Mary Fioravanti

Office you are seeking: Boundary County School Board Zone 2

Education: Associate of Arts degree from North Idaho College

Occupation: Marketing

What inspired you to run for elected office? I was inspired to run for office because I could not let students be socially engineered to take offense to every unmerited thing while I have the opportunity to bring back critical thinking to education.

Besides political experience, what unique qualifications would you bring to office? My qualifications for office include (1) participating in the most realistic mock legislature in the nation called Patriot Academy, (2) being employed as a professional youth developer, working with up to 24 kids at any one time, (3) running numerous meetings with Parliamentary Procedure, (4) home schooling myself with Ron Paul Curriculum, and of course (5) earning an associate degree from North Idaho College.

What are the three most important issues/problems facing the city? The three most important issues facing students in terms of education are mask mandates, Common Core, and Critical Race Theory. These need to be eradicated from school.

What are your solutions? My solution is to abolish these, and instead, introduce subjects that would promote self-sufficiency and critical thinking. Subjects such as Debate, Finance, Constitution classes, and bringing back Home Economics.

What is the first thing you would do if you are elected (or reelected)? Naturally, the first thing I would do after being elected is advocate to the other board members for getting rid of masks in school.

What issue is not being given enough exposure in your race? What is it and why is it important? A major issue without exposure is that 2 out of 3 Americans cannot pass a US Citizenship Test (Source: The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation). Why? US History has practically been eliminated from public schools. In my government class during my senior year, a US Citizenship test was given as a pop quiz at the start of the semester… the results? A couple students and I passed. Kicker? Only a 60% is needed to pass.

If you could only get one thing across to voters during your campaign, what would it be? The one thing I would get across is how desperately students need to be taught the Constitution. An educated society is a free society. Are we free? Very few know their rights as a US citizen, and it’s led to the tyranny we are under today. This is why I would like students to have a Constitution class before passing middle school.

Do you think the existing government is going in the right direction? Why or why not? The existing government is headed towards communism and that’s obviously not the right direction. Our government is increasingly becoming more authoritarian by stripping more and more of our freedoms away. I will do everything in my power to restore our constitutional rights.

What question should every candidate be asked? What is your answer? Every candidate should be asked if they would take money from the government or from corporations as long as they fulfill on those conditions for the funds, even if it’s not in the best interest of their constituents. I will not be influenced by bribe money.

What would you do to help employers attract and keep workers when the cost of living here is so high? Since I am running for school board, I’ll listen to taxpayers when they say they don’t want another school levy. Abstaining from those additional taxes will in turn help workers stay here, businesses flourish, the economy grow, more jobs are produced, and all the young people won’t have to move away. Therefore, opportunity for specialized work experience is created in the long term and students’ education improves indirectly.

What would you do to address the lack of workforce housing in the area? This question does not pertain to school board.

What will you do to involve residents in the decision making process? I have already begun talking to parents with kids in the public schools and I’ve asked them what they would like their children to be taught. The response so far is they would like to see education tailored to the interests/skills of the individual student. This is a wonderful idea. Of course, residents may go to school board meetings and vocalize their ideas there.