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Mother and prior School Board member face off Casey Stine, left, and Cynthia Wright Thursday Apr 27, 2017 at 6:26 PM Apr 27, 2017 at 7:51 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat A young mother with a passion for early education will face off against a former Medford School Board member for a seat on the board. Casey Stine, whose daughter will enter Wilson Elementary School next year, is vying for Position 3 on the board against Cynthia Wright, who served on the board from 2003 to 2007. Stine, 29, wife of Medford City Councilor Kevin Stine, says she'd draw from her experience serving on five committees with Wilson's Head Start program to create new ways to get parents involved. "They're their child's first teacher," Stine said.  Stine says that she'll have "a big vested interest" with her daughter entering Wilson next year. She said she knows she's "the new kid on the block," but says she plans to be more involved, regularly attending PTO meetings to hear from parents and families. Wright said that with the number of incumbents not returning, she believes there's a place on the School Board for someone with experience. Four board seats are on the ballot, but only one incumbent is seeking re-election. She said she's "not timid" and won't be afraid to ask important questions. "It's a big learning curve," Wright said. Wright said her focus would be to improve the district's graduation rate by helping students from varied economic backgrounds meet standards. Teacher connections with students are key, she said, and she'd like to see effective teachers mentor others.  She also wants to see more instruction time. "In our state, we need to increase the number of school days," Wright said. With the Medford School District facing a budget shortfall for the current fiscal year, there's talk of proposing a local levy in the fall 2018 election. Stine said she'd like to get more community input on the levy and make sure there's no better solutions first. "I'd really like to look at all the options before we ask taxpayers for more money," Stine said. "Most people are understanding of money for our schools, but I think it really comes down to exhausting our other options." Wright said that "more funding would be helpful," but she understands that many people already have a heavy tax burden. She said support for a levy might increase if people saw where Oregon stood in education compared to other states. "We're like 43rd in the country for student achievement," Wright said. "It may require us to put forth a little more money." — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.