Heather Fletcher
Running for school board in Frederick County
Email: fletcherforboe@yahoo.com
Website: www.fletcherforboe.com
Facebook: facebook.com/fletcherforboe
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 3)?
45
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
Homemaker; former air traffic controller at Joint Base Andrews
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics from the University of North Dakota
Why are you running for the school board?
I am running because Frederick County families deserve safe schools focused on academic excellence, strong leadership and accountability. As a mother of three, I want every child to receive a world-class education built on high standards, where they are challenged to think critically, gain a strong foundation of knowledge and reach their full potential.
I believe we must also be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. Every dollar invested in our schools should be used wisely and with the goal of improving student outcomes.
For too long, I believe students’ academic needs and families’ voices have not received the attention they deserve. According to the Maryland Report Card, only 61.7% of Frederick County Public Schools' eighth graders are proficient in English language arts, 19.8% in math and 41.4% in science. These numbers demand our attention and a renewed focus on the fundamentals of education.
Our schools must also be places where every child feels safe, protected, and respected. Frederick County Public Schools is currently the subject of a U.S. Department of Education Title IX investigation involving concerns about student privacy and athletics. I believe the board must provide strong leadership to protect student privacy, safety and fairness while ensuring students have access to spaces and sports teams where they feel safe and comfortable.
I am running to bring accountability, common sense and a strong voice for parents and students to the board, and to help ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
My background as a former Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Controller prepared me well to serve on the board. I learned how to analyze complicated information, identify priorities, communicate clearly, work as part of a team and make consequential decisions under pressure. I worked in an environment where accuracy, accountability and attention to detail were nonnegotiable, and where decisions had to be based on facts.
I also bring the perspective of a Frederick County parent who has been actively involved in my children’s education across public, private, homeschool and preschool settings. For the past several years, I have volunteered as a teacher’s assistant and served on school committees. These experiences have given me a firsthand understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing our students, teachers and families.
This combination of professional experience and personal involvement gives me both a practical and a personal perspective. I understand that board decisions are not abstract policies. They affect real children, teachers, families and taxpayers every day.
Most importantly, I am willing to ask difficult questions, do the research, listen carefully and follow the facts wherever they lead. I will come prepared, stay engaged and take seriously the responsibility families place in their elected board members. I believe Frederick County needs board members who will put students first, listen to families and make thoughtful, accountable decisions.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
The most important issue facing our school system is school safety. Every child deserves to learn in an environment where they feel safe, protected and able to focus, and teachers deserve the support they need to maintain safe and orderly classrooms.
If elected, I will work to strengthen school safety by ensuring teachers have practical classroom support, including classroom assistants and that disruptive and dangerous behavior is addressed quickly and appropriately. Bullying should not be tolerated, and parents should be informed and involved when concerns affect the safety or well-being of their children.
Protecting children also means protecting their privacy. Students should have access to private spaces where they feel safe and comfortable, and parents should not be excluded from important decisions involving their children. Parents have the fundamental right and responsibility to direct the upbringing and education of their children, and I will work to ensure their voices are heard and their rights are respected.
School safety also means protecting students in athletics. Every child deserves to participate in sports in an environment that is safe, fair and respectful of privacy.
As a board member, I will listen to parents, teachers and students, ask difficult questions and insist that safety concerns are taken seriously and addressed. My goal is to help create schools where children can learn, teachers can teach and parents can have confidence that their children are safe.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
I admire Tulsi Gabbard because of her willingness to stand by her convictions, even when doing so is difficult or unpopular. As a military veteran who served in the U.S. Army National Guard and as a former member of Congress, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to public service and putting her country first.
I also admire her willingness to ask difficult questions, challenge the status quo and speak up when she believes something is wrong. She has shown that leadership sometimes means being willing to stand alone rather than simply going along with the crowd.
Those are qualities I value in a leader and hope to bring to the Frederick County Board of Education: courage, independent thinking, a willingness to ask hard questions and a commitment to serving the people rather than special interests.
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 have serious concerns about the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, particularly when it comes to parental rights, student privacy, local control and whether its significant cost is producing meaningful results for students.
The Blueprint has expanded the role of schools into areas that I believe should involve parents first, particularly mental and behavioral health. Maryland law now allows children as young as 12, under certain circumstances, to consent to mental health treatment without parental consent. Frederick County Public Schools has also expanded behavioral-health partnerships and services through Blueprint funding. I believe parents should be informed of their rights under Maryland law and involved in decisions concerning their children.
I am also concerned about the district’s history of failing to protect vulnerable students. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice found that Frederick County Public Schools had subjected 125 students with disabilities to 7,253 instances of seclusion and restraint over approximately two and a half school years. Frederick County Public Schools entered into a settlement with the DOJ to address those practices.
As a board member, I would closely examine how Blueprint funds are being spent and whether programs are actually improving student outcomes. I support helping students who need additional resources, but schools should not replace parents or expand into areas without strong accountability, transparency and appropriate parental involvement. Local communities and families deserve a meaningful voice in how their schools operate.
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 an important issue because students cannot learn if they are not in school. While Frederick County Public Schools currently has one of the lower chronic absenteeism rates in Maryland, attendance remains an area that deserves continued attention.
The board should focus on identifying why students are missing school and addressing those barriers early. Parents should be notified promptly when attendance becomes a concern and included in developing solutions. Frederick County Public Schools already has attendance monitoring and tiered interventions in place, and I would expect the board to evaluate whether those efforts are actually improving attendance.
We also need to recognize the connection between attendance and academic achievement. I would support practical strategies that encourage regular attendance, provide appropriate support to students and families facing genuine hardships and hold students accountable when absences are avoidable.
Most importantly, parents and schools should work together. Our goal should be to get students back in the classroom, learning and engaged, as quickly as possible.
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?
I am not satisfied with Frederick County Public Schools' current approach to AI use by students. I believe schools should teach students to think critically, write clearly, solve problems and develop their own ideas. Those skills cannot be developed if students are relying on artificial intelligence to do the thinking and work for them.
Frederick County Public Schools currently provides guidance allowing students to use AI for purposes such as brainstorming, research, tutoring and studying with teacher permission, while prohibiting AI from completing entire assignments, assessments, essays or responses. I believe the district should take a much more cautious approach, particularly with younger students.
AI should never replace authentic learning or a student’s own work. Any permitted use should be limited, clearly defined, transparent to parents and teachers and age appropriate. I would also want strong protections for student privacy and personal data.
As a board member, I would support stronger policies that put human teachers, critical thinking and genuine student work first.
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?
Youth mental health is an important concern, and I believe Frederick County Public Schools has many resources in place, including school counselors, psychologists, social workers and partnerships with community mental health providers. However, Frederick County Public Schools has acknowledged that the behavioral health needs of students exceed staff capacity, and I believe we need to continue evaluating whether students are receiving timely and appropriate support.
We should focus on making sure students who need help can access it quickly, while also ensuring parents are informed and appropriately involved. Schools should not replace parents or community mental health professionals, but they should be able to identify concerns, provide appropriate support and connect families with qualified resources.
As a board member, I would support maintaining strong partnerships with community providers, evaluating whether existing programs are effective and ensuring resources are directed where they are most needed. Most importantly, we must keep parents involved and make sure every child has access to appropriate support.
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. I believe there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries, particularly when they contain obscene, sexually explicit or age-inappropriate material that does not belong in a school setting. Parents should not have to worry that their children will encounter graphic sexual content while using a school library.
I believe parents deserve a meaningful voice in determining what is appropriate for children. Decisions should be based on clear, objective, age-appropriate standards, with parents and community members given a transparent opportunity to review and challenge materials. Ultimately, the board should establish the standards and hold the superintendent and administration accountable for ensuring those standards are followed.
We can support literacy and intellectual freedom without exposing children to material that is inappropriate for their age.
