OXFORD – Three candidates are vying for two seats on the Oxford Academy and Central School Board. The positions up for grabs are those of incumbents Gene Rood and Mary Branham, both of whom are running for re-election. They face opposition, however, by way of challenger Julie Gates.
In the order they will appear on the ballot, those candidates are:

Gene Rood
Gene Rood is seeking his third term on the Oxford’s Board of Education.
“I’d like to continue providing my time, energy and talent towards keeping Oxford Academy & Central School vital and academically strong,” the Oxford native said.
During his tenure on the board, Rood says he’s learned the position is time consuming, frustrating, complicated, challenging and interesting.”
“Being a board member is balancing resources, while still trying to maintain quality programs for students; academically, socially and morally,” he explained. “Being a board member is supporting (and) attending the sports, National Honor Society, Class plays, music and arts programs.”
His favorite part? Shaking the hands of graduating seniors as they receive their diplomas.
In addition to serving on the Oxford Board of Education, Rood sits on the board of directors of the Norwich Family YMCA and serves on the Village of Oxford’s Wastewater Commission.
A professional engineer by trade, Rood is treasurer of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Ithaca Section. Through the group’s student chapter, he occasionally works with civil and environmental engineering students at Cornell.
In the budget issue of the Blackhawk Bulletin, Oxford’s district newsletter, the veteran school board member talks about the “fun” parts of the job, and all that he has learned over the last six years. He also describes his frustrations with the state’s laws and policies concerning education and Albany’s “inability to provide solid fiscal guidance” for schools.
“It has been a very interesting experience and I would like to continue,” he concluded.

Julie Gates
Oxford resident Julie Gates has long been an active participant at Oxford school board meetings. Now the working mom says she’s ready to trade her seat in the audience for one at the board table.
“I have been attending meetings, listening, commenting and communicating with the board and the school district for the last 10 years,” she said. “Now I feel I have time to dedicate to the position.”
Gates herself is an Oxford graduate, having moved to the district when she was just five. She and her husband of 26 years, Lyndon, have two sons, both of whom attend the Oxford Middle School.
“I think being honest, up front and willing to ask questions and communicate questions and concerns to the board members, community, and staff is very important,” she said. “I would like to help do this.”
Gates has long been an advocate for education. On the local level, she is a past president of Pumpkin Shell Nursery School and has served on the Shared Decision Making Teams at both the Primary and Middle School. Since 2009, she has sat on the board of the Oxford Community Youth Center, of which she is currently vice president.
But she has also gotten involved on the state level. In 2003, she testified before the New York State Senate on the importance of early education. Her advocacy efforts earned her a Parent Activist Award from the Emergency Coalition to Save Universal Pre-K, as well as a proclamation from the New York State Senate. From 2007 to 2009, she served as a parent advocate on the Governor’s Children's Cabinet Advisory Board.
“The budget is, and will continue to be, the most pressing issue the board will face for the next several years,” she said. “If elected, I will work with the other board members and the community to find a solution that is best for both the students and the taxpayers.”
She knows the task won’t be an easy one.
“We need to offer options that help our students make the most of their school experience,” Gates explained. “We need to work on building a more positive relationship between the board, the staff, and the students, and between the board and the community.
Why does Gates think she’ll bring to the board?
“I feel that I can be honest, up front and willing to communicate to the community, staff and the board to help assist with current issues and future education of our students,” she said.
“I also feel that the experience I have working with unions, managing employees, budgets, and maintenance departments will help in decision that need to be made on the board,” Gates added, citing her 25 years of experience in manufacturing and her current role as Director of Public Facilities for Chenango County.

Mary Branham
Mary Branham is completely her first elected term on the Oxford Board of Education, and is seeking a second, three-year term.
“I truly do love being part of the board and giving back to the community in this way,” said Branham.
Although she isn’t a graduate of Oxford herself, she and her husband David have called the district home for 18 years. They have three daughter, all of whom are products of the Oxford school system. (Middle child Hailey is graduating this year. Her older sister Hollyann, will be a senior at Syracuse this fall.)
Branham said she wants all Oxford students to be able to have the same high quality education her daughters have received, as well as all those have gone before them.
“It’s a wonderful education,” she said. “I want these kids to have what Oxford graduates have enjoyed for years.”
Hands down, she says, the district’s biggest challenge right now is financial.
“When it comes to my kids, there is nothing I want to give up,” she reported. While on the board, she says she has advocated to keep programs she felt necessary to educating the whole child – like driver’s ed, the summer reading program and to maintain music and other elective offerings.
But at the same time she recognizes the needs to be “responsible to taxpayers.”
According to Branham, school leaders must figure out how to provide the same quality education and meet the state’s higher standards without putting an even greater burden on those taxpayers.
“It’s going to come down to being creative,” she said.
With the experience she’s gained with each passing year on the board - and through BOCES training and attending Lobby Days in Albany - Branham said she feels her voice has gotten stronger.
“I finally feel, after three years ... able to ask deeper questions and solve the harder problems,” she said.
She wants to continue what she has started with another term on the board.
“I would really like to see this through for several years,” she said.