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Appointed Board Members State Their Reasons for Wanting to Serve

Two newly appointed board members for the Gibraltar Area School Board both said their main reason for submitting applications to serve is to help make good decisions for educating students in the district, including their own children.

The school board selected Luca Fagundes and Jeremy Schwab to fill the seats formerly held by Angela Sherman and Amie Carriere. Both women resigned before their terms ended.

Fagundes, an immigration attorney, has two children, ages 12 and 9, in the school. Fagundes said both he and his wife received texts and emails in January from people who urged them to consider a board position.

“This support came organically from the community, from individuals I respect greatly,” Fagundes said. “I have been approached in the past about serving on this board. I declined then, due to time constraints that then existed, but serving on this board has always interested me. As my children have gotten older, I now have more time to invest in causes I find important.”

As an attorney who owns his own law practice, Fagundes said he has developed skills that would be valuable “as the school board navigates the difficult issues we face now and into the future. As a father of two children who are in the district, I have a keen interest in the quality of education they and their peers receive.”

Fagundes also serves on boards of the Boys & Girls Club of Door County and Door County Land Trust. 

Schwab was one of the six primary candidates who signed up to run for two seats in the spring election. He earned the fewest votes of the six during the Feb. 15 primary, knocking him out of that race.

Schwab is a financial planner and hedge-fund manager who has four children in the Gibraltar school system and has volunteered his time for many youth activities. 

He described serving on the board as a function of his desire to serve and help the community. He said he believes he has a lot to contribute, and he wants to stay involved in making decisions about the curriculum and securing a quality education and experience for students in the Gibraltar schools.

Schwab attended a board meeting before Thanksgiving and after vaccines became available to urge the board to allow parents to resume making decisions about the health of their children. He emphasized that his main reasons to run were not related to coronavirus-prevention protocols.

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