Tom Firstel, Jericho resident, seeks full term on Mount Mansfield school board and urges yes vote on 2025 budget

Tom Firstel, a Jericho resident who has served six months in a temporary seat on the Mount Mansfield Union School District board, said he is running for one of three three-year seats and urged voters to approve the district's 2025 budget ahead of the March 4 vote.

That matters to local taxpayers and families because Firstel noted the district must report a 5.9% increase under the state education formula while actual operational spending, he said, is "much lower, around 2% or less," a difference he used to explain his support for the budget.

Firstel spoke during the public comment period and introduced himself as a candidate. "I've been serving for the last 6 months in a temporary position, but I would like to commit to a full 3 year term," he said. He described his reasons for running as a desire to help students become "critical thinkers, good communicators, lifelong learners, and engaged citizens."

He also asked voters to participate in the March 4 election: "I encourage everyone to vote on March 4 if you haven't already done so and to support the schools by voting yes on the 2025 school budget."

Firstel described personal and professional ties to the district: he said he and his family moved to Jericho in 2021, that his son is a freshman at Mount Mansfield, and that his wife is a full-time associate professor of sociology at Florida International University. He said he is "semi retired and a professor of literature" at Lynn University in Boca Raton.

On district service, Firstel said he wants to "become more engaged in serving on the community engagement committee, to serve as a conduit between our community's interests and concerns about education and to provide information about our school's operations to the community." He also thanked outgoing leadership and offered support for incoming administration: "I consider myself very fortunate to have already served under the leadership of John Albert Gainey, and I would like to encourage and support our newly elected superintendent, John Muldoon, to enjoy as much success."

He closed by stressing stewardship of tax dollars: "Every dollar spent goes to achieving the goals that I'm sure you and I both want for our children. Thank you for your time and your consideration."