Candidate Survey Voter Guide

Freedom Watch

Citizens Project

(Please note: Grammar, punctuation and spelling errors been left in place.)

QUESTIONS

  1. Why are you running for school board, and what are the most pressing issues the school board should address in the coming year?
  2. Do you support instruction and expansion of access to comprehensive health education programs, including age-appropriate, science-based sex education created by passage of House Bill 07-1292? Why or why not?
  3. Explain your philosophy regarding prayer in the classroom, school auditorium, and school facilities.
  4. How do you plan to ensure your traditionally marginalized students, such as students of color, disabled students, English-language-learning students, and lesbian, gay bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) students receive equal access to education? Please include your thoughts on preventing and disciplining bullying and harassment, ensuring that unique learning abilities and needs are accommodated, and allowing students to participate in support systems such as student clubs and groups.
  5. Do you think counselors and school personnel in your district should be mandated to provide accurate, non-judgmental information and referrals for youth struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity? How will you ensure the safety of transgender students, and how will you ensure all students receive appropriate education about diversity?
  6. What place, if any, does the teaching of alternatives to evolution such as intelligent design have in your district?
  7. Explain your philosophy regarding charter schools and voucher programs. How would you decide whether to approve or reject an application for a new charter in your district?
  8. Do you support random drug testing of high schools students involved in extracurricular activities? Why or why not?
  9. The "No Child Left Behind Act" requires school districts to provide the names, addresses and phone numbers of high school students to the United States military for recruiting purposes. The law also requires that schools give both students and parents the opportunity to deny the release of that information. What procedures will you put in place to ensure adherence to "No Child Left Behind" mandates, while also upholding the individual privacy rights of students and parents with respect to military recruitment?

TAMMY HAROLD

  1. I believe all kids deserve the best education our schools can provide and we should prepare them for whatever future they will face. I will ensure we have the best resources, facilities and staff. Our issues are easing overcrowding, increasing test scores, strategic planning, communication, and increasing community involvement.
  2. While I support local control over state mandates, I do support comprehensive health education programs and feel HB1292 is a step towards reducing sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy, and abortion among teenagers; while maintaining parental control, abstinence instruction and allowing for an opt out clause for any school.
  3. One of the most confusing school issues and while I do not support formalized prayer in school, I do support the right to individual prayer and to organize prayer groups or activities as long as they are not district sanctioned. Faith is a family matter, not a school issue.
  4. It is my belief that all students should be treated equally and no individual or group should have special preferences or privileges. I will ensure that all students have equal access to educational opportunities by establishing policies that promote equality. Administrators and teachers should be trained in recognizing the first signs of bullying and strict guidelines need to be implemented to assure the well being of all students. Our district recently implemented a Diversity Policy to address this issue and I will work to improve, expand and enforce that policy so that all students can feel safe in our District. As was stated in my answer to question 3, I support the students’ rights to organize groups and clubs, to include faith or support based.
  5. I feel that our school personnel should be consistent and non-judgmental in the guidance and support they are providing to all students, regardless of the issue the student has; and that we should provide diversity education to all students to ensure the safety of all students.
  6. The teaching of Intelligent Design is controversial and I would never support making it an integral part of the district science curriculum, but if the staff were to propose it as a comparative module of the overall curriculum and justified the need, I would support their recommendation as experts.
  7. Parents should have choices in schools – public, charter and private. New charters would have to have curriculum substantially different from the four already in Falcon before I would support the approval of their application. Until research proves otherwise, I do not currently support vouchers.
  8. Random drug testing has not been effective in decreasing drug usage in high schools and testing only a select group is discrimination. Parental involvement is a greater deterrent to drug-free kids so I would advocate for any and all means to increase parental involvement with their children.
  9. I strongly believe in compliance with all laws and would never advocate non-compliance with NCLB; but I firmly support parental rights and would implement an email notification using the district system to inform all families and students of their rights and their option to deny release of the information.

JON ROWLEY
  1. I am running for the school board in hopes of bringing an objective viewpoint to the decision making body for District 49. I believe the most pressing issue is to build trust and confidence in the school board to make non politically motivated choices focusing on students and staff.
  2. I support offering instruction focusing on health education, including age-appropriate, science-based sex education. I believe students need to have information which will assist them in making wise choices regarding their lifestyles, activities, and physical health and how those choices can affect their future.
  3. I have no quarrel with anyone who wants to pray at school providing it does not interfere with instructional time or infringe on the rights of other students/staff who choose not to pray. I don’t believe there needs to be any formalization of prayers or prayer times.
  4. As a school board member, my responsibility would be to ensure that the superintendent and district administration have put into place programs which provide equal access to educational opportunities for all students. I believe schools do an excellent job of allowing students to become involved with groups/clubs providing those groups adhere to set district policies. I believe that parents, community members, and educators need to stop labeling students as one subgroup or another. It seems that governmental, religious, and political factions create more difficulties for students by labeling them. I would much prefer that all students be looked at and labeled as young people. No more, no less.
  5. No mandates needed. I believe counselors and school personnel should be made aware of resources that can be provided to students who may come to them in search of advice or assistance. I do not have enough information to know specifically what an "appropriate education about diversity" might be.
  6. I do not believe there is a place in public schools for the teaching of alternatives to evolution such as intelligent design. The federal and state government consistently mandates that schools design educational programs using scientifically-based instruction, so why offer alternatives that are not based on science?
  7. I do not support the idea of charter schools. Rather than establishing charter schools, districts should use the funding to make regular schools more effective. I believe charter schools create an atmosphere of de facto segregation. Also, charter schools have not proven to be significantly higher achieving than regular schools.
  8. Although there are too many instances of drug use in schools, to single out a group of students simply because they choose to be involved in extracurricular activities is wrong.
  9. I believe schools are doing exactly what the law states. They are providing the names and contact information to the military, minus those that have opted to not be included. Parents should be made aware early that they have the choice to have their child opt out.

JACKIE VIALPANDO

  1. I am running because I feel that I have a skill set that is needed in District #49. Student achievement, community relations and growth are emergent issues that need to be addressed by the school board and the superintendent. Stability needs to be a requirement for the new school board.
  2. Yes I support these programs in schools, because research shows that comprehensive health education reduces risky sexual behavior by teens. I do feel that letters need to go home informing parents of the information being shared and allowing the parents the opportunity to discuss the information with there child.
  3. I believe that prayer is a very personal issue and should be left up to the individual. If a child want to pray in the classroom school auditorium or school facility then they should be allowed to do this on their own.
  4. I believe that all children deserve equal access to quality education. I believe that by continually assessing how all students are doing. Taking a look specifically at the "traditionally marginalized" student groups and continually assessing and reassessing all needs and addressing those needs will insure that everyone has equal access to education. Prevention of bulling and harassment needs to start in Pre-kindergarten and follow the students thru all the grades. Discipline for bulling behavior need to be strong and consistent. Districts need to be consistently looking for inventive ways to teach all students, regardless of learning ability or needs. Technology needs to be integrated for all students to be able to be successful wherever their path leads them. Equal access should be made available to all clubs and groups.
  5. School personnel should know how to direct students to accurate, non-judgmental referral-sources. This will be accomplished by supporting the training-of-personnel on community resources. Education about diversity should be incorporated across all curriculums, starting at pre-k. The schools need to provide for the safety of all students regardless of gender identity.
  6. The teaching of intelligent design does not have a place in the district at this time.
  7. Charter schools provide choice. Decisions to approve a charter schools need to include the following, what is the charter offering that is different than the traditional-schools, is the curriculum tried/proven/data driven, and now will the charter effect the district financially. Vouchers are not an asset for the public school system.
  8. Yes, I believe with the support of the community random drug testing can be another tool to help student achievement.
  9. I believe that the schools need to do a better job of informing parents of their rights to be able to deny the release of information.

JOHN KOSTER

Did not respond to survey

DANIELLE LINDORF

Did not respond to survey

DONAHUE QUASHIE

Did not respond to survey

CHRISTOPHER L. WRIGHT

Did not respond to survey