By Richard Bammer

Amy Sharp of Vacaville raises a family, volunteers in area schools, offers art instruction to children, some of them disabled, raises money for nonprofit groups, helps to organize community events, and keeps an eye trained on at least two local government agencies.

But “personal reasons,” said the self-described children’s advocate, prompted her to seek the Trustee Area No. 2 seat on the Solano County Board of Education.

Election Day is Nov. 8, and Sharp, 41 and the mother of two, will face off against Betty Silva, a school library media teacher and educator, for the county education post that represents north Vacaville and west Fairfield.

“The reason I’m running is, that my two nieces were in the county special ed program,” the longtime Vacaville resident recalled Friday, adding that her nieces died from Batten disease, a rare, fatal, inherited disorder of the nervous system that usually begins in childhood and its first symptom is usually progressive vision loss. “Special education is quite a maze to navigate. I’ve worked with families to make sure their children get the classes and services they need.”