Burke announces candidacy for School Board, Dist. 3

To parents and voters of Gilchrist County;
My wife of 31 years, Elaine and I purchased property in Gilchrist County in 1998, predicated on the reviews of the school system. Due to events that deeply affected our community in the north (September 11th and Anthrax mail) we moved here permanently in 2003. Our daughter, Kristen, has thrived in the less stressful environment here and graduated as the Valedictorian of Bell High School in 2010 and is currently finishing her sophomore year at the University of Florida.
Having operated my own business for over 30 years and now being retired, I felt it was time to continue to be involved with education, only more extensively and to give back to a community we have learned to cherish.
I operated a school bus for 4 years in all sections of the county and students know me as, “Mr. B” in Trenton as well as in Bell. In addition to working as a bus driver, I volunteered hundreds of hours of my time, mainly to the Bell Middle-High School Band as a highly active band booster for six years. Though it has since dissolved, I was an active member of the Bell High School Parent-Teacher Association, and I participated on the Parent Advisory Board at BHS for a year. Furthermore, I have been involved in many personal meetings with school administrators in the area to discuss advanced educational ideas and have attended many school board meetings throughout the past six years.
I am currently employed by the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, working a few hours every weekend providing transportation for the veterans who live in the veterans’ home to go shopping, to church, or attend events in the Lake City area.
I have neither family ties nor ties to any organizations-political or religious- within Gilchrist County. If I have the privilege to serve you, my decisions will be based entirely on the implications for students in our county schools, and I plan on applying my years of business experience to reach sound conclusions as to what is in our students’ best interests. As a retired person, I will consider this a full time position and work tirelessly with other board members and administrators as an advocate for enhancing student opportunities and a path to a brighter future.
Respectfully yours,
Dermot Burke
P.O. Box 96
Bell, FL 32619
(386) 935-4007