Billie Weber, 79, believes in education, and as a School Board member, she can help promote it, she said.
Weber is among running for position five, at large, including Melany Glossa, Travis Luttmer, Larry Angland and incumbent Diane Gerson.
“I believe in education,” she said. “It’s at the top of my list.”
That’s why she is running, she said. She is serving on the district budget committee and is among those dealing with difficult budget cuts.
Cuts should be made to areas that are least necessary, she said. “And that’s not always easy. You just have to cut back on whatever you can. I don’t really think classroom education is where you should start cutting.”
All of her children and grandchildren have received good educations, she said. “I believe in education more than anybody. If you have a great education, you’re not going to be one of the first ones laid off.”
Protecting that quality education is her top priority if she wins a term on the board, she said. “Cutting the actual academic classes, I don’t want to see any of this happen. I think there are some possibilities. We may have to find a little raise in our taxes. You just don’t start cutting on education.”
The board is doing some hard looking at ways to save money, she said. It is looking at combining classes and other ideas she thinks will work.
“I think sports are important,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of kids who would drop out of school if there were no sports. It’s not one of the first places I’d start cutting.”
This is especially important at the high school level, she said.
“I think this is a wonderful town, a wonderful school system,” Weber said. “I just think that we need to keep it together. I would just do the very best I could to follow up on these goals.”
Weber has lived in Sweet Home since 1947. She was married to the late Bill Weber for 56 1/2 years. She has two adult children, Larry and Mike, and five grandchildren.
She worked at Sweet Home High School for 20 years as the student affairs bookkeeper. She worked for 20 years at Les Schwab Tire Service, and at age 60 went into real estate. She works at Heritage Northwest. She volunteers at the Chamber of Commerce six hours a day and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She also is the treasurer at Fir Lawn Lutheran Church.