Warsaw School Board Candidates Answer Public Questions
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Having witnessed bullying first-hand, 12-year-old Noah Marshall asked the Warsaw School Board candidates Thursday night what they could do about it.
Marshall's question was one of several from the audience during the board candidate forum at Jefferson Elementary sponsored by the Times-Union, Warsaw Community Education Association, OrthoWorx and American Association of University Women. Candidates included Curt Hermann, District 3; Jay Baumgartner, District 6; and Randy Polston and incumbent Christie Gale, District 4.
Answering the sixth-grader’s question, Gale said October is National Anti-bullying Month. “I think it’s an issue that is addressed, I think in all the elementary schools. I think they have a program that’s supposed to educate our children on how to treat one another, what to do if something is happening and how to be aware of bullying. I think you raise a good point that if something is happening, you need to alert someone right away. Your principal should address it. If it continues to happen, there’s got to be a consequence. There has to be somehow to handle this issue.”
Polston answered, “Noah, I’m going to tell you right now. As a principal, it’s called zero tolerance. Unfortunately in this world, it’s something that’s not going to go away like that. Believe it or not ... I was bullied when I was in school, too. Unfortunately, it’s here.”
He said schools have to work with parents to get bullying stopped.
Hermann said you have to have a mindset to be a bully where you don't put yourself in someone else's shoes. He said a lot of it goes back to parents.
Baumgartner said there should be zero tolerance for bullies in school. No one being bullied should look down on themselves, as every kid is important.
An older gentleman asked all four candidates, “What are your trade-offs going to be between sports and academics?”
“Right now our focus is definitely on education,” Gale answered. “A lot of the conversation is these focus schools and how can we improve our schools with academics. ... A lot of the conversation has not revolved around stadiums or sports fields or any of that.”
Polston agreed. He said academics come first at Warsaw Schools. It’s not that athletics isn’t an important key, but the bottom line is that “we’re here to teach our kids. We’re here to present the curriculum. We’re here to master the curriculum. That’s what comes first.”
After Hermann simply said, “I concur,” Baumgartner said, “The easy answer is to stand up here and say ‘academics first, sports don't matter.’ But the reality is sports does matter in this town. ... there are a lot of life lessons we can get from being on a sports team and quite frankly a lot of people evaluate a school system by how their sports teams operate.”
Directed at Gale and Polston, a woman asked why foreign languages weren’t offered at lower grade levels, especially Spanish, since the majority of residents in the school corporation speak English and/or Spanish, not Mandarin Chinese.
Gale replied she was a huge proponent of foreign language in the elementary grade schools.
Polston said he served under several superintendents over the years, and the topic has been discussed often. The desire is there to have foreign languages in the elementary schools, but the problem has always been how to offer it because teachers’ plates are full.
Kelly Hepler, who teaches third grade at Claypool Elementary, cited the loss of teachers and administrators in recent years and asked how candidates would create a better environment for teachers.
“I would say that it’s at an all-time low right now, being a teacher,” she said. “I’d like to know what’s your plan in addressing the morale, within the buildings, and keeping those teachers that are valuable. We had a great teacher leave because it’s too much.”
Gale added that teachers should be celebrated every day, but more than that need to feel their feedback to the board is being heard.
Polston said he shared Hepler's concern and promised some relief.
“I will promise you this publicly, a climate audit needs to be done in this corporation,” he said. “If it’s not done by January, if the community elects me and I’m on the board, we’re going to have that discussion. You’ve got to have a climate audit because you’ve got to be heard.”
Hermann said it was very important for the board to see what is causing those morale issues.
Baumgartner said stress in the workplace was not just limited to a school corporation. Every organization is struggling with mandates and requirements, and working with less staff who receive more assignments.
“But basically as a board of director, I am working for everybody,” he said. “I work for the administration. I work for the principal, and I work for the teachers. Bottom line is, a leader is only as good as the people he has working for him. You guys are on the front line, you guys are the one reaching the kids, you are the ones impacting those kids. So we need to know what these issues are.”
