Candidates offer views in virtual format

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Public comment, post-COVID academic recovery and whether or not to renew the 2020 referendum were just a few of the topics discussed by Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. school board candidates at a virtual town hall Tuesday night.

The Columbus Educators Association (CEA) and the Bartholomew County Retired Teachers Association (BARTA) co-hosted a virtual forum featuring Districts 1 and 2 candidates. The session was held over Zoom, and organizers said a recording will be uploaded to YouTube by the end of the week.

Members of the public were able to submit questions prior to the event, with a team of current and retired teachers reviewing the submissions and selecting the final questions for the event. Each candidate was given one minute to answer each question, as well as the opportunity to give opening and closing statements.

Anakarina Hurtado, Jason Major and David Vincent are running for District 1. Incumbent board member Rich Stenner, who represents District 2, faces challenger Roy West.

The first question posed to candidates was what changes, if any, they would want to make to the public comment section of BCSC school board meetings.

West said that he would like it if the board could “gavel out” of the meeting — similar to what is done for public hearings on financial matters — in order to speak back and forth with community members. Additionally, the board’s current three-minute limit for comments should only be imposed if there is a large number of people who want to speak, and individuals should be able to offer comments on items that are not on the agenda.

Stenner, an incumbent, said that board meetings are basically business meetings, so it would be better to have additional, separate forums for conversation, such as informal meetings that are open to any topic or a time for back and forth before formal board meetings.

Hurtado expressed a similar view.

“I think there should be other channels of communications for the public to engage with board members and address their concerns in a timely manner,” she said. “I love using technology, and I believe there are many ways in which we can use social media and other platforms to open up communication between the public and school board members — things such as live forums, Q&A’s, online chats, or even like he (Stenner) mentioned, meetings other than the business board meetings.”

One-on-one communication was the main solution offered by Vincent, who said he would make himself available before and after meetings to receive comments.

Major’s idea would be to create a parent committee that can discuss concerns and solutions with the board. He added that more transparency is needed, in terms of explaining the data that drives decisions.

Another question, as read by Central Middle School teacher and CEA moderator Alan Birkemeier, stated that according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “existing inequalities in education were exacerbated during the pandemic.” This has resulted in larger achievement gaps between different student groups as categorized by race, gender and sexuality, and whether or not English is their first language.

“What do you think BCSC should do to minimize the performance gap that grew between the different populations of students during the pandemic?” Birkemeier asked.

West replied that teachers need to “get back to basics.”

“I don’t know that all of the different groups that you mentioned — if there’s differences there or not,” he said. “But I do know that if you’re instructing in the classroom, I think, for a teacher, it’d be hard to segment it that way. I think they’re going to have to teach all the students there in a systematic way and just kind of get back to basics and not necessarily worry about all the other stuff outside of that.”

His opponent, Stenner, had a different response.

“Student learning, I think, means meeting each student as an individual where they are and then trying to move forward with them, trying to further their education and help them reach their potential by removing barriers,” he said.

This should continue to be the strategy in the wake of the pandemic, said Stenner. He added that if there are overall strategies for minimizing achievement gaps, BCSC should make sure that it looks for those that are “evidence-based.”

In responding to the question, Major said his research leads him to believe that math and reading proficiency levels are “around 50%” across all of BCSC, so all kids need to improve. He added that one of the challenges during the pandemic was access to wi-fi, which still needs to be addressed, and one-on-one engagement is also important.

Vincent said that that school officials need to examine the pre-COVID data, and teachers, parents and students all have a role to play in improvement. He also said that having smaller classes and more teachers — as well as more teaching assistants and counselors — would help with academic recovery.

Hurtado emphasized the importance of providing more mental health resources for both students and teachers, as well as more support for teachers so that they can help each child “get back on track” academically.

Another topic of note was BCSC’s 2020 referendum, which asked voters if they would be willing for the school corporation to impose an additional property tax rate not exceeding $0.1560 on each $100 of assessed value “for the purpose of increasing compensation for teachers and support staff and maintaining student safety.” The referendum passed with 61.33% of the votes and lasts for a total of eight years.

“Eventually, it (the referendum) will need to be reauthorized by both the school board and the community,” said BARTA moderator Janice Montgomery. “And if you are on the school board at that time, you would be voting on whether or not to put the referendum before the community once more for its renewal. So the question is, would you support a referendum for educator pay and the needs of the district?”

“You have to pay the teachers,” replied Major. “The money has to come from somewhere. If it can’t be found in the current budget by making cuts, then you have to seek additional funding. So the referendum is the only way.”

He added that there are also facility improvement needs at BCSC school buildings.

Vincent expressed a similar view, saying that he would support the referendum if it was needed but would also look for funds in the school corporation’s existing budget.

“I think we’ve all heard about the teacher shortage that’s coming,” he said. “And for us to get the best teachers and to retain the best teachers, we may need to look for more money from a referendum.”

Hurtado expressed support for a referendum and likewise said that it’s important to invest in teachers.

Stenner responded that he would support putting the question before voters so that they can make the decision.

West agreed that it’s important to give voters a choice and noted the importance of good pay for teachers. However, he added that before putting the question on the ballot, he would look at other options such as budgeting, fundraising, and grant opportunities.

Candidates also responded to questions on subjects such as balancing different viewpoints from parents and community members, resolving differences of opinion with the superintendent, advocating on behalf of public education to local lawmakers, and the role of the school board in providing good education.

The CEA and BARTA will co-host another virtual candidate forum at 7 p.m. tonight for candidates seeking the Districts 4 and 6 seats. Dale Nowlin and Eric Grow are running for District 4. Incumbent Kathy Dayhoff-Dwyer, who represents District 6, is running for re-election, with newcomers Mark Douglas, Cheryl K. Miles-Vieth and Logan K. Schulz also seeking the seat.