Thomas Vaughan

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Thomas Vaughan

Prior offices

Nashua Board of Education At-large

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Education

Bachelor's

Tufts University

Personal

Profession

Software engineer

Thomas Vaughan is a former at-large member of the Nashua Board of Education in New Hampshire. He was first elected to the board in 2005 but lost his re-election bid on November 5, 2013.

Biography

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Thomas Vaughan is a resident of Nashua. Vaughan earned his B.A. degree from Tufts University. He worked as a software engineer for Digital, Compaq and HP before he retired.

Elections

2013

See also: Nashua School District elections (2013)

Incumbents David Murotake and Sandra Ziehm and former board members George Farrington and Dotty Oden defeated incumbents Dennis Ryder and Thomas Vaughan for four at-large seats on the Nashua Board of Education on November 5, 2013.

Results

Nashua School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	George Farrington	20.2%	4,181
	Nonpartisan	Sandra Ziehm Incumbent	19.9%	4,137
	Nonpartisan	Dotty Oden	18.6%	3,867
	Nonpartisan	David Murotake Incumbent	15.9%	3,303
	Nonpartisan	Thomas Vaughan Incumbent	14.8%	3,069
	Nonpartisan	Dennis Ryder Incumbent	10.5%	2,183
Total Votes				20,740
Source: Office of the New Hampshire Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School District No. 194 - Nashua," accessed December 22, 2013

Funding

Vaughan reported no contributions or expenditures to the Nashua City Clerk.

Endorsements

Vaughan did not receive any official endorsements for his campaign.

2009

Nashua School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2009
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Sandra Ziehm Incumbent	28%	4,376
	Nonpartisan	Thomas Vaughan Incumbent	24.5%	3,835
	Nonpartisan	Dennis Ryder Incumbent	23.9%	3,730
	Nonpartisan	David Murotake	23.6%	3,693
Total Votes				15,634
Source: Nashua, New Hampshire, "General Municipal Election," accessed August 1, 2013

Campaign themes

2013

In an interview with the Nashua Patch blog, Vaughan answered several questions outlining his campaign themes.

“	Should you be elected, how will you connect with your constituents to learn more about issues they care most about? My email, phone number and mailing address are posted publicly on the Nashua School District Website or I can be contacted by email messages to the whole Board: boe@nashua.edu , All public Board and Board Committee meetings are recorded and televised. People are welcome at all our public meetings and welcome to make comments. What are the top priorities, in your perspective, for Nashua’s Schools right now? The District is in the midst of a major transition to the New Hampshire College and Career Ready Standards. As part of this broad framework are the Common Core literacy and mathematics standards. At the same time the District is shifting to a new curriculum. This shift is partially driven by increased rigor and other changes in the standards and in part is a revision, refresh of the prior curriculum. Important shifts are also being made in instruction to support increased rigor, to add new emphasis on non-fiction throughout literacy instruction and to focus on problem solving in mathematics. Finally, the District’s overall assessment tool is switching from the current NECAP test to the new, online Smarter Balance Assessment. These are big changes that will take several years to complete. Navigating through these changes, minimizing their disruption on students and staff and ensuring that they actually increase student achievement is the top priority. To support this change I think we need to do several things, First , I think that we need to reduce the number of large (24 or more) classes at the elementary level. Large classes dilute the effectiveness of instruction and increase the likelihood of discipline issues. Secondly, I think we need to increase the quality and quantity of school level and district level performance data. The District has recently begun a rich, useful data program based on the IReady assessments. This program provides teachers timely, useful information that they can use to improve the effectiveness of their instruction. But there is no comparable data that gives the Board a view of progress at the school and district level. To support this transition we need to know which direction we are heading and where we are. Thirdly, I think we a regular cycle of effective long term planning. The Board has frequently created goals and objectives and recently a strategic plan. These are a good beginning. What we need to do is blend input from administration, Board members, parents and the community, focus on the key priorities and maintain these over several years. Why should voters select you to represent them on the School Board? I am running because I want to provide our students with a deep and broad education that will help them succeed in a future that will be full of change and that will demand of them more than any other generation in our history. I believe that the skills I bring and my prior experience on the Board – the understanding, knowledge and perspective it has given me – prepare me to help achieve this goal. I am by nature pragmatic and analytical. I work hard to understand each issue. I try to assess whether it will increase student learning and I try to determine its impact on our limited resources. During my tenure on the Board, I’ve seen the approaches of three very different superintendents. I’ve learned when to speak up and when to let things pass. There are times when the best response to a proposed program—no matter how strongly it is presented and no matter how many experts line up with it—is to say no. No, we need more time to think through the issue. No, we need more information. No, we need a deeper understanding of its implications. I’ve also learned that not every mistake that boils up to the Board requires that someone to be chastised. Able, well intentioned people can make mistakes—and can learn from them. They deserve an opportunity to do this. We are in the midst of a major, multi-year change in standards, curriculum and instruction that I hope will increase student learning. I have the experience to help facilitate this transition. I have the grit to demand evidence that it is actually improving student performance and I have the skills to evaluate this evidence. I ask for your vote so that I can help address this key transition and continue to serve you on the Board of Education.	”
—Thomas Vaughan interview, (2013)

Recent news

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Thomas Vaughan News Feed

See also

• Nashua School District, New Hampshire
• Nashua School District elections (2013)

External links

Suggest a link

• Nashua School District