Joe Fleckenstein
Running for school board in Harford County District C
Email: joe.fleckenstein@gmail.com
Website: www.joe4boe2026.com
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 3)?
55
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
Defense contractor at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
B.A. in business management from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
Why are you running for the school board?
I am running because half of our students are not proficient in reading or math. Someone needs to help these often forgotten students.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
Bringing a common sense, outside perspective to the board, I will hold our superintendent accountable and meet the needs of parents and grandparents. My ability to listen to the needs of others, customer service background, and empathy will aid me in finding practical solutions to sometimes difficult problems.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
No matter who holds the position of superintendent, the board is in charge and the superintendent must do the bidding of the board. Not the other way around. This is critical for the process to work as originally intended.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
Dr. Ron Paul. Perhaps an unusual choice but highly principled, he was a retired congressman who also ran for president. He was logical , consistent and a student of history. There would be greater trust in government if all elected officials followed their convictions, as he did.
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.
The Blueprint is a burden and largely ineffective. Throwing money at a problem rarely helps, and the Blueprint needs to end. Give local boards more autonomy, and standardized tests scores will flourish. A parent-driven board beats large spending and government every single time.
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?
If students want to be promoted to the next grade, they have to be in the classroom to learn. If workers without personal leave continually fail to show up to work, they are fired, not promoted. Students who automatically, with rare exceptions, fail to show up to school will have to repeat the same grade level or eventually be removed from the school system. We need to educate those who make the effort to show up.
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?
Generally speaking, yes, but I think right now AI should be reserved for 11th and 12th graders. Again, our poor standardized test scores tell me that the fundamental teaching methods of yesterday should be reapplied, like less screens in elementary school, more books and pencil and paper learning, including the art of note-taking. Stress phonics, traditional math and knowing our nation's history since its inception .
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?
Generally speaking, yes. But remember that the mission of our schools is first and foremost a place to teach and reinforce traditional academics. That is the mission we need to concentrate on. If we stick with that, we don't solve all of the problems, but child confidence and self esteem will soar with academic success.
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?
The Board should remove any book lacking literary merit that reinforces a sexual or self-harming agenda. Any book that would cause the reader to cringe if read aloud at a Board of Education meeting should be removed. The board makes these decisions. If a board does not remove an objectionable book, concerned parents may opt their children out of reading that book, without any form of retaliation to those students. The board is in charge, and parents even more so are in charge of their children.
