Casey Day
Running for school board in Frederick County
Email: aGoodDayForFrederick@gmail.com
Website: aGoodDayForFrederick.com
Facebook: facebook.com/aGoodDayForFrederick
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 3)?
54
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
I am retired after 31 years of teaching.
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Masters of Science in Curriculum & Instruction with a Literacy Specialization from Hood College
Why are you running for the school board?
I am running for the Board of Education because I have spent more than 31 years working with students, educators and families, and I believe that experience can make a difference for Frederick County.
I have taught at the elementary, middle and high school levels, worked as a literacy specialist, taught future educators and most recently taught computer science and career and technical education. I am also a Frederick County Public Schools graduate and the parent of Frederick County Public Schools graduates. I have seen our school system from a lot of different perspectives, and I understand both what we do well and where we need to do better.
Throughout my career, I have been an advocate for students and educators. I have worked at the local and state levels on issues including school funding, literacy, special education, educator working conditions and responsible use of AI. I have learned that good decisions start with listening to the people closest to the work and looking carefully at the data.
I am running because I want every student to have access to the opportunities and support they need to be successful, regardless of their school, ZIP code or individual needs. I also want educators and families to have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their schools.
After 31 years in education, I still believe deeply in public schools and in what is possible when schools and communities work together.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
I bring more than 31 years of experience in public education and a perspective that reaches across grade levels, subjects and roles. I have taught elementary, middle and high school students, served as a literacy specialist, taught future literacy specialists at Hood College and most recently taught computer science and career and technical education at Brunswick High School.
That breadth matters. I understand what decisions made at the board level can look like when they reach an actual classroom. I know the challenges educators face, but I also understand that every decision has to be made with students at the center.
My experience extends beyond the classroom. I served on the Maryland State Department of Education Teacher Advisory Council and the Frederick County Public Schools AI Policy Committee, and I have advocated in Annapolis for better and more accurate funding for Frederick County schools. I have worked with educators, families, community organizations, elected officials and state leaders.
I am also a parent of Frederick County Public Schools graduates, including a child who received special education services, so I understand the school system from the family side of the table as well.
Most importantly, I listen. I ask questions, look at the data and am willing to speak up when something needs to change. I will bring experience, curiosity, collaboration and a student-centered perspective to every decision I make.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
The most important issue facing the Frederick County Board of Education is making sure our growing school system has the resources and capacity to meet the needs of every student.
Frederick County continues to grow, while our schools are being asked to do more. We need enough educators and support staff, strong literacy instruction, safe and well-maintained buildings and equitable access to programs such as Career and Technical Education, International Baccalaureate, junior ROTC and the Academy for the Fine Arts. We also need to examine special education staffing to make sure staffing levels reflect the intensity of student needs and that schools have the people necessary to provide the services in students’ Individualized Education Programs.
If elected, I would start by making sure our budget decisions are driven by what is actually happening in our schools. That means listening to educators, families and students and looking closely at staffing, class sizes and student needs. It also means examining the data behind programs and interventions. If we are investing time, staff and money in programs that are not producing results for students, we need to understand why and be willing to change, replace or sunset them. I would also continue advocating with county and state leaders for accurate enrollment counts and adequate funding.
Every budget involves choices. My priority would be protecting the people and programs closest to students while making those choices transparently and based on evidence.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
One public leader I have long admired is former U.S. Rep. John Lewis. He spent his life demonstrating that leadership requires both courage and persistence. He was willing to speak up when something was wrong, even when doing so was difficult or personally costly, but he also understood the importance of building relationships and working with others to create lasting change.
His idea of getting into “good trouble” has always resonated with me. I believe there are times when leaders have a responsibility to use their voices, particularly for people who may not have the power or opportunity to be heard themselves.
I also admire that his leadership was rooted in service rather than position or title. For me, that is an important reminder of what public service should be. Leadership is listening, showing up, doing the work and being willing to advocate when something needs to change.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the General Assembly in 2021, is a 10-year plan that includes increased funding to support early childhood education, higher teacher starting pay, college/career-readiness standards for high school graduates, and expanded services to multilingual and impoverished families, among other goals. Since the Blueprint's implementation, test scores have increased modestly in many parts of the state, but some school officials complain about the costs and administrative burdens placed on them by the Blueprint. Please tell us your views on the Blueprint and how it is affecting your school district.
I support the goals of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Maryland needed to make a significant investment in public education, including improving educator salaries, expanding early childhood education, strengthening college and career readiness and providing additional resources for students with greater needs.
At the same time, I believe we need to be willing to examine how the Blueprint is working in practice and make adjustments when necessary. Frederick County is a growing school system, and that growth creates challenges that are not always adequately reflected in state funding formulas. I have advocated at the state level for more accurate enrollment counts because when funding does not keep pace with the students actually sitting in our classrooms, local taxpayers and our schools are left filling the gap.
The Blueprint also directs significant funding toward specific purposes. Those investments are important, but mandates can limit a school system’s ability to respond to needs that may look different from one community or school to another.
As a Board member, I would advocate for maintaining the Blueprint’s commitment to students and educators while also pushing for flexibility, accurate funding, and less-unnecessary administrative burden. We should also continually examine student outcome data to determine whether the programs and investments made under the Blueprint are producing the results we intended. If something is not working, we should be willing to change it.
Chronic absenteeism has been a problem in many schools since the Covid-19 pandemic. How big of a problem is absenteeism in your school district, and what if anything can the Board of Education do about it?
Chronic absenteeism is a significant concern because students cannot benefit from even the best instruction if they are not in school. But we also need to understand why students are missing school rather than treating every absence the same way.
The reasons can include transportation, physical or mental health needs, family responsibilities, housing instability, bullying, disengagement or a student simply not feeling connected to school. Addressing absenteeism requires identifying those barriers early and working with families to solve them.
The board should regularly review attendance data, including differences among schools and student groups, and examine which interventions are actually improving attendance. We should strengthen partnerships with families and community organizations, make sure schools have the staffing needed to intervene early and listen directly to students about why they are missing school.
Accountability matters, but our first question should be: What is keeping this student from being in school, and how can we help?
Are you satisfied with your school district's policy on AI use by students? If so, why? If not, what would you suggest to improve the AI policy?
FCPS is still developing its AI policy, so I can't tell if I'm satisfied yet. I believe students need to learn to use AI responsibly, but I am concerned about how difficult it has become for educators to control when and how students encounter it.
With 1-to-1 devices and AI tools such as Gemini increasingly embedded in products students use every day, AI can be constantly in front of students rather than introduced intentionally by an educator when it supports learning.
I would advocate for stronger restrictions on student access to AI during the school day and would consider moving away from 1-to-1 devices toward classroom-based device carts, particularly in younger grades. Technology should be a tool educators choose when it benefits instruction, not a constant presence.
The policy also needs consistent standards for staff use of AI, including grading, that protect student privacy and ensure educators remain responsible for evaluating student learning.
Youth mental health has been a growing concern for years now. Do you think your school district has the resources and personnel in place to deal with this issue adequately? If not, what would you suggest to improve the situation?
Frederick County Public Schools has made important investments in student mental health, but I do not believe we yet have enough resources or personnel to meet the level of need we are seeing.
Schools are often where changes in a student’s behavior, attendance, academic performance or relationships are first noticed. We need enough counselors, psychologists, social workers and other support staff so we can address concerns early rather than waiting until a student reaches a crisis.
At the same time, schools cannot do this work alone. I would strengthen partnerships with county agencies and community mental health providers, improve connections between families and outside services and examine where students face the longest waits or greatest gaps in support.
I also believe belonging matters. Students need trusted adults, meaningful activities, and school environments where they feel known and connected. Mental health support should include both responding to students in crisis and building school communities that help prevent students from reaching that point.
Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries? If so, what kind of books should be removed, and who should make those decisions?
Yes, there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries, but those decisions should be based on established professional standards, not simply because someone disagrees with a book’s ideas or content.
Media specialists routinely review collections and remove books that are damaged, outdated, factually inaccurate, no longer relevant, or inappropriate for the age level served by that library. That is responsible collection management.
When a parent or community member challenges a book, a clear, consistent review process should consider the entire work, its educational or literary value, age appropriateness and professional standards. Trained educators and media specialists should play a central role in that process, with established procedures for review and appeal.
Parents should have a meaningful voice in what their own children read, and Frederick County Public Schools provides ways for families to make those choices. One family’s decision for their child, however, should not automatically determine what is available to every other student.
