The Davis Vanguard and Davis Media Access (DMA) will co-host a candidate’s forum for the Davis Joint Unified School Board election. The forum will take place at the Davis Community Church Fellowship Hall, 421 D Street, on Wednesday, September 17. The forum begins at 6:30 PM and runs until 8:30 PM.
The election features seven candidates for three-four year seats and Alan Fernandes is running unopposed for the two-year seat after being appointed by the school board to fill a vacancy in May. That vacancy was created when a sitting board member resigned in March following a lengthy controversy.
“We are collaborating with Davis Media Access and they will record and air the forum at a later date so the public has an opportunity to learn more about the candidates and where they stand on issues. The community needs to be vigilant in scrutinizing this year’s crop of very qualified candidates,” said David Greenwald, Executive Director of the Davis Vanguard. “The budget situation has improved for the district, but there are a number of critical issues that the school board will be asked to tackle in the next two to four years. With three vacancies on the school board, this is an opportunity for the community to select who will lead this district into the future.”
All eight candidates have agreed to participate in the candidates’ forum that will include four questions selected by the moderator that were submitted by the candidates and a number of audience questions.
“We say this every year, but this is a crucial election for education in Davis – not only do we have 8 candidates running to serve on the school board, but we have 8 candidates with a broad range of ideas on how to improve our education system in the wake of a consistent and persistent budget crisis,” added Greenwald.
Do I understand this correctly – that the candidates submitted the questions that the moderator will then ask?
That is correct. Normally we like the format of the candidates asking their own questions, but with eight candidates that was not feasible.
Will there be other questions or will you have time for that? Questions about the achievement gap, zero tolerance policies and practices, suspension rates and practices, expulsion rates and practices, oversight of the Superintendent?
There will be 40 minutes for community questions.
In past forums we have allotted 40 minutes for audience questions. Given the large number of candidates we will have to manage the amount of time for each candidate answer (maybe 1.5 minutes rather than 2 minutes each) so that we can get to most, if not all, of the audience submitted questions.
Will there be questions about how the district deals with emotionally disturbed children now and how that might change in light of the Marsh tragedy. Clearly the current system has failed.
We will have eight questions from the public and four questions submitted by the candidates, that’s certainly a good question to ask.
Ask Tom Adams about his view of a conflict of interest existing between his employment by the State Department of Education, his role in curriculum development, adoption of that curriculum by DJUSD, and endorsement of his candidacy by his boss. In one public statement, he referred to his desire, as a School Board Trustee, to be a “consultant” to the District on curriculum matters. Does that mean that on all other topics, he will simply be a rubber stamp to whatever Susan Lovenburg wants?
I hope the short list of questions necessitated by the large number of candidates will not let important and dangerous details slip through the cracks and under the rugs. After all, they say the devil is in the details for a reason.
Creek Path: Ask Tom Adams about his view of a conflict of interest existing between his employment by the State Department of Education, his role in curriculum development, adoption of that curriculum by DJUSD, and endorsement of his candidacy by his boss.
What is a specific example of a possible conflict of interest that we should watch out for connected to this situation?
Rules prevent staff of DJUSD from being School Board Trustees. Shouldn’t the same apply to staff of the Dept. of Education? Shouldn’t a local school board member look out for the best interest of local children and be more responsive to the concerns of local parents than to the concerns of his boss? Will his job review, salary increases, and promotions be based on how he votes as a member of the school board? What if the school board opposes certain aspects of the State curriculum or its implementation? Will he have to recuse himself from voting?
Creek Path: Rules prevent staff of DJUSD from being School Board Trustees. Shouldn’t the same apply to staff of the Dept. of Education?
Is it in the rules about state employees? I’m not aware that it is. To me it is clearer how DJUSD staff being a school board member where he/she worked would bring up a lot more clearer conflicts of interest.
Nothing keeping you from showing up to submit the question yourself if you think it’s important. But based on recent history, it seems like the more recent relevant issue is of board members making decisions seemingly based on which school programs their kid was in, most prominently high school volleyball.
I’m interested to see Adams demonstrate how his professional knowledge relates to his engagement of local school issues.