Mediator, parent runs for Charles County Board of Ed
Charles County resident Leslie Coker said working with youth is her passion, and she hopes to bring her skills at mediation to the school board.
“I’m all about collaboration and using communication to get things done, making waves for action,” Coker said.
Coker, a resident of Indian Head, filed to run for the Charles County Board of Education Feb. 27, one of 17 candidates running for the seven at-large, nonpartisan positions.
Coker is originally a native of Delaware. She attended the University of Delaware in Newark and the University of Maryland University College, majoring in political science with a minor in criminal justice.
“Politics has been an interest of mine forever. I come from a family that knows all about voter rights and making sure you do your civic responsibility,” Coker said. “I grew up with the CNN ticker on the television.”
Coker moved to Maryland in 2008, where she has family. Coker has been a resident of Charles County since 2015.
“When I worked in Delaware, I worked for corporate America. Delaware is banking central, so I worked at a lot of banks,” Coker said. “So when I moved here, one of the things I said I didn’t want to do is I didn’t want to be behind a screen, so when I was looking for a job in Maryland, I was looking for things where I’d be interacting with the community on a daily basis.”
She works as a mediator in the Prince George’s County Office of Community Relations.
“I’ve continued to work on my passion, with youth, with schools, doing grassroots efforts to bring conflict mediation back to schools,” Coker said. “I’ve developed youth workshops, with the [Prince George’s County] Board of Education, to bring to the schools.”
Coker said she has always wanted to run for public office, and felt the Board of Education would be the best fit for her skills.
“My kids go to these schools, and that was one of the main reasons I chose to run for Board of Education,” Coker said. “Right now, I really feel that education is being negatively impacted by the decisions that are being made nationally.”
Coker has three children. The oldest two attend Indian Head Elementary, while the youngest is not yet in school.
If elected, Coker said she does not feel bullying and abuse are being adequately addressed by the school system.
“The bullying report is not really working. Talk about the investigation time it takes; by the time the months pass that someone investigates, that child is still going through things,” Coker said. “But also the grading and diversity in programs at the schools in Charles County; but all of those factors have made me confident and sure the Board of Education is where I need to start with my political career.”
Coker said she would also like to focus on curriculum and whether students are truly meeting benchmarks.
“I feel that our children are not as prepared as some when it comes to national entrance exams and being able to acquire jobs outside the county,” Coker said.
Coker said, if elected, she’d like to work on conflict management.
“How students are dealing with conflict, what sort of resources do they have in place to get fast remedies if not a solution, but also, the teachers and administrative staff, not only how they’re interacting with students, but how they’re interacting with each other,” Coker said.
Coker said she would like to see more emphasis on the arts and diversity.
“We really do need to make sure they’re getting a well-rounded experience, and making sure the activities are not just bogged down in fun and games, but that it is teaching them the culture,” Coker said. “There’s not a lot of diverse programming for different cultures. Hispanic History Month comes and goes, you don’t see anything. Black History Month comes and goes, you don’t see anything.”
Coker said that, if elected, she would bring her skills as a mediator and experience to the school board.
“With my experience of facilitation training, negotiation training, mediation training, a lot of alternative dispute resolution training under my belt, I’m very versed with having dialogue with others with opposing views and still come out with a resolution that takes everyone into account,” Coker said. “We’re all working toward the same thing, so I think I would be effective when escalations take place, we can still be calm and figure out what the issues are, and still stay focused on the issues, not the person.”
Coker said she would also bring her experience with balancing budgets and writing grants.
“I feel that because of my experience working in nonprofit and the public sector is going to help me have appreciation and respect for the process and systems in place, but also to navigate within them so that the school board can work things out and prioritize things so that our students and our teachers can benefit. Plus, I love kids,” Coker said.
Coker can be followed online on Facebook as “Leslie Coker.”