FINAL COUNTDOWN
Shen Board of Ed candidates make last effort to reach out to voters at forum
“Kids learn about winning and losing. It prepares them for life. It’s not going away. Experiences like this are helpful for building well rounded students.”
Alex Blais, candidate running for seat on Board of Education
Three of the four candidates running for two open seats on the Shenendehowa School District’s Board of Education Thursday reached out to voters one last time at a candidates’ forum in Shen High School East.
The event sponsored by the Shen Teachers Association drew an audience of 35, more than half of whom were connected in some way to the school district.
Taking the stage at the forum were Alex Blais, Naomi Hoffman and incumbent board member Bill Casey. Missing from the event was Jennyfer Gleason who had another commitment.
Sandwiched between their opening and closing statements, the candidates fielded four questions posed to them by STA president Megan DeLaRosa. No questions were taken from the sparse audience.
The differences between the candidates’ answers were minimal, and in one case all three agreed that the challenge of meeting future capacity needs might take a majority of their three year term should they be elected.
In one case of individuality, Casey wasted little time in referencing the issue of the sale of the 34 acres of district-owned surplus land.
When asked to name one school or district-wide event each had attended in the past year and the reason for the choice, Casey zeroed in on the land sale.
“I call it an event along with the vote and I mention it here because it engaged our public like it hasn’t been engaged in decades,” he said. “I learned something from listening to the public statements [at the board meetings]. I liked getting the petitions signed and speaking with the voters. This process has been an epiphany for me. It’s important to say students are first but also important is listening to residents. When they lose their trust in us we lose more because we lose our sense of the community.”
Hoffman answered the same question by referencing the district’s Health and Science Discovery night. She described it as an excellent example of collaboration between the PTA, the district, and the community.
In her turn, Blais referenced attending an elementary school program that encourages reading among students.
“There’s competition,” she said. “Kids learn about winning and losing. It prepares them for life. It’s not going away. Experiences like this are helpful for building well rounded students.”
When the candidates were asked to name a district-wide policy they view as needing a change and why, Blais made note of her campaign platform’s call for making several changes to the board of education policies, especially those relating to engagement with the public.
“I think there’s room for a respectful response,” she said. “I’d also like to see practices in line with policies.”
When Casey fielded the question he focused his answer on finding better ways to communicate and engage the public. He suggested public hearings on major issues, open mic nights, and moving some comments to the district’s website Grapevine. He also suggested multiple voting locations.
“When the number of voters who vote (on budgets) keeps going down, it should scare us,” he said.
Hoffman referenced her on-going district-wide volunteering in her turn and asked that a single application form rather than one for each program or class be created to make it easier for all volunteers to work with the students.
DeLaRosa’s third question asked all thee what challenge they thought would take the bulk of their three-year term if elected. All three candidates said it was school capacity.
Hoffman said the district must focus on the six elementary schools that share three buildings and work to better equalize the enrollment. She also made note of what she feels is overcrowding in the middle and high schools.
“Overcrowding there puts pressure on students and teachers,” she said. “What’s not covered in the classrooms comes home. We need to make sure students and teachers have the resources they need to provide a quality education.”
Blais focused her answer on the issue of present and future capacity issues. She recommended the district revisit the Futures Committee Report from 2011-2012, secure land and build a school in Halfmoon, all in conjunction with serious discussions of full day kindergarten.
Casey agreed with Blais’ statement on the need for an updated Futures Committee Report and acquiring land in Halfmoon but said the big concern for him was the potential loss of federal funding.
“I feel it’s going to be reduced and we know what happened in 2008 and 2009 when the economy soured. We’re just now recovering fully,” he said. “We need a threeyear program looking at where we are and where we’re going.”
In closing Hoffman said she was open to new ideas, cited her audit and finance experience as being helpful to a board member and said she would work collaboratively with students, parents and teachers.
Blais made a pitch for getting a new voice and new vision on the board saying she represents a new generation that is ready to move to the front and one that should be represented on any board that truly wants to engage with young parents.
Casey did not hide the fact that he has many years of experience on the board saying “what you see is what you get from me”. He noted that his record from his years on the board is there for all to see adding that he is an independent, experienced, creative and collaborative person.
Voting for the candidates will take place along with voting on the 2017-2018 budget, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. May 16 at Gowana Middle School gym.