O'Brien files for school board

Posted Monday, February 18, 2008

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Pittsboro, NC - Flint O'Brien, a Chatham County parent , today filed as a candidate for the Chatham County Board of Education in District 1.

"Many Chatham parents and residents know that I've been pushing for improvements in our schools for some time now," O'Brien said. "I've watched some Chatham families grow frustrated with the lack of progress in our schools and the only solution they see is to leave the county. This has to change; and working from the outside just isn't working. That?s why I?m running for Chatham school board.

The 43-year-old software group manager noted that he and his wife, Jenny, both "love living in Chatham County and are here to stay." He emphasized his intention to improve Chatham's schools in every part of the county "from Siler City and Bear Creek all the way across to Pittsboro and the northeast, following the saying that 'a rising tide floats all ships.'"

O'Brien is the founding director of GoodSchoolz.org, a one-year-old organization of parents dedicated to raising test scores, improving curriculum, and giving higher priority to school construction and improvements. In the past year and a half, he has attended nearly every Chatham school board meeting and often spoken up to offer problem-solving ideas to school board members.

O'Brien said he is concerned with slow progress in the launch of a new high school on Jack Bennett Road in the county's northeast quadrant and with a recent one year delay in the opening of a new middle school in the Briar Chapel development off Rt. 15/501. Siler City is growing too, but there are no plans in place to manage the overcrowding.

"Another serious problem is that the county's North Chatham School now has 19 mobile classrooms and there seems to be no end in sight," he said. "Soon there will be as many students trying to learn in temporary, trailer-sized classrooms as there are in the school itself.

We have a lot of great teachers and they are frustrated too. Each year, I hear of a teacher that has left because of overcrowding, and they are very hard to replace."

O'Brien's two children, ages 9 and 7, both attend North Chatham where he has been active in the Parent-Teacher Association, the Science Fair, volunteering in classrooms, and the like. He holds a master's degree in computer science from Mississippi State University and is currently managing a software group at Hatteras Networks, a telecom startup in Research Triangle Park.

"I intend to run a vigorous grassroots campaign to carry the message that significant positive changes in our schools are possible in our lifetimes. One person, who cares enough and is willing to follow through, can make a big difference," O'Brien concluded.