Lotierzo files for St. Mary's school board seat

There are three seats on the St. Mary’s County’s school board that are up for election in 2024.

Anthony Lotierzo filed Feb. 5 for a seat in District 2.

The 54-year-old Leonardtown resident has been married for 20 years to his wife Kathryn. The couple has two daughters, Lillian and Sophia, both of whom attend Leonardtown Middle school.

“I have always been involved in something with my daughters in the schools just to be part of what they do, and offer assistance to teachers and staff, and now they’re going to middle school so I’ve kept that call to serve,” said Lotierzo, who has served as Leonardtown Middle Schools PTA President for the last two years.

Lotierzo continued, “What made me want to run was I’m starting to see things that I felt were not in my children’s best interests and in the best interests of the students of St. Mary’s County. A lot of it is discipline-related. I really think teachers are spending a lot of their time disciplining kids [that are] recurring offenders, repeat offenders, and they’re not teaching. That’s what they love to do and that’s what they’re good at.”

Lotierzo is a branch chief at the U.S. Navy Yard. He previously worked for NAVAIR and is retired following a 20-year career with the U.S. Navy.

“One focus point is some discipline needs to be brought back in to the schools and I think how we get there, one aspect, is bringing the community back into schools,” he said. “I don’t mean into the classrooms. I’m not trying to interfere with teachers, but I feel like ... parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, guardians … need to step up their engagement with the schools. It doesn’t mean you put your kids on a bus and forget about them for eight hours and they’re someone else’s problem. They need to be involved, they need to be engaged.”

Lotierzo is running against incumbent Cathy Allen and Elena Brewer. The top two vote-getters in the May 14 nonpartisan primary election will face off in November’s general election.