The San Juan Island School District #149 has two candidates running for director position #4 in the Nov. 3 election. Read their bios below.

John Kurtz

I moved to San Juan Island with my wife Cassie Marble Kurtz in 1996.

My oldest son Alec has graduated from Friday Harbor High School, and my younger son AJ is going to be a freshman.

My wife and I have parented from kindergarten to graduation nearly twice in San Juan Island School District.

I take great pride in our community and in the highly ranked school that we have here on San Juan Island. The overnight field trips that are part of the sixth, seventh and eighth grade experience have been a joy to chaperone. With my work on other charitable boards, I have helped the school in fund raising for budget short falls.

As chairman of the Friday Harbor Fields Board I have worked with the Town Council, Island Rec, the school board and neighbors. Getting all those groups to work together has been quite a task. Now that the fields are nearing completion I want to continue to help.

Running for school board position #4 seems like the next step for me.

I believe I can help the school board focus on fund raising and policy making, which will enable the school administration and teachers to continue to provide and improve their curriculum.

Peter Lane

I have worked in the arts my entire career. I graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in sculpture. After college I began art handling, which is installation and transportation of fine art.

After a few years I became the operations manager of a fine art services company. I was also on the board of directors.

I managed a staff around 40 people. I had direct client contact, meaning, private art collectors, museums around the world, and negotiated human resource issues. As such, I have experience with profit and loss statements as well as corporate reporting. I now  own an art consultation and logistics business.

I feel that music and art are extremely important for children. Music and art are emotional releases which other subjects don’t facilitate.

Music and art provide a creative outlet, which all children require. Creative outlets promote creative thinking. Creative thinking provides skills for problem solving. Problem solvers are leaders.

I would like to promote a community of leaders. When we lived in Seattle I always hosted the block party. I believe in community.

I volunteer at the San Juan Island Museum of Art assisting with installations and serve on the Exhibition Committee. I would like to be involved in this communities’ children’s education. I have a daughter in second grade and a son in kindergarten.

I believe I can be an asset in policy, procedures and budget management. Which is what I feel are the main roles of the school board.