OXFORD – Residents of the Oxford Academy School District will take to the polls on Tuesday to fill the two board of education seats being vacated by board members Mark Roach and John Godfrey. They will, however, only find one name on the ballot, that of Peter Heggie, Jr.
Heggie was the only one of several potential school board candidates that picked up a petition in April to actually turn one in; therefore his will be the only name to appear on the ballot.
Heggie, a 1986 graduate of Oxford High School, holds a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from Elmira College and has been a New York State Corrections Officer since 1993. He has been a member of Army National Guard for 20 years. He was called to active duty in 2004 and spent a year serving in Iraq.
He and his wife, Cathie, have four children, all of whom are currently students in the Oxford School District. He and Cathie are heavily involved in their children’s athletic and extracurricular activities.
“I felt they needed a change; a fresh face,” Heggie said of his decision to run for the school board. He knows serving the district will be a tough job, but he believes he can make a difference. If elected, he said he plans to work more closely with the teachers union and community members.
“People have to step up and fight for what they believe is right,” he explained. “We should all be trying to improve the school district.”
The fact that Heggie’s name will be the only one printed on the ballot doesn’t guarantee the Oxford alum a spot on the board. He will still face competition from write-in candidates. If two write-in candidates receive more votes than he does, he won’t be elected.
One of the write-in candidates he will face is his own sister, Dawn Golden, a 1985 graduate of Oxford who has three children enrolled in the district.
Golden said she had picked up a petition to run for the board, but had been concerned that she wouldn’t have enough time to devote to the position if she was elected. When she learned no one else had stepped forward, she gave up some of the other activities she was involved with and began her write-in campaign.
“I wanted to give this my undivided attention,” Golden explained. “We need to get back in touch with what is best for the kids.”
