WHMI has been profiling candidates all week for the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education. Today’s profile is on Laura Mitchell, an attorney who is making her first run at a position on the school board. Mitchell lives with her husband, Michael and daughter, Avery, a 4th grade student at Hornung Elementary School.

Mitchell graduated from Howell High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Michigan State University, after which she obtained a Juris Doctorate degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.She has been a Brighton Area School District resident for 12 years. Mitchell has her own law practice in Howell and currently serves as president of the Livingston County Bar Association. She is also co-president of the Hornung School PTA.

Mitchell says that if she is elected she will work to maintain the high quality of the Brighton Schools and strive to keep the students, staff and administration safe, and uphold and update security measures in the district.

Mitchell says she’s proud to have a daughter in the Brighton school system and has been an officer in the school PTO for several years and thus she “ thought it was time to step up.” Mitchell says while she is running partly because she has a daughter in the Brighton Schools, she also wants to “make sure there are programs out there — whether college, JROTC or vocational programs — to help (students) transition into the world.” Mitchell says she thinks the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) program in Brighton schools is great and looks forward to enhancing the program if the pending bond issue is brought before the voters next year and passes.

While Mitchell says Brighton has excellent schools, she says there is always room for improvement. She “supports and would enforce the Brighton Action Model for Success and would uphold the Board of Education goals as outlined in that model.” Mitchell would also work “to enrich programs to improve students’ academic and personal achievement and focus on training and professional development for administrators, teachers and even board members.”

Mitchell says she is sorry to see the teaching of cursive writing and reading go by the wayside in school districts and would advocate for returning it to the school curriculum. “Many historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, were written in cursive,” she says.

Mitchell is one of three candidates who have received a “recommendation” from the Brighton Education Association, which negotiates contracts on behalf of Brighton teachers. (TT)

BIO: LAURA MITCHELL
AGE: 48
OCCUPATION: Attorney
FAMILY: Married, one daughter, age 9; 4th grader at Hornung Elementary
RESIDENCE: Genoa Township
YEARS LIVED IN DISTRICT: 17 Years
REASON FOR RUNNING: Want to get involved for my daughter and all students attending BAS, and believe my commitment to area as life-long resident and status as a local attorney would serve me well on the school board.
GOALS: Maintain the high-quality education BAS offers, safe schools for students and staff and continue financial stability
RECOMMENDED BY BEA: Yes
POSITION ON 2019 BOND ISSUE: In Favor