001Stevenson and this is Mandy Barnum and we are the co-presidents of the Huntington classroom Teachers Association um and we just want to thank each of the candidates for being here this evening we thought that this would be a great um way for us just to open up since we have so many people running um just to hear what your thoughts are and give the voters a chance to hear what your stance is and kind of what your thoughts are um on this date of Huntington County Community Schools so I just to give you I know that um Mr BAU came up let you guys know kind of the format but also just to let the audience and live stream people know what the format's going to be and just a little um information about this
002evening so what we're going to do is we have a list of questions we're going to um start by asking those questions and you will have one minute to answer Matt Stevenson is over here he's keeping time um when there's about when you have about five seconds left to hold up a hand um just to let you know uh we're not going to be muting microphones or anything but we do ask that you be respectful of that just because there are so many candidates that we want to hear from um and then we will just stagger who we are asking the questions of first um the other thing is ju I know you know but just to reiterate when it's when you're ready to speak just press until it's green and then you should be
003good to go and then turn it off when you're done so our first question um this evening is to please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you so we will start over here with Kathy shock swingle from District Four good evening I was born and raised here in Huntington County with a 20year absent because my husband's job took us out of town and then we came straight back uh we raised three successful Sons we have been in foster care been foster parents for several years and and I basically since I didn't have an extended education but I do know how to balance books and I do know how to make things work so that's what I bring David vanor district one good evening thank you for uh hosting this um my name
004is Dave vanor uh district one uh moved here to Huntington in 2020 in the middle of covid uh I have three kids uh one in elementary school one in middle school one in high school so I have seen firsthand uh a lot of the Nuance that comes with having uh children in all facets of the uh schools here uh I am educated in accounting and finance from IU uh been working uh in accounting for 20 years in the healthc care field for about the last five years and I also do Consulting thank you Aaron Carl district 6 good evening my name is Aaron Carl I am married and father of four I have one who graduated in May and is off to college now I have the three the other three are in ninth seventh
005and second grade I was born and raised in Huntington I'm a land surveyor civil engineer and construction manager my career experience will be beneficial to the school board and help review Construction maintenance to keep down unnecessary costs Curtis Hines District 1 hello I'm Curtis Ray Hines I grew up on a farm in Jackson Township lived in Jackson Township my my whole life graduated from this high school in 1996 um I also taught here for 20 years coached here for 18 um yeah I'm pretty familiar with this with this District and and uh this building in particular so Mike Richard District Six thanks for hosting this uh Mike Richard I am born and raised in Huntington I lived here for 20 years graduated from Huntington North in 1993 went on to Huntington College before I went
006into the US Air Force and that took me away uh between that and Federal Contracting over a 192 year period um I've got two daughters that are 15 and 13 that go to Huntington North and Riverview currently um I just want to get back to what I was given here in the district and what I was brought up on and see some of that rejuvenated back into the community with the the assets that we have available to us I think we're underutilized Iz in a lot of it and we need to take a look at that and move forward but thanks again Tim Allen District 4 I'm Tim Allen uh I am born and raised in Huntington um married with three children they all have two kids so I have six grandchildren I've been involved
007with the schools since my youngest since my oldest daughter was uh kindergarten at Lancaster in 1992 volunteered there I still do at all of the different schools in the in the county um stay connected to the schools through most of my life uh in particularly when I was Sports director at the YMCA uh I am currently the director of dispatch for hunington County public safety we dispatch for police and fire and and E emergency medical conditions um proud of what we've done so far uh as a board and hope we continue Matt meler district one I am Matt meler um born and raised uh in Huntington County uh we sent three kids through the Huntington County Community School Corporation um this is my this will be my third term on the school board um and
008that's it Ryan Wall district 7 my name is Ryan Wall uh on the ballot you'll see it as James Ryan wall because that's the name my parents gave me but then they soon soon started just calling me Ryan so there's long history about that but uh born and raised here in Huntington uh married to my wife we both of us graduated from this building in 1996 with Curtis uh back in the day uh have two kids that went through the school corporation uh this is I am ending my first term on the school board but I've actually ran for school board multiple times and was lucky enough to be elected the last four years ago uh long career uh working in government uh before I went to the private sector uh then once I went
009to the private sector the ability to run for the board came available and that's where I am so thank you um okay so our second question is what do you see as the primary work of a board member and we'll go ahead Ryan we'll start with you since um we ended with you last time so um Ryan W from District Seven so clarify primary job of a board member cool so the primary job of a board member uh we really have one person that we hire and that's the superintendent and then he puts the policies and procedures that we put in place as a board into effect uh we have Financial oversight but we also have just the general ability to understand what's going on in the corporation we set a vision we set a
010goal and then we make sure that the superintendant and his designes uh make sure that that happens thank you Matt mure district one I don't really have too much more to add to what Ryan said that's exactly the what a board does um we just oversee the superintendent um and make sure that he's doing what the board's wishes are and that's about it Tim Allen from District 4 I guess I would just add that um the connections we we have inside the community I think help guide what the board does we bring those ideas to the superintendent um Mr Ryan Mr wall is absolutely correct we do oversee and hire and fire the superintendent um but the the ears that we have inside the community that we can we can bring things back to the
011table and hopefully uh bring good ideas and uh and remind uh superintendent and the administration what what their jobs are and so oversight of that I think is is important is about anything Mike Richard District six um I believe working with the community is key your constituents your T the taxpayers that are electing these positions doing what they're requesting overseeing that making sure that's being carried out to the most of it to the best of its knowledge working with the superintendent along with working with the classrooms and the teachers having an open door policy and acting as a facilitator where needed and bringing that cohesive unit together with everyone Curtis Hines district one uh yeah first off I I would be a representative of the people of district one um their thoughts their ideas and
012con concerns um secondly you know I'd be a uh a person that would hold superintendent accountable and and uh the powers that be for the corporation making sure that dollars were spent wisely and that uh decisions were made very very well so that's it Aaron Carl District Six uh right now the policy is to to oversee make make the policies and oversee the superintendent um my goal would be to be a little more Hands-On and be able to help be able to have conversations with the community with the teachers with students and actually expand what the board does and not just make the policies but help guide how we're going to do things in the future David Van gor district one so primary job of a board member is to bring oversight to the district
013and representing again our taxpayers our our teachers parents students all our stakeholders and making sure that all information that has been processed by the board is available and is transparent to the public to understand why the district made the decisions that they did and if there are questions be that point of contact to the community to represent the taxpayer Kathy shock swingle District Four uh I think uh all these people have said pretty much everything that's going to be said but I think that along with everything that we have to be mindful of how we spend the taxpayers money that's one thing that we can work on as a team uh and bring new ideas to the superintendent and see if we can't get those implemented okay thank you um our next question and we're
014going to start with you Mr VOR um what do you see as the role of the board in relationship to teachers so the board in relationship to teachers are we are a uh an Avenue a tool for the teachers to use to get things that are important to them addressed through the board through the superintendent to make sure that things are uh voted on and at least given uh visibility to teacher concern and this goes with the Union negotiations this goes with you know anything with uh any teacher board interaction Aaron Carl district the can you repeat the sure um what do you see as the role of the board in relationship to teachers in the board with the relationship of the teachers is as Mr van Gord was was saying um it should be
015open we should be having open communication uh the way I run my department my businesses you know we all discuss things if if more people discuss what's going on there are opportunities for better Solutions um if if we're not doing that we're to me I think we're failing the system so Curtis Hines district one um excuse me yeah um I think it's the responsibility um or the expectation of a board member to be approachable and uh I think that anybody who has a concern or an issue should feel as though they should uh be able to approach a board member especially if that person is in the district of that board member and that would include teachers or anybody else um as far as the responsibility of the board member it's there it's their responsibility
016to listen you know listen and uh pay attention maybe they don't offer any input but then they can take that information that they've that they've gotten and they can go get an answer from somebody who might be able to give it to them um for sure it's it's important for the board members to be open uh to allowing people to come and and talk to them and and raise concerns so Mike Richard District Six I'll go back to the last statement that I made I believe there needs to be an open door policy between board members teachers Administration so we're all doing what's in the best interest of the child first and foremost in the corporation and then the taxpayers also but the teacher should have no fear of anything with the board member they
017should have be able to have open and honest Communications transparency anything they would like to discuss shouldn't be an issue it should be encouraged Tim Allen District 4 I had to just reiter what they said I think the open doors and certainly being able to be approachable and be someone that the teachers feel comfortable reaching out to uh is important um we are just send a link in that chain uh that your efforts that teachers efforts in the classroom have always I think been supported by the board at least certainly in the time that I've served on the board um they really are the guide the ones that guide our young people and and move them on and um any way we can support them has always been really important certainly as long as I've
018been on the board it's been if not the highest thing certainly near the top so there's always room for improvement but uh we've tried to be I think open and honest about the decisions we make and I know we'll continue to do that Matt melter district one um pretty much everybody's pretty much hit all the key points um but you know hopefully we've placed the right administrators and stuff that a teacher would get their answers before they would come to the board I mean technically the board should be the last point of contact UM your building administrators your assistant superintendent you know there's a certain chain of command but as always a board member should have open ears and be willing to listen and um you know give their thoughts and ideas but ultimately they
019should push them towards the chain of command first and hopefully it doesn't end up at the board Ryan Wall District s so I'm going to expand that just a little bit on your question I I I feel that there should be open communication just like everyone has has said but I also think that we shouldn't forget about the other classes of employees that we have here that includes the bus drivers the the Paras and the lunch people and all that we should be that open conduit just like everyone has said and if that's a facilitator or for the facilitator to say hey great I listen to you but reminder I'm one of seven on the school board I only have one seventh of a vote and I really don't have any power when it's outside
020of the boardroom but we can then direct them to whoever they need to talk to if that means oh go talk to your building administrator and let me know how it goes things like that but we need to be that facilitator to help them understand that and help all the the employees the corporation because we are one of the largest employers in this in the county so we should be able to help out and be that facilitation but also be the ears like everyone has said so Kathy shock swingle District 4 m my main theme of wanting to be a board member is education education education and that means having a good relationship with our fellow teachers and parents and the kids you got to you know you want the kids involved and as you
021know just work together willingly and not fight each other back and forth thank you uh what what knowledge or skills oh no I'm sorry sorry people running in this race have said a lot about transparency what does a transparent school board look like in your opinion and we will start with Matt melter from district one this time um I feel like uh there's always room for more transparency um as everybody can see that we have board docs and board docs is a a awesome tool um and the great thing about it is anybody can go on board dos right now and they can go back in and they can look back in 2015 and see if Matt mure was at a school board meeting and you can look at the agenda you can look everything
022um if anybody's ever been to a Schoolboard meeting you get a piece of paper in the back um and that gives you the agenda and it doesn't really give you much but it gives you a little bit you go to board docs and you can you can see so much more I mean it's it's been a big changer for us um so there's always room for more transparency but I think we're getting a lot better than what we used to be Tim Allen from district four um Mr meler is I I think he's correct um the I know that we have done everything we as much as we believe we can uh being transparent about the things that we do certainly uh every decision that we make is is available if you're willing to put
023in the efforts to find it um if you cannot find it and you ask for it we provide um as long as it's been something that we are allowed to talk about I mean there are things that uh board members are not allowed to talk about uh let's not think that it's it's just as simple as announcing what we just did in detail um as M as Matt said I think there is room for Improvement and everything um we are always considering better ways uh that we can make sure that the Public's aware of what's Happening um but um the efforts we've made so far I think are in the right direction and I think we're going to continue that Mike Richard District Six I believe transparency is going to be key in all that
024you do in a public setting with the agendas that are put out and with all the information available with the history of it going back Mr meler said to the board docs if you can't find an answer in those documents being able to talk to any of the board members Administration to go back and and get the answer to your question and if I'm that person I will find the answer for you and see what we need to do with that and again understanding that some things will be transparent other things are covered by other regulations that you cannot talk about obviously with laws and things like that but at the same point everything needs to be an open book is if it's part of a public forum uh Curtis Hines district one um yeah
025well I I think uh the live streams the website these are all really good things I think uh that's a step in the right direction um as I said before and and these guys are right I mean there's some things people can't talk about um but I think that uh the things that people can talk about they ought to and uh I don't think it should be um a secret or anything like that so I mean it's community and and uh Community uh sometimes has questions so that's Aaron Carl District six I think the the transparency policy as far as um most people are looking at it is with the financial side of it um whenever there's a large project it would be a good idea to put out a small report say you know
026we looked at these different Avenues we this is the best choice that we found and it makes people understand it a little bit more um when when when you go through it with someone that doesn't do this all the time it it's very hard to understand I look at these like construction documents and and that type of stuff all the time and if they don't understand what it what what you're talking about then it's it's uh if if you have a sumary and kind of just explain it it goes a long way so David Van gor district one so I think there is a uh misconception of transparency in terms of how things are reported uh things are reported in terms of compliance and compliance does not equal transparency um when I attend all these
027board meetings I feel uh longing for more information especially around costs that would be very easy to put into the discussion as well and uh to uh we also need to educate all stakeholders and their different levels of understanding like Mr Carl said uh that will go a long way in having a sense of uh acceptance and overall uh success of any projects and also we need to do a better job of presenting data we throw numbers and things on the wall and it it's very hard to see what sticks Kathy shock swingle from District 4 Dave took my answer uh it's it's important to be open and approachable and I think what Aon said about making the documents of when we spend money and what projects we're on make them a little more readable
028to some people people that them all the time think they're easy and lots of people aren't and I agree with the live streaming because there's been lots of times I didn't make it to the meeting but I did get to watch it later so I I agree with that that's been a really good thing thank you ARG Lin are you did you hear the question do you want me to repeat it uh first of all I apologize for being late I had a medical appointment in Warsaw I could not get out of so I apologize for that and it's embarrassing to come late but this was important for me to show respect for you all and be here and say what I can so yes would you repeat the question please rning oh sorry people
029running in this race have said a lot about transparency what does a transparent school board look like in your opinion I couldn't hear her what' she say she's asking about transparency and what you think transparency looks like okay it's another stock phrase that everybody uses transparency to me it amounts to communication uh and I would say communication with other school board members and Educators and teachers uh horizontally vertically with the administrators and also with my constituents should I be elected in other words communication in all directions I think that's the path to letting people know what's going on I need to find out and I need to be able to communicate that to my constituents Ryan Wall District s so I'm goingon to hit on a key points of a couple of the people here
030so I think uh the school board uh tries to do its best but you know there's always rooms for improvement and I think continued questions not only from the public but also looking around and seeing what other District are doing is an important thing um I for one love board docs but if you've ever tried to search in board docs you understand that that is not the greatest thing in the world to search on and I know that's a a know that's an issue uh and I know we've talked about it and I know there's a new version of board dos coming out not too soon and that's one of the key features of it that's coming out so I think con constant communication is a good thing like several of them have said so
031again just continue ask and as new ideas are out there all the time and we listen and learn and uh try to hear what what's going on thank you all um so I'm going to direct our my next question um starting with um Aaron Carl and the question is could you support a decision that you voted against but was ultimately approved by the rest of the board and explained so we'll start with Aaron Carl from District Six I can always support I mean it's a it's a un it's not if it's it's not a unanimous decision you still need to support the people that are with you um regardless you when you're on the other side and you and you say I voted no and everybody voted yes maybe what I would do is get
032more involved with the project to see it to come out to the best as it could possibly come out um if everybody's going to disagree nobody's ever going to agree on the same thing all the time and if if you can support it by getting behind it and finding better ways to to push it forward as it goes that's that's the best that you can do so Curtis Hines district one yeah um I'll reiterate that exact exact point um you know you're not going to be on the winning side every time and uh and when you're not it's important that you uh that you still participate that you don't uh you know try to usurp what's going on um you know it's it's not not in the best interest of the corporation it's also not
033in the best interest of of the people that elected you so your responsibility um if you if you lose your responsibility is to get on board and and as Mr Carl said try to try to push it in direction that is is as palatable as possible Mike Richard District six um again I'll agree with both of what they said with getting on board but the in the same sense before it's even brought to the board for a vote nine times out of 10 what I've witnessed and experienced in the last 10 years with the boards here is everyone discusses it if there is an issue it's brought up and it's fine-tuned to that point so um I I think open discussion is always key and if it were my idea it was voted down I
034would jump on board and try to be behind it understand what it is where can I improve it what can I do to make it happen better worse but again I think a lot of it's done prior to it even being brought to a vote Tim Allen District 4 uh Mr Richard is is correct um when it comes to how things are are decided on board level um there are disagreements nearly on every topic there are disagreements I think respect for one another uh brings us a little closer together every time that we have one of those um and as you said it's it's true we usually don't end up on one side or the other we end up in the middle and um that is usually the most productive way to get what needs
035to get things moving forward with school corporation uh we can't afford to sit around and not make decisions and so uh if it goes against you and you still have to make the decision I mean let's face it the only bad decision is not a decision so um it's it's easy to respect your people Matt mure district one yeah um so there's been many of times I've not necessarily supported the decision um yet I went along with it just because the good of the group um and I think it's important to understand that you know just because Matt melcher's opinion May differ from Tim Allen's opinion that in the long term you know what's best for the kids what's best for the staff what's best for you know whoever we're dealing with is the ultimate
036goal Ryan Wall District S I think everyone's kind of hit on this but in the grand scheme of things it's all about being a good doing good governance and you being that that officiator of that governance so we're not all going to agree on everything that's the nice thing uh I think what the superintendent has initiated with the work sessions so you can hear those conversations has been a good thing that goes to transparency and that also goes to see how that process changes uh for lack of a better term see how the sausage is made uh in that process um and what you usually find out when you go through that process is you see that the initial discussion is not how it ends up because we all bring our all bring the seven
037different ideas to that uh including other ideas from the teachers and the staff because it's it's not in a vacuum because something will come up in a work session and and we'll say something we suggestions and then you know other people talk to the the administration and other things like that and it usually comes out really well and I could keep talking on this but I'm going to stop there but that's good thank you um Archie Lin District Six yes um when I went to the perspective board member orientation we got a booklet 10 some pages and uh what struck me about it uh just uh reading through it quickly was that it promotes Congeniality with each other and getting along and going along long and that's all well and fine assuming that there's been
038a thorough discussion but we were not appointed we are elected by citizens in our district so I would be looking to vote the way that I think uh my constituents would uh would want me to vote and I believe they would want me to vote my conscious so I would have no trouble voting no anytime that it's necessary but uh I think it's important of course to to listen to everybody as well thank you Kathy shock swingle District 4 good by the way thank you as um world goes there's a lot of compromises that have to be made and just because you have one opinion doesn't mean that somebody else doesn't have a different opinion and what I would do would be research more after like my comment was turned down and as being a
039wife for 52 years and mother of three sons and no girls I know what compromise is thank you David vanor district one superintendent trout uh has a policy of uh basically managing from the middle what can you live with and I feel like that is a good way to to uh represent the board and if there is something that I don't agree with I will vote it down but if I do not uh win in that uh motion I will fully support and and try to execute that decision to the best of my ability just for the good of the district I have no no ego here if I If I Lose I'm still going to support the board thank you all uh the next question is fiscally what has the corporation done well and
040then conversely what is your biggest concern and to explain uh we're gonna start with Tim Allen from district four um well I think one one thing I've been fortunate to set on a board that has um has done a lot uh We've invested a lot of money into the schools we had aging infrastructure we tried to address those things we have uh certainly encouraged the administration to uh to work to raise teachers wages um those are that is always a challenge because we have comp competition obviously in our backyard um that is probably the biggest challenge I think our our successes are and what we've done to try to build up our infrastructure which was which was I mean let's face that this school was a great example um we've invested it you know millions
041of dollars as it is and we're a far cry from being finished um but there is a commitment to to getting this fixed Mike Richard District six so I think we've got some very outstanding facilities infrastructure wise there is room for improvement to do a proper checks and balances to look at everything from the ground up and I believe that that has started currently um in the last couple of years they're starting to review those more um Eagle eyed than they were in the past um moving forward I think there needs to be more emphasis put put on that checks and balances against the need versus the wants of the district If It ultimately what is it going to be how is this successful for the student in the end so thank you Curtis Hines
042district one um yeah I uh be delicate how I say this I uh I would say that uh our Corporation and it's not necessarily presently but it has a history of not doing very good things with money and uh the people of the community County um are aware of that now I I'm not speaking specifically to to what is happening necessarily right now with the buildings and Facilities but and there was a big facility stink over C bomb field people were very upset in the community um I mean these are these are things that that uh take a toll on a corporation and uh and it's very important for um for people to be upfront and uh and honest about about what's going on Aaron Carl District Six uh fiscally um I'm going to cover
043the the bad things first is um the reports that come out every month and tell you where you're at uh they're very hard to interpret um it if if we could figure out a way uh to to do those in a manner that were more understandable I think Mr van gor has some excellent ideas for what what thoughts he has on those um the uh the money issues that we've had had you know that was not good um but the good things are and and this is part of the communication thing for for transparency is a lot of people don't understand how much monies are are awarded through grants for the different structures and and and athletic things um and the structures are good so David vanor District One so the good parts first um
044echoing the infrastructure uh I've seen a a a really positive change to this building in particular and I I think they are doing a very good job uh echoing grants uh they've hired a grant writer and been awarded well over half million dollars of Grants and that is free money doesn't C cost the taxpayers anything um they've also uh worked to increased teacher pay although it still falls behind uh neighboring districts I feel like we can do a better job there uh for the negatives uh Financial oversight this board uh minus one person oversaw half million dollars walking out the door and it could have been prevented and safeguards need to be put in place and those safeguards need to be adhered to and compliance to those safeguards needs to be done Kathy shock swingle
045District 4 well let me see if I can think of something else uh in the last two years they have learned a lot and took a lot of hits not totally their fault but some of it yes it was and right Now with uh Terry thornsbury heading the improvements onto the school and updating everything was the best decision they could have made because he's doing a wonderful job and just you know just to re just to maintain that you're using the taxpayers money and you've got to know where that is and what it's being used for thank you RG Lind district 6 understanding the question to be what are we doing well and what are we weak in is that correct I was at the uh Learning Center recently and given a tour and it
046is spectacular what they're doing with the type of young people who like Hands-On and practical work the type of uh citizens that we want to see coming out of our schools to be a part of our community um that's more important than the U academic effort to put everybody in a university many of which are diploma Mills unless you need a license such as a teaching or a doctorate there's no reason to go to a university and I think that the proportion of a huge amount of people are pushed towards universities wrong we need more people doing The Learning Center type of activity another thing that we need to work on is physical education half of life is phys physical but there's nothing much about it in here Ryan Wald District s so when I
047when I started on the board if you compare the financial district financial information that we gave out when I started four years ago to to now I I think that you see a growth in there some of that is coming out of uh education uh and asking for stuff so one of the things I've been a big proponent of is following the Indiana school board association's uh manual on fiscal accountability uh that the IBA puts out uh that has helped Drive some of that uh as a matter of fact uh continued pushing the administration to continue to to follow that uh the last board meeting actually I was able we got a report that I've been asking for for several years finally uh that showed how much money the corporation has uh and it actually
048surprised me how much money that we have uh under control of because I only thought we had to deal with the tax funds that uh we have but come to find out there's a lot more out there that we need to be aware of so Matt Miler district one so I could go on and on about this longer than a minute but I think one of the the greatest things that we've got going right now for us is probably one of the best Administration teams that I've seen anywhere around um and another great thing is the teachers contract I mean for the first time that that I know of and maybe ever uh we got we're not doing a teachers contract this year you know we can work on our teachers contract this year for
049next year and we're not waiting till October or however late in the school year to deal with a teacher's contract we got more time um just the the things we've done here at the high school uh the things we've done with vidiian on the maintenance plans for the the whole Corporation as a whole like I said I could go on and on I apologize I thought Mr Allen still needed to answer um okay uh our next question is aside from finances what do you think the corporation is doing well so finances aside what do you think the corporation is doing well and we're going to start with Curtis signs from district one well um I think for the most part Huntington has has good classroom teachers um you I happen to be one for 20
050years in this building and I knew a lot of the people that were in there and uh and the students I think uh appreciated the work that they put in um I think that uh you know the changes in this building are awfully good I think these are huge steps in the right direction diretion um other things that the corporation is doing well I would say that the facilities outside are very nice it's just how they came to be that uh upset some people so um but those are all things I think that are positive so Mike Richard District Six I'm sorry can you repeat the question one absolutely aside from finances what do you think the Corporation is doing well um I think Mr Hines hit it the the infrastructure that we've seen the
051improvements on this cafeteria is a good example of that um the Fieldhouse the gym the auditorium here at the high school alone state-of-the-art facilities a lot of schools would die for in these areas we've seen that benefit um The Learning Center the different robotics programs having all of that being able to be instrumental through the corporation um the elementaries and middle schools I think we could do a better job on some of the infrastructures um and cleaning those buildings up some and helping out and doing that same level that we've done up here but at the lower levels also Allen District 4 um I'll just reiterate the Mr lince brought up the Learning Center first I think he's exactly right The Learning Center has been a a real Beacon for Huntington um we are the
052everybody around us would like to have a learning center and uh would like to have the type of offerings that the that we offer there um but I don't want to stop there I mean let's let's be honest our our teachers uh are our great greatest resource um they are the ones that are responsible for those children U seven eight hours a day I know you guys take it very very seriously um and uh well it's it's easy to get emotional and passionate about things like that because I see it firsthand quite often and um I'm just here to help support that Matt Melcher district one uh most of it's already been said but um strategic planning's been huge that been a a big thing that's really helped gear a lot of things that have
053come to fruition um you know our graduation rate is gradually increasing it's on the up climb same with testing scores um and our District Maintenance plans Ryan Wall District s uh I'm going to focus on two individual programs I think it's been said but I think what uh principle Drummond's doing over at the Learning Center is second to none throughout the state um every time I have a chance to talk about the Learning Center uh to anyone uh it's it's an unknown Jewel here in the county let alone throughout the state and every time I have opportunity to talk about uh I love talking about that and then I think the robotics program also uh the vision that superintendent dhy had when he started expand in it not only to uh the elementaries but middle
054school and high school it's been a great thing uh having programs go to the state and National level uh in their first couple of years and then also having the the state superintendent of Education talk about the fact that Indiana has one of the largest robotics programs in the world is a good thing so Archie Lind District Six I've already spoken favorably about the Learning Center which was prominent with me in the process of uh learning about uh our Corporation and uh working to be involved with the school board I've come in contact with outstanding administrators and at Schoolboard meetings outstanding teachers that have come before them that I've been very impressed with I would say I hesitate to say this because I hate to sound uh too too uh complimentary in some ways but
055we have right now and our superintendent one of the finest Educators and leaders that you will ever meet in the search of a hundred years I know I'm from uh his uh Administration in Whitley County and I didn't want to say that that we have great administrators there is a problem though com okay thank you Kathy shock swingle District 4 thank you uh I'll say this I know they've all been singing the Praises of the Learning Center and I would a th% agree with that but it's been too long for him to get back into that I had nephews that had to be busted to wall bash to get any vocational training and what they've done with the Learning Center is beyond successful and I just hope it keeps up that way and just like
056uh everything else the kids are in band choir robotics all these clubs we have to support them we have to lift them up and just do the best we can for them David vanor district one so I'll Echo infrastructure Learning Center I I want to really emphasize the passionate teachers per support staff uh a real good shout out to the transportation department who has not had a m out at least since I've been here in the last four years and that has plagued other districts to have uh families find their own transportation to and from school and these guys are in the largest county like landwise and and they do a a fantastic job so big shout out to them um from the administration uh moving to their own CTE District uh so that Learning
057Center can grow and not be uh have have their hands tied by other districts and and really be able to uh you know create their own destiny Aaron Carl District Six I'm going um some of the best things that that we've got going on in our teachers our Administration all the the people that work in the school system the bus drivers uh we're doing great things now with the infrastructure um and and that's the stuff that I do for a living and we're doing a great job with that um I'm going to talk a little bit about the Learning Center uh I've got actually got a tour scheduled there on Wednesday and a discussion to have um I think they're doing great things there's a lot more that we can do and I and regardless
058of whether I win or not I am going to continue to push forward for that I'd like to see a relationship with the community the local businesses and get more kids out with hands-on experience prior to being able to graduation uh I think it'll do nothing but great things for our community as a whole so I really enjoy want to get there so what do you believe is the school's role in navigating the social emotional well-being of students so we ask you explain your answer and we're going to start with Mike Richard from district 6 I believe giving the student the best environment possible with all the tools awarded to us available to us whatever the teachers need to help we should be able to help facilitate that with parents teachers if you're not getting
059what you need for that student to help with the emotional well-being what do we need to do go to the building principal whatever resources we have available to us I I think that's probably one of the top three areas that we need to concentrate in are the physical emotional and EM well-being of the children and the students so whatever it takes Curtis Hines district one um I'll start with structure there's got to be structure um you know haven't been in this building for 20 years um I can say that schedules changed all the time um you know there was issues uh there were issues with with uh students in the hallways um you know there's got to be accountability for students and how they behave and uh and that's something that um building administration building
060Administration needs to to take more seriously um as far as uh accountability in the classroom I think it would be good to have uh uh cameras added to all the classrooms if you know if it's feasible and a teacher is is okay with it I think it should be up to them that way uh there's accountability and protection Aaron Carl district 6 from from my personal experience um the social and emotional well-being of the children is is should be first and foremost um I think we do have a disciplinary policy issue uh it seems to me that there's when someone's getting in trouble we we're not allowed to single them out and make make them responsible for their actions and we're not going to teach them responsibility if we're not doing that I see a
061lot of times where uh a group of kids get in trouble and there was only one person that took it too far um and and it's not helping that student be accountable for what for their actions uh I I've heard numerous times from principles that you know we've got kids that are guilty by association and I've even heard one time Guilty By Association by association and so something that I would like to to see helped out David vanor district one so to support uh social emotional learning um I think this goes to uh supporting mental health I have um kids who come home sometimes and their day at school has really drained them and they need a minute and so whatever program are available to help them during the day have worked and and now
062they're you know they're they're at home in it's a it's a challenge and uh supporting good life skills uh my daughter is in jrtc Chief Blair does a terrific job in uh advocating uh self-discipline uh life skills preparing yourself for after you leave this building for the real world Kathy shock swingle District 4 okay we sound like a broken record because we all say the same thing a lot of times uh I think the classroom is like number one the kids can't learn if there's a disruption every five minutes there has to be a way to control that and like they said responsibility if the kids aren't taught responsibility they're not going to stop doing what they're doing so that's one of mine Argie Lind district 6 yes would you be so kind as to
063repeat the question please sure what do you believe is the school's role in navigating the social emotional well-being of students and would you please explain I'm not sure I heard the last part of that but if you're talking about the emotional and physical safety of students and what can be done yes the students social emotional well-being students do need to feel both safe physically and mentally in order to have success in academics or anything else I taught school for 29 years at the fifth and sixth grade levels was able to have as much success with that as you could have but uh I don't know if I can extract that to a larger picture um it takes the same three entities to secure this as you have to get student academic success the parents the
064students and the teachers all have to be involved in uh addressing those type of issues um what happened in my fifth grade classroom was was that if there was a case of students bullying is what you're talking about bullying I think is a big part of it so I see my time is about up but uh that is a big problem and uh there there you are I'm out of time Ryan Wall district 7 this is an interesting topic because to be frank before I got on the board I probably not heard that phrase It's to me it's relatively new uh but uh I I go back I know I heard it someone said something about life skills I think those are important uh but I also think we have to realize too when that
065that that that social emotional connotation sometimes has a negative context uh nationally but I think we have to realize too that the world's changed I know Curtis and I graduated in 1996 and the kids from then to today are not the same and I think their home lives may not be the same as they were so I think that needs to all be uh thought about and and discussed and I think continuing to educate not only ourselves the board and the community about those issues are important and I think we do a good job but are we doing the best I I I don't know it's a learning topic for me and it's one of those things I know that a topic came up recently and we we did talk about it some more so
066Matt meler district one uh there's so many things that go into social and emotional um but you know it it starts at home when your kid leaves at home to the good morning when they get on the bus um to when they get to school and they're greeted um so it it's you know it goes everywhere to the great meals that your kids get um get a great start to the day to the bright lights in your classroom you know whether it's a dim dim light soft music you know calming whatever um but there there's so much that goes with the social and emotional um but you know just great staff um yeah that's about it Tim Allen District 4 I turn it off U right going last is tough uh because you do reiterate
067a lot of the things that you've heard uh I'm just want to add that um it's a real Balancing Act I think inside the schools between the administration the teachers U the bus drivers um the the cooking staff I mean they all are supporting those children um those children rely on that support um the social emotional status of a child is is very hard to gauge uh unless you spend a lot of time with them and uh the ones that do that are are the teachers and so we need to somehow find a way to come together with that and the parents um that's a difficult difficult Balancing Act and um it's something we'll talk about I'm sure over the next decade to try to figure out how to continue to get better about it
068okay we just want to say thank you once again for all of you coming out we are going to give you one minute if you have a closing statement we'll start with Mr Lin and go around if you have anything that you would like to add um that we didn't ask you about or just that you would like the public to know so Mr Lin um District Six well in conclusion um I think I can bring a lot of experience of life I am 76 years old and that's something you cannot get from a classroom or a book or YouTube to bear on this 29 years teaching School fifth grade level uh I've had many other jobs in life I won't go over them but I also think there's a daunting problem here and that
069is that I was uh brought up in the township system and I taught in the last Township system that exists in the state of Indiana it's 92 counties and uh that system there's a little red schoolhouse in Union Township that represents that education control from the bottom up and now we are at a point where with the cor incorporation where it's basically educational control like in a Communist Manifesto from the top down with the creation of the department of public education so I think what we can do is pretty much Limited in in time and scope by that fact but I'm willing to uh do what I could Kathy shock swing gold District 4 thank you and thank you guys for holding this panel I think it was a great idea I love it uh
070I think things we can look into as such as classroom discipline and keeping your you know if the kids are happy in their class they're going to pay more attention they're going to learn so there might need to be some changes up around in there and like I said education's my first and biggest thought fiscal responsibility I take that very seriously when I'm spending someone else's money thank you David Van Gord district one I again want to thank you guys for hosting this um in in closing I'd like to just say I uh am very proud to have children in this District I want nothing but the best for all students all staff teachers uh Etc um I was emotionally moved at parent teacher conference because how involved these teachers are in in our kids'
071lives and and they truly make a difference and you you get the best of my kids because that's what they feel you guys deserve and so um I want to say uh thank you and I will will work very hard to represent uh my district and and the county to uh progress this school district further thank you Aaron Carl District Six thank you for hosting this tonight um just like to say I'd like to be a voice that will stand up for what's right and open have open discussions from all sides of the fence whether it be a student a parent teacher administrator to do what's best ideas and discussions from all will only make things better I believe in the three the main three goals that everybody talked about tonight you know parent involvement
072transparency fiscal responsibility um but I'd like to go back to the Learning Center because I think there's a a lot of things that we can do with that as far as you know what I was talking about with with the advancing it um that program can help kids uh find a career path get their hands on and if they decide they don't like it it's a win because they go to do something else if they do like it it's a win because they they know what path they want to be on um employers will benefit uh this the community will benefit I I believe this is an opportunity that will bring more business to the to the community as well and I think the community the county the cities all need to work together in
073all of this Curtis Hines district one um thanks for having us up here tonight I appreciate it it's a good opportunity um when I graduated from from Huntington North I wanted to teach and coach here and I and I did um I've had a great time in this Corporation um it came to an end and now I'm teaching somewhere else but uh I still want to serve and and uh contribute to the corporation and uh being on the board is the best way I think that I can so um the perspective I think that I bring is is pretty unique I don't think there's anybody up here that has you know the kind of perspective that I have so uh I guess I'll leave it at that Mike Richard District Six thanks again for hosting
074this this evening I think it's been a great forum for everyone to get to know everyone a little better in the stances and views um I chose to move back here from Dallas Texas so my kids could be in this corporation that I went to and I'm proud that I did that and I'm happy to see all of the opportunities they've got today currently um I think we have some of the best Educators in the state of Indiana I think we need to do more to retain those educators and whatever we can Avenues we can find to help encourage that maintain that open door policy continue with the fiscal responsibility transparency and keep in mind most importantly this is all for the benefit of the child thank you Tim Allen District 4 uh thank you
075all for attending and for for hosting this forum um as the rest of the candidates said it's it's important um I commend all the candidates for running for elected position it's not easy takes a lot of courage and uh and you know God bless you guys um as far as the work we've done over the last few years couldn't be prouder of that um tough decisions were needed to be made uh a lot of things were honestly falling apart and this something had to be done and we did it um I think we have a lot of work to do when it comes to uh teacher compensation um we'll continue to focus on that and supporting them in any way we can Matt mure district one yeah um I'm you know everybody's pretty much the
076last towards the last people they always get the echo other PE what other people said but you know everybody's pretty much hit on everything but you know we live in a tough District where right next to some pretty well-off districts that um we're not fortunate with on numbers and stuff but I think we've done an excellent job in the past few years um doing with what we have and um I'm proud of everything we've done and I'm sure we're going to continue to get better and better and um just keep going with the goals we've set in place Ryan Wall District s I'm the last one so I get to close it out uh first of all I'd like to thank Amanda Mandy and John from hcda for putting this together uh the questions were
077awesome uh the pre-work was great uh I think you guys put a lot of effort into it I want to make sure you guys get acknowledgement for that um also I want to thank the fellow individuals running for for elected office uh it takes a little bit of courage to get up there and do that so I commend you all for that too uh now to to me in the last 30 seconds here um I've been on the board for for one term this is coming at the end of my first term uh and to tell you today um when I got on the board that first that first meeting I knew nothing and it's been a LIF it's been a a constant job of me learning what's going on and I want to continue
078to do that because this this there's so much involved in being a scoreboard member that you need to constantly be learning uh and I I want to challenge whoever does get on the board come in with an open mind and and be prepared to learn because there's a lot to do on that note have a great day thank you all for coming and um we encourage everyone to stay for the board meeting afterwards if you'd like but make sure to sign in thank you