School Board Elections

We have known for a long time of the financial problems of our school district, but now we are in a position of becoming a financially stressed district. Click on the title above to go to the article from Saturday's post dispatch article on this topic. This may set us up for a state takeover like the St. Louis Public Schools. Not only will teachers not get any kind of a cost of living raise for next year, but programs and services will have to be cut. I'm wondering if busing will be on the table again for cuts, and certainly technology and basic supplies including textbooks will suffer. It is more important than ever to vote for school board candidates that understand these issues and are prepared to make child-centered decisions in this time of financial crisis. Losing excellent teachers due to pay decreases and loss of benefits is certainly not a child centered decision, but have been mentioned by some of our school board candidates. Shockingly, some have also mentioned allowing teachers and/or students to carry concealed guns and other weapons in school due to security concerns.

The school board candidates that I believe have the best grasp of the situation, and are the most interested in making child-centered decisions are: Karl Frank, Erin Weber, and Drew Frauenhoffer. Karl is running for re-election and has been a champion for increased community interaction and education about our district. He has repeatedly made child-centered decisions in his term on the board and is deserving of a second term. Erin and Drew are running for a first term, and seem to me to have the same qualities of leadership and openness, as well as a concern for making child-centered decisions as Karl Frank. Please read about our candidates and get out to vote for the sake of our children. A question and answer session has been published by the Oakville Call the past few weeks and has been very helpful in elucidating some pretty serious issues and differences between the candidates. Remember: D, E and F when you go to the polls.