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Election Day · Nov. 3
15
days to save Michigan.

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Level up Rochester schools.

Three Rochester parents with the classroom, courtroom and budget experience to put students first and put the board back to work for families. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, flip your ballot over and vote:

Commit to VoteSee Your Ballot

Two races. Three names. Don’t skip them.

Straight-ticket voting covers the front of your ballot only. The Rochester School Board races are on the back, and they are often decided by a few hundred votes.

Full term: vote for only our two. You may choose up to two. Marking a third name gives a vote to someone else and can cost Lawrence or Lisa Halushka the seat.

Sample for illustration. Names follow the county clerk’s candidate list; the order on your ballot may differ.1

Rochester Community School District
Board Member

6-year term · Vote for not more than 2

  • Michael Frink
  • Lawrence D. HalushkaOCRP endorsed
  • Lisa HalushkaOCRP endorsed
  • Sherry Wynn PerdueMEA-backed
  • Jamie RawcliffeMEA-backed

Rochester Community School District
Board Member

Term ending 12/31/2028 · Vote for 1

  • Laurin Gracey-ParkerMEA-backed
  • Deanna HarlessOCRP endorsed

Meet our candidates

A teacher-turned-financial planner, a coach and business owner, and an attorney who has run a school district. Parents first, all three.

Deanna Harless

Partial term · ends Dec. 31, 2028
Former teacher · Certified Financial Planner

A Rochester parent with two children in RCS, a former teacher, and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® with more than twenty years of helping families plan carefully and spend wisely. She volunteers with the PTA and local nonprofits and coaches basketball.2

“I know what a classroom needs and what a budget can do.”
  • Student-centered, data-driven decisions
  • Transparency at every level
  • The district’s long-term financial health

Lawrence “Coach” Halushka

Full term · 6 years
Business owner · 35 years coaching kids

A Rochester parent who raised five children in RCS, all of them graduates. He runs a business and has spent 35 years coaching and mentoring young people, building a career around helping people communicate and work together.2

“Getting back to the basics: reading, writing, and math, taught well and measured honestly.”
  • Back to basics in the classroom
  • Integrity, accountability and transparency
  • Politics out of the boardroom

Lisa Halushka

Full term · 6 years
Attorney · former superintendent

A wife, mother and attorney with 36 years in child welfare cases. She has been a law professor and dean, president of a public school board, and superintendent of a public school.2

“Trust is built through openness.”
  • Economic stewardship: dollars that reach students
  • Open records and open meetings
  • Ethical, trained, accountable trustees

Refuse to settle.

Rochester has great students and great teachers. Harless and the Halushkas are running on one shared plan to keep what works, fix what doesn’t, and make the board answer to families.2

1 in 4school-age kids who live in RCS boundaries don’t attend RCS schools
$40M+in revenue the district can lose each year when those families leave
1159 → 1109average district SAT, 2017-18 to 2025-26, still about 50 points below its high

Figures as reported by the Level Up campaign.2

Transparency

The community should know what the board is doing.

  • Curriculum materials parents can actually review, without barriers
  • Committee members, meetings and work posted publicly
  • Public comment before major votes, not after
  • Routine public records without high fees, long delays or a FOIA request

Academic excellence

Excellence is a mission, not a destination.

  • Strong foundations in reading and math
  • Early help for students who are struggling
  • More room for advanced learners, starting in the younger grades
  • Measurable goals families can track, and honest reviews of what works

Financial responsibility

Your money, spent wisely.

  • Every budget decision starts with: how does this help students and classrooms?
  • Teachers and classrooms first; administration, consultants and legal costs reviewed
  • Explain how new money would be spent before asking taxpayers for it
  • Clear, published spending information

Accountability

You make decisions. Own them.

  • Policies, contracts and financial controls that are actually enforced
  • Contractors measured against what the district pays for
  • Board goals tracked and reported in public
  • Problems fixed, not explained away

The union’s radical slate

Jamie Rawcliffe, Laurin Gracey-Parker and Sherry Wynn Perdue are running together as “Rochester Forward,” and they call themselves “the only REA teacher-endorsed candidates.”4 Here’s who’s behind them, and how they got here.

Harless & the HalushkasRawcliffe, Gracey-Parker & Wynn Perdue
Backed byRochester parents and taxpayers, and the Oakland County Republican PartyThe MEA, the statewide teachers union, and its local, the Rochester Education Association3,4
Classroom focusReading, writing and math, “taught well and measured honestly”2“Building on the strong foundation” of a district that one in four local families is skipping2,4
Your voicePublic comment before major votes; curriculum open to parents2Wynn Perdue was appointed by the board, not elected by voters5
Your taxesShow how new money would be spent before asking for it2Wynn Perdue’s appointers censured a trustee for questioning a countywide school tax hike that voters went on to reject6,7

Hand-picked by the MEA

The Michigan Education Association recommended all three for Rochester School Board.3 It’s the same union backing Jocelyn Benson for governor, Garlin Gilchrist for secretary of state and Eli Savit for attorney general.3

And it’s the same group backing politicians who voted against banning gender-transition procedures for minors.8

Wynn Perdue: appointed, never elected

Voters didn’t put Wynn Perdue on the board. On March 23, 2026, the board appointed her on a 4–2 vote to fill a vacancy until this election; trustees Carol Beth Litkouhi and Shelley Lauzon voted no.5

Three of the four trustees who appointed her had voted in November to censure Litkouhi and strip her committee seats after she wrote a newspaper op-ed questioning a new school tax. Litkouhi has sued, arguing the board’s gag rule violates the First Amendment.6

More money, fewer answers

The tax Litkouhi questioned was a countywide school “enhancement” millage: $1.50 per $1,000 of taxable value for six years, raising about $125 million in its first year. Oakland County voters rejected it on Aug. 4.7

Litkouhi’s point: “Before asking residents for more money, the district needs to show it’s effectively managing what it already has.”7 Harless and the Halushkas agree.

“Radical” is our characterization. Claims in OCRP’s Rochester ads are documented at OaklandGOP.org/ad-verification.

Commit to vote for Rochester’s kids

Voters who make a plan are far more likely to follow through. Check off each step, then take the pledge below.

  1. Flip your ballot over

    School board is on the back of your ballot, in the nonpartisan section. Straight-ticket voting does not cover it. Vote Harless, Lawrence Halushka and Lisa Halushka, then see the rest of your endorsed slate.

    See my full slate ↗

  2. Find your polling location

    Confirm your registration and find your polling place, early voting site or absentee ballot status with the Michigan Secretary of State.

    Go to Michigan.gov/Vote ↗

  3. Plan when you’ll vote

    Pick your time on Election Day, the day you’ll vote early, or when you’ll return your absentee ballot. Then lock it in below.

    Make my plan ↓

Dates to know

  • Sat, Oct. 24Early in-person voting begins (runs through Sun., Nov. 1)
  • Fri, Oct. 30Last day for your clerk to receive an absentee request online or by mail
  • Mon, Nov. 2Last day to request an absentee ballot in person at your clerk’s office
  • Tue, Nov. 3Election Day. Polls open 7 a.m.–8 p.m. Absentee ballots must be in your clerk’s hands by 8 p.m.

Early voting sites and hours, and absentee drop box locations, are set by your city or township clerk. Check yours at Michigan.gov/Vote ↗.

Take the pledge

Lock in your plan and let Deanna, Coach and Lisa know Rochester can count on you.

  • Takes about 30 seconds
  • No phone number needed; email is optional
  • Get a printable plan and a calendar reminder
My pledge *
We’ll email you a copy of your plan and where to find voting info.
How will you vote? *

Help reach every Rochester voter.

Our school board candidates don’t have national groups behind them. They have us. Your contribution pays for the texts, mail and signs that tell Rochester voters who is on the back of their ballot.

$25 $50 $100 Other amount ↗

Sources

  1. 1. Oakland County Clerk, “Official Candidate List, November 3, 2026 General Election,” updated 10/7/26.
  2. 2. Level Up RCS (Harless, L. Halushka & L. Halushka campaign site), leveluprcs.com, incl. Transparency, Academic Excellence, Financial Responsibility and Accountability pages, 10/6/26; deanna4rcskids.com; coachhalushkaforrcs.org; LisaHalushkaforRCS.com; accessed 10/16/26.
  3. 3. Michigan Education Association, “MEA announces full list of candidate recommendations for Election 2026,” 9/23/26, updated 10/9/26.
  4. 4. Rochester Forward (Rawcliffe, Gracey-Parker & Wynn Perdue campaign site), rcsforward.com, accessed 10/16/26.
  5. 5. Mary Beth Almond, “Sherry Wynn Perdue joins RCS Board of Education,” C & G Newspapers, 4/7/26; Rochester Media, “Sherry Wynn Perdue Appointed to the Rochester Community Schools Board of Education,” 3/2026.
  6. 6. C & G Newspapers, “RCS Board of Ed member sues district over alleged violation of free speech,” 2/2026; Mackinac Center, “Rochester Schools Trustee Sues to Protect Her Right to Speak with Constituents,” 2/3/26.
  7. 7. Michigan Capitol Confidential, “Oakland County voters will decide Aug. 4 whether to hike taxes,” 2026; WDIV ClickOnDetroit, “Teachers disappointed as Oakland County millage fails,” 8/5/26.
  8. 8. OCRP ad verification grids for Rochester School Board ads, oaklandgop.org/ad-verification (10/14/26 and 10/15/26).