MEET THE CANDIDATES
Vote for (1) Select Board and (2) School Board. See more details about candidates here.
For Select Board (Choose 1)
Adam Rice
Adam Rice is a sitting select board member with a list of noteworthy accomplishments. We asked him today if he’d write something up for the website, so please check back for more info!
For School Board (Choose 2)
Candidates are listed in the order nomination papers were returned:
Sean Norris
Who I am -My Name is Sean Norris, a combat veteran, practical, results-focused community member, and engaged parent of three children currently attending South Bristol School. -Walpole Resident since March 2024, after five years living in Bristol and being involved in our peninsula community. –Committed to serving all South Bristol students and families- not political interest groups or outside organizations.
My Commitment –Uphold shared values like honesty, hard work, responsibility, and respect for every person, welcoming families of all political and religious backgrounds. –Listen first: Be accessible, attend meetings, ask questions, and communicate clearly about board actions and policies so people know what is happening and why. –Stand firm: Keep schools focused on education, not partisan fights or fads- favoring practical, common-sense solutions that create safe environments and improve learning day to day.
My Priorities –Strong parent-school partnership: Keep parents fully informed and involved in what is taught, especially on sensitive topics, so families and school pull in the same direction. –Focus on basics: Strengthen reading, writing, math, and real-world skills so kids are prepared for work, college, and life. –Safe, healthy learning environments: Support classrooms that are safe, respectful, and well-run–emotionally and physically–so teachers are supported and students can focus and thrive.
For South Bristol School –Preserve our small, community-centered school with its unique coastal, outdoor, and hands-on learning opportunities. –Support the South Bristol-Bristol education partnership and be ready to do the work needed to help make it succeed, while keeping decisions local, practical, and responsive to our town. –Be a fiscal watchdog: Use taxpayer money wisely, prioritizing classrooms, staff, and student needs- not bureaucracy, experiments, or politics.
Patricia Block
Who I Am -Long-time Maine educator and special education administrator -Career focused on supporting students, families, and schools across Midcoast Maine -Running for the South Bristol School Board to support strong local schools and transparent leadership
What I believe -Students First: Decisions should support student learning, safety, and well-being -Respect: Families and staff deserve to be heard and included -Clear Communication: Communities deserve open and understandable communication -Responsible Stewardship: Public resources should be used wisely -Inclusive Schools: All students deserve access to high-quality edication
What a School Board Does -Sets district policy and long-term direction -Hires and supports the superintendent -Approves budgets and ensures responsible use of funds -Represents community priorities -Ensures state and federal requirements are met -Does not manage daily school operations
Why I am Running -To bring experience, collaboration, and thoughtful leadership to the board -To support long-term stability and student success -To keep community values and student needs at the center of decisions
My Commitment -Listen to families, students, staff, and community members -Ask thoughtful questions before making dicisions -Support educators while ensuring accountability -Act with fairness, integrity, and transparency
Contact -Patricia (McFarland) Block -Candidate for South Bristol School Board -Home: 207-563-1892 -Email: thecottageat312@gmail.com
Joshua Irwin
I’m Josh. Hearing — and sometimes, coaxing — a report from our kids every night about school is the best part of my day. SBS has been a special place for our family and for many of our neighbors and friends, just as it has for South Bristol families for decades.
If elected, I will be an advocate for kids, teachers, and the school. I want to continue raising the bar on the education we can give South Bristol kids. If you believe that SBS has a lot of good things going for it and can continue adding to a reputation as an excellent school, we’re on the same page. I can promise that I will bring no drama and no political agenda, only a calm, pragmatic focus on the facts and what makes sense for the school and the community.
A little more about me: My wife and I have one kid at SBS now, and another who graduated last year and is off to a great start at LA. Both benefited enormously at SBS from small classes and strong relationships with teachers who understood their needs well beyond academics. Both tried things they would never have tried at larger schools with less individual attention.
My day job: For 15 years, I’ve worked at a manufacturing company. A big part of my job is dealing with different stakeholders, each with a different opinion about the right thing to do. Often those choices are difficult, where a lot of dollars are at stake and strongly held views exist on all sides. I’m pretty good at taking in different ideas, weighing a decision, and then taking action. (According to my kids, I’m not at all good at cooking or singing.) I like straight talk, working with numbers, and paying attention to what a decision will mean in the real world.
My priorities for the school board:
• The successful exit from the AOS structure and the creation of the education services center is a great opportunity. South Bristol will enjoy more local control and a stronger ability to target spending to the places it will matter most: students, teachers, and staff. It’s important that the board ensures the early days of the new arrangement go well. It can be more difficult to fix things later than to get them right at the beginning.
• Retaining talented teachers.
• Attracting more students from outside of South Bristol to the school, which is good both for the experiences of SBS kids and the budget.
Thanks for your support.
Christian Cotz
Christian and his family moved to South Bristol in 2020 and he joined the school board in 2023. His oldest daughter, Ava, graduated from SBS in 2025 and his youngest, Aria (of South Bristol Scoop fame), is in the 6th grade. His wife, Amy, a historian who works remotely for American University as coeditor of the presidential papers of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, volunteers with the SBS Boosters.
Christian joined the school board to support the professional educators and administrators we entrust with our students and to help sustain the progressive and inclusive culture of our school curriculum and community. He’s served as the South Bristol representative on the AOS93 board since the summer of 2023 and was elected chair of that board in 2025. He is also the board chair of the new Johns Bay Coastal Alliance and looks forward to kicking off that partnership with Bristol this spring.
Before moving to Maine, Christian spent twenty years directing the historic interpretation and public programming at James Madison’s Montpelier, the Virginia plantation home and museum of the fourth president and Father of the Constitution. From 2020 to 2023 he served as CEO of the First Amendment Museum (located in the old Guy Gannett House in Augusta). After a board kerfuffle, Christian spent the most enjoyable eighteen months of his career working with Mike Nyboe and the gang at Bittersweet Landing. In January of 2025, Maine’s Secretary of State asked Christian to serve as the interim Maine State Archivist; he was confirmed by a unanimous vote of the State Senate in June for a six-year appointment. Christian also runs Horizon Lines Nonprofit Consulting (horizon-lines.net), and is a licensed sales agent with Drum & Drum Realty. When he can’t be found, he is likely spending time outdoors with his family, or has disappeared into the wild for an extended canoe expedition on the Canadian Shield.
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