CUMBERLAND -- In School Committee races, five candidates are vying for the two at-large seats and two are seeking the District 4 seat.

Incumbent Linda G. Teel is running a joint campaign with April R. Edwards and Lisa A. Beaulieu, all founding members of the Cumberland Excellence in Education Team, a three-year-old group of parents that initially opposed the high school renovation project but became one of its biggest advocates as voters considered the $30-million bond for Phase III of the project in 2004.

Incumbents Robert C. Thibodeau and Rosa Q. Crowley have made fiscal responsibility the cornerstones of their campaigns, newcomer Karen Macbeth is advocating school safety and special-education needs, and newcomer James N. McLaughlin hopes to find alternative ways of financing the school system.

The seven candidates are vying for three open seats: the District 4 seat and two at-large seats.

Barring successful write-in bids, Frederic C. Crowley, of 15 Liberty St., will take School Committee chair Paul Neves' District 1 seat; Wayne D. Wagner, of 37 North Garden St., will take Arthur M. DaCosta's District 2 seat; incumbent David J. Costa, of 23 Ohio Ave., will retain his District 3 seat; and incumbent Earl T. Wood, of 48 Farm Drive, will retain his District 5 seat.

Neves and DaCosta are not seeking reelection.

At large Lisa A. Beaulieu , of 196 Hines Rd., is running for an at-large seat on the committee.

A former consultant for local high tech firms, Beaulieu said she would bring "technology and interpersonal skills" to the committee if elected.

She would advocate for more professional development for teachers and a greater integration of technology into classrooms, two deficiencies noted in recent district-wide assessments by the state.

Beaulieu proposes enhancing math and science learning in the elementary and middle schools by expanding enrichment programs such as Math Club, First Lego League, and Robotics Park, which have been initiated in some district schools.

Quoting Governor Carcieri's remarks regarding math and science education, Beaulieu said: "The success of our students in these subjects is critical to their future as they compete for jobs in a high-tech world."

Beaulieu, who served as president of the Community School Parent Teacher Organization last year, has three children by her husband, Rick, who ran unsuccessfully for School Committee in 2004.

She was the chairwoman of the campaign to approve the $30-million CHS2010 Phase III bond.

A graduate of Tolman High School in Pawtucket, Beaulieu holds a bachelor's degree from Northeastern University. This is her first bid for public office.

Rosa Q. Crowley , of 15 Liberty St, is seeking reelection as an at-large member of the committee.

A Woonsocket High School Spanish teacher, Crowley would advocate for increased security in district schools and continue to lobby for increased federal and state aid.

She suggests more surveillance cameras at the school entrances and an updated emergency response system and training for school officials in the wake of recent school violence nationwide.

The most violent tragedies, she said, are "happening in suburban schools, not urban ones."

While she made a pledge last election to lower district expenses for taxpayers, Crowley defended her decision to approve the new teachers' contract, which would see an annual increase of between 6 and 7 percent in the teacher salary budget, according to the town Finance Department.

"It was a lot of money but it is the only way to keep teachers," she said.

Crowley is married to Frederic C. Crowley, who is running unopposed for the District 1 seat, and both deny allegations made by other candidates that their decisions to run for committee seats are a "conflict of interest."

Crowley said she sought an advisory opinion from the state Ethics Commission in September, which confirmed her stance.

She added that her approach to education differs from her husband: "With our background, age, ethnicity, we are so different. He says yes and I say no."

Crowley, who is seeking her second term, was the highest vote getter in the 2004 School Committee election.

Crowley, who is originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, holds a bachelor of arts degree from Rhode Island College and is currently enrolled in the University of Rhode Island's master's program in Spanish literature.

James N. McLaughlin , of 15 Garden St., is running for an at-large committee seat.

A retired auto mechanic that served in the army during the Vietnam War, he said he would be a committee member that would "look at the overall picture" rather than focusing on one or two issues like other candidates.

"I'm not a rocket scientist. I work with my hands, and I believe I've got common sense," McLaughlin said.

He proposes forming a committee comprised of teachers, residents, and students that would research alternate sources of financing for the district, including corporate sponsorship and federal and state grants.

The committee might even take a trip to the State House each year to "let legislators know that we are getting shortchanged in the formula for state aid," McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said he would like to see the district use outside negotiators during contract talks and outside financial advisors during budget season.

"A budget of this magnitude should be apolitical and left to the professionals," he said.

He advocates for a "strong preventative maintenance system" for district schools, which could include committee meetings with principals and teachers to keep up to date on school needs.

"Each year the schools grow older and older," he said. "They've been deteriorating for 35 years, and every year they are shortchanged."

A town resident for more than 35 years, McLaughlin has raised three boys and one girl in Cumberland and has two grandchildren that are entering the school district. This is his first time running for public office.

Linda G. Teel , of 11 Intervale Drive, is seeking reelection as an at-large candidate, and ceding her District 4 seat.

A self-employed marketing consultant, she plans to continue to use her business experience to create a better dialogue between the community and schools.

She said the district needs to develop a communication strategy, much like a company would develop, to inform the community about educational trends, student learning, and district expenses.

"There seems to be a lack of discussion," she said. "I am interested in bringing the community back to the schools."

She proposes the creation of a Facilities Planning Committee to develop a plan that would make the high school facilities open to residents.

"Cumberland High School should become a source of pride for the community and a centerpiece of community activity," Teel said in a statement. "It seems wasteful to limit access to those facilities to the school calendar."

To forge a better partnership between parents and school administrators, Teel proposes more volunteer opportunities in schools.

Teel voted last month to approve the new teachers' contract, which she said "enables the district to hire and retain quality teachers while at the same time recognizing fiscal limitations placed by the town."

Teel, who has three children, was elected to the committee in 2004.

Robert C. Thibodeau , of 7 White Pine Drive, is seeking his seventh term as an at-large committee member and said that he would continue to push for fiscal accountability.

"I go back 12 years holding the line," Thibodeau said.

The lone dissenting vote in this year's teachers' contract negotiations, Thibodeau called the salary raises in the three-year pact "costly," but pointed to changes in teachers' benefit plans that will "save the district millions."

He pointed to the nearly 60-percent raise seventh-step teachers stand to receive with the new contract.

"It's obscene," Thibodeau said. With teacher salaries to increase 5.8 percent next year but a town cap on municipal expenses decreasing, the committee and the Town Council is heading for "a collision course," he said.

"We've spent too much money already, and if you don't tie expense to education, you are just throwing money at the problem and not fixing it," he said.

Thibodeau would also like to see the district encourage students to take more Advanced Placement exams and to schedule regular maintenance of district buildings to avert major repairs.

Thibodeau, 60, is a salesman at Chapel Heat and Spa in the village of Berkeley and has lived in town since 1972.

A former basketball coach at Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, he has raised four children in the district.

He has served on the committee from 1990 to 1998 and 2002 to now.

In District 4

April R. Edwards , of 20 Woodcrest Drive, is running for the District 4 seat currently held by Linda G. Teel.

She spent 18 years working in accounting departments of various companies in New England and holds a master's in administrative finance from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury.

Edwards said that her background in finance and accounting would be an asset to a district that is trying to tighten its purse strings.

She envisions a "more corporate model" of school administration, in which the district consolidates expenses with the town or other districts and uses technology to arrange financial data and to identify potential savings.

"A key indicator of a successful school district is its ability to effectively communicate information, strategies and progress to parents, student and teachers," she said in a statement.

She suggests a five-year budget that takes into account the educational initiatives the district outlined in its five-year strategic plan.

"We need to stop making short-term decisions," Edwards said. "The district has a plan for the future; we simply need to find a way to fund it."

A stay-at-home mother of three, Edwards, 47, is running for her first public office. She has been vice chair of the Community Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization for three years.

Karen Macbeth , of 75 Newell Drive, is running for the District 4 seat currently held by Linda G. Teel.

Macbeth, in her first bid for public office, has been an advocate of special-needs children since her twin daughters, middle schoolers who are disabled, entered the school district, and said that special education would be one of her main priorities as a committee member.

A graduate of Cumberland High School, the 39-year-old mother of three successfully fought to eliminate the district's "tracking" system, a three-tier system that grouped students according to their ability level.

"My concern was that the lowest groups don't get academics at the same level," she said.

A principal at Leo A. Savoie Elementary School in Woonsocket since 2004, Macbeth said she would push for increased security measures in schools and find ways to save the district money.

Macbeth said Cumberland should take a cue from city schools in implementing school identification cards, assuring that teachers and administrators are always in hallways and on bus duty, and that the district revise antiquated emergency drills.

"The safety of our children should be one of our highest priorities," Macbeth said in a statement. "The recent incidents across the country and closer to home in the town of Cumberland are evidence of this."

She suggests pooling resources with other districts, particularly in the financing of heating oil and legal counsel.

"These are little things, that, as an administrator, I see as waste," Macbeth said.