, where she is currently the Board of Directors secretary, a trainer, and serves on several other community groups. Nancy is a graduate of the Vermont Leadership Training Institute, the Vermont Victim Assistance Academy, and the Stand for Children Organizing Institute.
Nancy and her husband, Wayne reside in White River Junction. They have three granddaughters and one grandson. Her passions include spending time with grandchildren, camping, reading, traveling, and target shooting.