School Board Candidate Survey Guide

By gto | September 14, 2022 | , , | No Comments
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If you are running for School Board in Kentucky or Southern Indiana, please click to take our: Candidate Survey.

Below is our detailed guide to the ESSAY QUESTIONS asked in our School Board Candidate Survey.
Note: The COVID question was added late, so several candidates have it unanswered through no fault of their own.

TOPIC

LONG-FORMAT QUESTION
MOTIVATION:  What motivated you to run for school board, why are you running?
ROLE OF EDUCATION:  How would you describe the role & importance of K-12 education (public & private) in our society? What elements of educating children should be handled by (public) schools vs what should be the (exclusive) domain of parents or legal guardians?
CURRENT DISTRICT ASSESSMENT:  The current board is complacent in driving improvement in the school. Being a small district we can have a more direct impact on improving the school. As a board member I will take a long view on how the districts resources can best be spent to deliver immediate improvements, plan for continuous improvements and always seek ways to reduce the cost of education.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE:  How would you promote rigorous academic instruction and excellence in your school district? What metrics / measures would you use to target, evaluate & track overall school system success under your watch? What efforts do you think you would focus on to assure the school continues improving academically?
TAXING & SPENDING:  Describe your policy on fiscal responsibility in the school system? Are you in favor of tax increases in the first term after the elections? If so, why and where should the additional money be allocated? Are you in favor of automatic/scheduled school tax increases (or decreases), or should the board always have to get public feedback and approval for changes in taxes? Are there any areas of financial waste that you have identified as needing to be trimmed in the budget? Explain.
CHARTER SCHOOLS:  The State Legislature has approved state funding for public charter schools. What is your perspective on public charter schools? Should the school board actively promote them (or other alternative schooling options) as a viable alternative to the current public school system for some families, or perhaps actively discourage them? Why?
SEL & DEI:  Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) training are two recent points of emphasis coming out of teacher colleges. How familiar are you with these in practice? Do you support implementation of either SEL or DEI training for either students or staff (and mandatory or optional; opt-in or opt-out)? If so, please specify who would receive either, and how you would measure the success of either program. If not, why not?
RESOURCE ALLOCATION:  Not all kids learn the same way, or at the same speed. How should resources be allocated between kids on different parts of the learning spectrum (eg Gifted vs Average vs Special Needs)? In other words, Describe your view of (a) “Equality” vs (b) “Individual Excellence” vs (c) “Equity”: Should each student be given (a) similar levels of resources; (b) resources to assure opportunity for each to reach their potential, appropriate to their ability; (c) resources to assure as many students as possible receive what they need to reach minimal competency level? If there should be a balance, elaborate. Should membership in any demographic group itself earn access to more, or less, school resources? If so, which and why?
STUDENT DISCIPLINE:  What are your thoughts on student discipline policies and their application? Should each student’s incidents be evaluated on their own merits, or should incidents be evaluated based upon a student’s demographic group? At what point should discipline issues escalate from an internal school matter involving childhood mistakes, to parental involvement, to a police matter? Are you in favor of expansion of “alternative” schools where children who have demonstrated serious behavioral issues are segregated, to allow for the rest of the students to learn, or should every possible effort be made to accommodate them and keep them with peers?
COVID:  What are your thoughts on the way the School Board has handled COVID policy since the beginning of the COVID pandemic? What COVID policy do you anticipate supporting while on the board, and what are the primary factors that will guide you in making that policy decision?
ANY ILLICIT PERSONAL CONDUCT:  Have you ever been convicted of a felony? Have you been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? Have you ever resigned a position of public trust, including any elected position? Are you currently under investigation by the BAR Association, or any other Professional Society? If so, please explain.
OTHER THINGS VOTERS SHOULD KNOW:  What else would you like voters to know about you, including your job priorities / goals (eg your outside career, your family background, value system, educational experience, connection to school system, …)? Feel free to include anything you didn’t include in the other answers, but would like voters to know.
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