School Board Candidates’ Forum Focuses on Communication, Priorities and Future
| Author: Linda Kent, MT43 News Staff Reporter MT43 News Correspondent |
School Board Candidates’ Forum Focuses on Communication, Priorities and Future
Linda Kent
MT43 News Staff Reporter
Candidates for two, three-year terms on the Townsend Schools District Board of Trustees responded to questions on a number of issues April 18 at a candidate forum hosted by the Townsend Education Association (TEA). Incumbent board member Vanessa Flynn and current board chairman Jason Noyes were joined by candidate Audrey Martin of Winston.
Moderator Angela Giono, TEA’s secretary/treasurer, asked the candidates questions, drawn from local teachers’ union members in a round-robin format, touching on their experience and purpose for running for the board, teacher compensation, priorities, and community-school relations. Community members contributed their own questions at the end of the session.
Since candidates answered questions about their background in the April 22 MT43 News, their answers to the remaining forum questions follow.
How important is it to you that the Townsend Schools staff is paid a fair and livable wage?
Jason Noyes (JN): “I think we’ve failed as a nation and a society” to compensate teachers to the level they should be. He noted that, currently, 85 percent of the district’s budget is allocated to salaries, adding that trustees need to do everything they can to ensure the district has and retains the best staff possible
Audrey Martin (AM): “Teachers have lives outside of school. We need to support them in the best ways possible.” She noted that the district doesn’t always have all of the resources it needs to meet all of the needs of its staff. She said her experience with mediation could help in finding workable solutions.
Vanessa Flynn (VF): Flynn agreed that staff compensation is very important, noting that meeting those needs can be “very hard.”
Do you see yourself primarily as a representative of the community or as a representative of the school system?
AM: “As a trustee, you are a representative of the school in the community and the community in the school.” She emphasized the need for collaborative conversations between the two.
VF: “Definitely the community.”
JN: Noyes said it was important that trustees be representative of the community, but not a representative for it. “As a trustee, my loyalty is to the district and to the students.”
What are your priorities for the district in the coming year? Why and how did you select these issues?
VF: “Teacher pay. High School baseball,” she said. “It’s hard to say no to a team sitting there looking for a place.”
JN: “Building trust within the district and the community. . . . Getting the strategic plan in place is a big goal.”
AM: Martin focused on the potential impacts of HB203, the school choice bill, which would allow parents to enroll their children in any school district without going through the current application process. She said Townsend could find itself with declining enrollments – and, therefore, budgets – as parents working in Helena or Bozeman use the measure to place their children in districts closer to their work.
Through your observation of Townsend School and/or participating in activities: What does our school do well? What does Townsend School need to improve?
JN: “We have a tremendous amount of extracurricular activities” for a district our size. “Do better? We’ve got to bring together our focus, mission, and vision.” Noyes also mentioned that hiring and keeping coaches has become a challenge for the district, commenting that the district and community should see activities as an extension of the classroom.
AM: “We have an array of activities, but we see the same kids participating over and over again.” She said there needs to be an effort to reduce the obstacles for those students who are not able to participate. “We need to be meeting those students where we are.”
VF: “We need to see better engagement between the board and staff.”
Do you think running an operating mill levy election is necessary to meet future general funds needs here at Townsend Schools?
AM: “It’s way too premature” to determine if an operating levy will be needed. She noted the district needed to explore alternative means of funding before considering asking taxpayers for additional property tax funding.
VF: “It’s hard to say.” She noted that the board has been able to avert a request for additional operating funds, but may have to “at some point.”
JN: Noting the impact and difficulty of passing the recent elementary school building bond, Noyes said the board “has worked to do everything we can not to do that.” He added, “In the future? Probably. But I don’t think we’d be successful right now.”
How would you rate the transparency and communication here at Townsend Schools? Do you see a need for improvement?
VF: “We try very hard to be transparent and communicate. I would say an eight.”
JN: “We do a satisfactory job. . . It’s tough to get the right information in the manner people want to receive it.” He added that getting stakeholder participation and feedback from the community has been a point of frustration for him, citing the lack of community participation in the district’s strategic planning process.
AM: “The attempt is there.” She added that the district and community need to work toward a more symbiotic relationship.
Ballots for the election were mailed April 22 and must be returned to the Broadwater County Clerk and Recorder’s office no later than 8 p.m., May 7. Registered voters who did not receive a ballot should contact the clerk’s office.
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Image 1 Caption: Candidates for two, three-year terms on the Townsend Schools Board of Trustees (from left) Audrey Martin, Vanessa Flynn, and Jason Noyes answered questions from the Townsend Education Administration and community members at a forum held April 18.