Katherine B. Miller, Esq., is stepping down in March 2013 when her term on the Exeter Regional Cooperative (“Coop”) School District Board ends. “I have served for eight years on school boards: six years on the Exeter Elementary School Board and three years on the Coop Board. They have been wonderful years, and I have the highest respect for my fellow Board members and the administrators who run our schools, but it is time to retire from that service,” she says.

For astute individuals who do the math, six and three add up to nine years of school board service, not eight. Responds Kate: “For one year, I served on both Boards. That was a lot of night meetings!” Kate has been involved in the hiring of the current Superintendent, Michael Morgan, the Main Street School Principal, Steven Adler, the principal of the Cooperative Middle School, William Furbush, and, most recently, the new principal at Exeter High School, Sean Kiley. Speaking of those hires, Kate comments, “I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished in SAU 16 over the past eight years. I firmly believe that we have, overall, the strongest team of administrators since I became involved with the schools, when my oldest child began second grade. He is now a junior in college! We are fortunate as a community to have excellent schools and dedicated administrators, teachers and staff. By the same token, these educators are blessed to work in districts that support these schools. In the end, the children are the winners, and so are we. Our local economy will grow stronger, the more effectively we educate our youth.”

As to why she is stepping down, Kate responds: “My term on the Coop Board ends in March. Because of work obligations in the evenings with non-profit boards and municipal select boards and city councils, I am finding it challenging to make time for the demanding schedule of school board meetings. I also have two teenaged daughters at home, and it is important to be there, too.

Although she is not seeking reelection to the Coop School Board, Kate is not retiring from elected office altogether. She is seeking election as Moderator of the Coop School District, a position held for fifteen years by DTC partner, Charlie Tucker. Says Kate, “I would like to continue to contribute to our community and to our excellent schools. As Moderator, I would preside over the deliberative session of the Coop School District Meeting each February and the balloting session each March. If elected, I pledge to do my best to run these meetings in a fair manner, following the excellent record Charlie left after fifteen years.”