OTHELLO – Candidate Birdie Fought, co-owner of Classic Grill’n Cafe and lifelong resident of Othello, will be on the ballot for the position of Director of District 3 on the Othello School Board. She said she strives to be a voice for the students and staff in the community. 

“I am an alumni of the Othello High School,” said Fought. “I also had my children who were alumni, and my grandkids started off in elementary, so we are lifers here in Othello and love the community.” 

Fought has worked more than 30 years in the justice system with both juveniles and adults. While working in the system she learned how important education is in how people develop into adulthood. 

“If education becomes a barrier, it’s going to be a barrier for the rest of their lives,” she said. “In the justice system you know that education is absolutely a necessity for their future success.” 

Desert Oasis High School shutting down due to budget concerns, has also had a significant impact on the community, said Fought. She wants to mitigate such problems. She said another goal of hers is to put a focus on those students and make sure they have the credits they need to succeed. 

Overall, she said one of the challenges that every school district, including Othello's, has been facing is their finances.  

“It’s always dollars, our resources. Can we stretch our state and federal dollars to maximize everything that students need?” said Fought. “It just feels like it’s challenge after challenge when budget cuts are coming and things like that.” 

Birdie said there is always the question of where students will go when there is any loss of staff. Making a focus on what resources the district has and how to maximize the resources to be the most effective for learning is something that she said is a top priority. 

She said that since there has been opposition at the state and federal levels in terms of funding to education, it is important for the school district to have a voice that can speak out for them and communicate with officials on what the community needs. 

In being a voice for the community, she said that as a board member, she would be open to answering any questions the people of Othello have about what decisions are being made for the school district. She said she wants to make sure that whenever something is coming up, the public remains aware of it, especially when it affects taxes. 

“If somebody doesn’t understand anything that’s being said or spoken about and has questions afterwards, again, (I’ll) just try to be that voice for the community members and how we can make this more clear and make sure that they know about every school board meeting,” said Fought.  

She said she wants the community to know that for any issue, she will always be an email or phone call away and if there is ever a situation where she doesn’t know the answer to a question, she will make sure to find out the answer.