Melanie Colgan/Courtesy photo

Los Alamos Public Schools member Melanie Colgan, who represents District 4 – Barranca Mesa Elementary School – announced her intention to seek relection. Colgan currently serves as president of the board. Her announcement is as follows:

My name is Melanie Colgan and I’m humbly asking for your support in the upcoming election to the District 4 (Barranca) Position on Los Alamos Public Schools Board. The reason I’m running can be summed up in two words – the kids. I’m not running to promote a political agenda. I’m running to do what is best for the kids. As a parent, a coach, a Girl Scout leader, a Sunday School teacher, a classroom volunteer, a PTO president, and as the current Los Alamos School Board president, I have been deeply involved with LAPS and our community for the last 15 years. As a nurse and a local college professor, I bring the experience, knowledge, training, and commitment necessary to lead our district during this critical time.

While serving on the School Board over the last year, I believe that I have demonstrated a deep commitment to the education and well-being of all LAPS students. Although I am the parent of five children in the district, my decisions while on the School Board have always been based upon what is best for the district as a whole. I am passionate about ensuring that all of our children get the best possible start in life. I have also demonstrated the leadership qualities necessary to make the tough decisions that sometimes have to be made. For example, the Covid pandemic resulted in the School Board having to make very difficult decisions as to when and how to bring our children back to in-person learning. When faced with such decisions, I considered the fact-based evidence from local and national sources, and also spent much time listening to the viewpoints and concerns of our parents, teachers, and community. While not everyone may have agreed with the decisions that were reached by the School Board at all times, be assured that my vote was cast based on the scientific evidence available, and what I genuinely believed was best for our community.

Soon, our school board will be selecting a new superintendent. If elected to the School Board, I will be able to evaluate our candidates and work with a new superintendent, utilizing my experience of having worked with our last superintendent and our current interim superintendent. Over the next four years, in partnership with a new superintendent, the School Board will have to make some tough decisions in regards to continuing to improve our educational deliverables in a pandemic and a post-pandemic world. I will bring my nursing, teaching, and community experience to these complex decisions, continually keeping in mind the welfare of ALL the students that LAPS serves. I will continue to respect, value, and encourage the involvement of Los Alamos’s parents, students, and community. I will seek the knowledge and expertise of our district’s teachers and staff whose services are essential to LAPS. I pledge my continued integrity and dedication to you. I humbly ask for your support to be elected as a member of the Los Alamos Public School Board from District 4.

Colgan ran for election in November 2019 and was narrowly defeated by Julia Baker. In September 2020, Colgan was appointed to the board following Baker’s resignation when her family relocated.