Deb Wiggins is unopposed for the District 6 Warsaw Community School Corp. school board seat.
However, she returned from out of town in order to take part in the "Meet the Candidate" forum at Lakeview Middle School Tuesday night.
For her opening statement, Wiggins said she was not born and raised in Warsaw. She came from Michigan City to run the Chamber of Commerce. After serving there, she then taught school a few years, so she knows what it's like to be in the classroom, to be evaluated by the school principal and what students look for in a teacher, she said.There are some issues the current school board is looking at, she said.
The board is redoing the school corporation's entire policy manual. The manual has not been evaluated for 17 years, she said. They are redoing it so the school board doesn't have to micromanage. They want the administrators to do their job. For the manual, she said, they are getting input from administrators, teachers and staff. It is not a school board manual.
The other issue the board is looking at is the building project. Warsaw Schools needs classrooms, so the board had to bite the bullet and get it done. The project, which is tentatively set to begin in March, includes building new Madison and Leesburg schools and renovating and improving Jefferson and Claypool schools.
Redistricting also is coming up, and the school board also is looking for a new superintendent. Dr. Robert Haworth resigned as superintendent earlier this year.
For the first question, from the American Association of University Women, Wiggins said teachers are the direct supervisors of the students. They are the ones who help students succeed. Wiggins said the board needs to make sure the teachers have the resources they need for the classrooms.
"We have no business at the classroom level. That's not our job," she said.
She said the school board needs to make sure the curriculum meets standards, and administrators are working on aligning it.
As for facilities, Wiggins said, she thinks they are heading toward equitable facilities. Warsaw has been fortunate to have an economy and community that provides for classroom resources.
Responding to the second question, from the Warsaw Community Education Association, Wiggins said the state cuts dollars to the school. Warsaw Schools needs to prepare students for the global world, but without stripping what's needed in the classroom, as well as pay for gas and other necessities for buses.
The budget was prepared for the school board by the building administrators. It started at the grassroots level, and, she said, it's their job to tell the board what is needed.
For the Times-Union question, Wiggins said recommendations for spending or cutting come from the classroom, to the building administrator and up to the school board.
With the state taking over most of Indiana schools' budgets, Wiggins said the local school boards are losing control of the budgets. That's something that everyone needs to be considerate of in regards to the budget.
When Warsaw Community High School junior Todd Eastis asked about the overcrowding, violence and low moral at the high school and what the board could do about it, Wiggins said she grew up going to a school where students were lucky to find a safe hallway.
She "threw the gauntlet" to Eastis to seek out the student council and have them address the issue. From there, the issue could go to the building administrator, superintendent and then reach the school board.
In her closing statement, Wiggins thanked the approximate 30 people who showed up. She said she just hopes everyone goes out and votes. She thanked the educators who were present. To the public, she said she hopes they understand the school board is trying to do the best they can with their hard-earned tax dollars.
