Staunton candidates forum - Part I: Candidates for Staunton school board participate in candidate forum held in Francis Auditorium at Mary Baldwin University on Wednesday, April 11, 2018. Mike Tripp & Megan Williams/The News Leader
STAUNTON — Six of the seven candidates running for Staunton School Board in May spoke to a crowd of about 60 on Wednesday night at Mary Baldwin University.
Only Gene "Ray" Ergenbright declined to attend the forum.
Each of the candidates opened by introducing themselves and talking about what issues they'd like to address if elected to the board.
Amy Wratchford, Ron Ramsey, Ken Venable, Christine Poulson and Ergenbright are seeking three spots on the board. John Hartless and Natasha McCurdy are also running in a special election for another seat.
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Besides introductions, the forum was based around public questions and moderated by Mary Baldwin students and Robert E. Lee High School students.
The first person to ask a question was a Lee High student who said things are "changing" at Lee and that students are finding their voices and advocating for themselves more than ever. He wanted to know what the candidates would do to encourage input from students.
Wratchford said one thing that the school board is planning to do is to air meetings on a public broadcast channel so that people who can't attend can still know what is going on.
The school board is there, but we can learn too, said Venable. He thanked the student for attending and for all student input.
"It is to the students that we are most responsible," said Ramsey to the Lee student. He suggested that more meetings with the Lee Leaders would be helpful, whether it be formally or informally at Lee.
The next community question was about school safety and school to prison pipelines. The parent asked what the candidates would do to make sure that the presence of school resource officers don't contribute to the school to prison pipeline.
McCurdy said that she would fight against any resource officers being involved in discipline of students. She said that is not their job, it's the administrations.
"They are there as a safety force for the kids, not a disciplinary force for the kids," Wratchford said.
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A question was asked about what the candidates feel the role of the board is compared to the role of the superintendent and building principals.
Ron Ramsey said the board is an advisory group. The superintendent reports to the board and the principals and administrators report to the superintendent.
"We should not be getting up to the chin in day-to-day running of a school," he said. The superintendent says we need these things, and the board figures out how to get them, Ramsey said.
"As a board, you’re there as a resource, but also, I've always said, 'what do you bring to the party extra?'" Venable said. "Whether it’s finances, or community partners, or corporate patterns... We need to enhance what we do."
A community member asked what school divisions the candidates aspire to emulate, and what their education philosophy is.
"Is there one school division that we should model after? No," Hartless said. He added that Staunton should be unique and that it comes back to holding the superintendent accountable.
One of the last questions asked was about the name of Lee High and whether they support changing the name or not.
- Wratchford — change the name
- Poulson — change the name
- Hartless — keep the name
- McCurdy — change the name
- Venable — change the name
- Ramsey — didn't give a direct answer
Ramsey did not give a direct answer, but did note that he believes the name Robert E. Lee High School will change, eventually.
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