AUGUSTA — Three candidates are running to fill two at-large spots on the Augusta Board of Education.

They will replace board members Kevin Lamoreau and Pia Holmes, whose terms expire at the end of the year.

All three candidates — April Damboise, 49, a nurse practitioner; Jonathon Reynolds, 33, a community organizer for Mobilized Recovery; and Jane Maguire-Tyce, 57, a personal shopper — are newcomers to local office. McGuire-Tyce ran unsuccessfully last year for a spot on the board.

The Augusta Board of Education has nine elected members and is chaired by Martha Witham.

Maguire-Tyce began regularly attending meetings three years ago, when the public was invited to ask questions of the school board, and has gone on a regular basis ever since.

“I figured I’m as qualified as the next one,” she said. “Since I’ve gone, I’ve shown persistence and write it on my calendar to show up. People run and never go to a meeting and I laugh at that because ever since I’ve been, two people got on (the board) — now three — and they never went to a meeting before they are elected. I’m like, ‘Wow, not even to see it?'”

Maguire-Tyce has lived in Augusta for 21 years and has six children, including three who graduated from Cony Middle and High School and one son who is currently a senior there. With her knowledge of what is going on in the district gained from attending meetings and children who have gone through the school system, Maguire-Tyce believes she can bring an informed perspective to the board. Maguire-Tyce also wants to know more about teacher workshops, and said she supports the school’s leadership in Superintendent Mike Tracy and Witham.

Damboise is a graduate of Augusta public schools and served in the Maine Army National Guard for nine years before becoming a nurse practitioner.

Serving her community is important to her, and she decided to run on the urging of a friend. She said she has experience with volunteering her time to help with the school backpack program, and as a nurse has been concerned with the level of food insecurity in the schools since she learned that people prefer to have fresh fruit over school supplies.

“Coming from a health care background and doing multiple school projects through getting my master’s in nursing and living in Lewiston (before moving back to Augusta), food insecurity is a huge thing,” Damboise said. “It’s important we look at how to provide food security to families. Children who are well rested and clean tend to learn better.”

Damboise has two sons; one graduated from Lewiston High School and the other is currently a senior at Cony High School. She said when her younger son transferred from the Lewiston Public Schools to the Augusta Public Schools, some of his course work did not transfer because Augusta did not offer the classes. She hopes that the Augusta schools can work to offer learning programs where students who are interested in a class offered at another school could take it virtually.

However, she believes the district offers great clubs and extracurricular activities for students.

Reynolds agrees that the school district offers a great curriculum to students, but would like to see more community events.

As a community organizer, Reynolds said he knows how social events can strengthen bonds and bring groups of people together. Reynolds said that after dropping out of high school he was encouraged to go back to school through a strong support system. He received his GED in 2018 and is now working toward a bachelor’s degree in health and human services at the University of Maine at Augusta.

Reynolds said he wants to make sure that students who might fall through the cracks have the same opportunity and support that he wished he had as a high school student.

“As a person who utilized education for my personal recovery, it made me realize how important education is for the lifespan of a child,” he said. “A strong education was key for me to learn about myself and interact with the world around me. I value education so much now and it was my breakthrough that got me to where I am today.”