001oh absolutely thank you everyone for taking the time to be here with us tonight and we're excited to be able to share this virtually with everyone as well and we are thrilled at the legal employment voters are here and providing this opportunity for our stakeholders to learn more about our campus so thank you very much hey all right is everybody ready okay good evening and on behalf of the League of Women Voters of St Louis and our hosts the Rockwood School District particularly Mary laughing who you just heard from and Regina Bueller who spent a lot of time making this happen we welcome you I also want you to know in case you want to text your friends that this is being live stream on YouTube in the district so on the district YouTube if
002you want to do that and it will also stay up on YouTube for a long time last year when this was streamed I will tell you that by the end of the week a week later we had over 12 reviews and that is still on YouTube if you want to watch it so um just so you know so you can tell your friends if they couldn't come here tonight they certainly can see it okay so my name is Kathleen Farrell and I'm going to be your moderator tonight and first of all I want to thank all the candidates for participating I think this is terrific sometimes we do some of the days of the candidates some candidates don't show up and I think that's disrespectful and I want to thank you for participating uh you're
003going to get to let three of these votes for three year terms so they are in order as they appear on the ballot Ms Lynn video Mr Thomas Dunn Ms Kerry Boker authors um Trisha Cat spot well he and I grew up in Chicago so I I thought I knew how to pronounce that and Mr Bob Canyon they're going to give their opening statements in that order because this is the ballot order and the lead believes that one of the best ways for voters to learn about people seeking election is to hear candidates in person and they answered questions in a civil underlying civil public forum many say that civil discussion of community issues is impossible since we are so divided and I know that you all have had some of these challenges in this
004District but I know that you've come here tonight because you care about your schools and you want to make a reason decision before you vote so in order for us to help you do that here are the rules that I think will make that happen candidates are going to have two minutes each for an opening statement everybody can hear you right okay then we're gonna have questions and those questions came from you not for me or anybody else some of you submitted them online beforehand and some of you are writing them now place and they're going to each have one minute to answer each question this is a good thing and you can say a lot in one minute uh everybody is going to have the right to speak to all questions even if there
005is a question that is addressed to a particular candidate and then everybody starting with Mr Kennedy down there is going too many closing station now here's your job write questions of general interest directed to one candidate or the group on cards which you have what I mean by that is I will not ask questions that are personal attacks on candidates or their personal lives and I have been following your school board it's one of the ones that I like to observe um to sort of follow the issues before I come do this and so you know what your issues are and I'd like you to write the questions about the issues okay I ask you not to applaud until the end of the Forum no matter how much you like something one of these great
006candidates has said or you dislike it um and not to disrupt the form in any way our goal is to get as many questions answered as we can in this time now our timekeeper Andrea Clark tough woman she's going to time all opening and closing statements and the candidates answers to questions she's got her 30-second paddle she has got a stock panel I am the veteran I am a veteran college professor who taught classes with sometimes 500 people in them let me tell you I can cut people off I was just told I've been cut myself but you know what I don't do that [Music] it's the moderator you're going to retain the option to combine some of your questions and for those who submitted them online have already done some of that but I
007will also tell you look a lot of people ask this question just so you have a sense of the concern in the community and I'm going to make sure that all of the candidates have an equal opportunity to answer them I'm going to make sure that these candidates stay on the topic okay now the league determines which questions from you all we're going to ask and we're going to do as many as we can try to prioritize them with the key issues in the district and enforce the rules if you want to take pictures or record this either with video or audio we're in a public place please do it okay but it also will be on YouTube so with that in mind does anybody have any questions we all know what our jobs are
008until you all have the biggest job of all and remember you can raise your hand when you need another card you can raise your hand when you have that question written and our two volunteers will come help fair enough with no further ado Miss you are first and if you can't hear any of these folks raise your hands in the back just wave on you so that they can speak I want to thank the legal women Builders and Rocket School District composting this event tonight I'm Linda yet and I'm running for the Board of Education I have a long history of service and public education including my work as a farmer assistant superintendent for partner districts with Special School District I began my teaching career right here in Brockton School District I also had experience
009in that area gift of Education and gifted education I've been on the Blackwood board for six years around 10 months and during the time I have served on numerous committees and I currently serve on the SSD governing Council and the education class board of directors so I bring a very unique skill set to the board I have executive leadership skills expertise is school Improvement processes and strong understanding understanding of budget development I value the importance of community engagement and teamwork most importantly I understand how an effective Board of Education functions so in December when I signed up to run again I had different reactions from people some said great so glad you're doing this but others said why in the world would you want to do that after the past couple of years what my
010response was simple the work is not done I want to provide leadership and learning to achieve academic excellence in a safe and caring learning environment for all students I am deeply invested in the Rockford School District quality public education is vital good health and wealth of our community I've had 30 years in the district at about two doors into Marquette High School three granddaughters that are in Rockford schools and I want to assure you that I will continue the work for every student and every family to be heard valued and for all students to reach full potential countries all right it's done thank you legal Women Voters and on the school district for hosting this evening I am Tom Dunn also on the Bell will be Thomas done I moved to Wildwood 11 years ago
011with my wife and family we chose Wildwood because of about the school district when I started seeing some things with Rockwood I figure the best way to become a part of it is to immerse myself in it and that would be to join the board there's always a board member from 2019 to 2022 I listened to all the emails all the patreon comments I had a conversations with a lot of parents teachers students Etc what I bring to the table also is the fact that I have that experience I also have experience with my career I am the U.S commercial sales manager for security screening sector which we do a lot of work with the state local government contracts as well as school districts so I understand the bid process as well as how to
012work with those government entities my education I have a degree from Brandon University in the history and psychology with line of political science my hobbies are I like to travel watch all my girls activities scuba diving and trivia outside of the experience of the board member I also founded the DHS Aquatics booster club I was the vice president and president of the Brockman swim club I'm a school official with Asia and why am I running well I still want to focus on student achievement facilities and security and fiscal management my campaign is self-funded I'm not asking for any donations thank you good evening I think the League of Women Voters for hosting the event tonight and each of you for your attendance my name is Carrie buckford and I want to be your Rockwood Board
013of Education director I'm a proud mom of two boys Brady and Bennett and my husband and I are products of the Robin Hood system currently I work for the American Heart Association I have spent my entire life in Rockwood I attended West Ridge Southbridge Lafayette I've seen Rockwood run and become a leading School District in our area in our state when I graduated from the zoo with a degree in elementary education there was no place I wanted to come back and teach but Rockwell during my 12-year tenure as a teacher I was awarded teacher here twice and I served on numerous school and District level communities ranging from District curriculum writing to school Improvement in teams to PTO staff liaison for the past 15 years I have been an active voluntary Rockwood I was the
014PTO president at Pond Elementary and I'm currently the PTO president in Eureka High School I've shared committees that have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the schools in our community in our community I rolled up my sleeves and helped in classrooms and school-wide events and co-chaired the successful citizens for prop T prime minister campaign in 2017 I was awarded the rock Converse award for the for my service to the district I would spend my entire adult life helping the students abroad I believe we have a lot to be proud of here and I'm running for the school board to give back to our community my top priority is to focus on education over politics and putting the needs of all students at the center or decisions I have a proven track record as a
015leader in our schools and community and I'd appreciate your vote all right Mr words up or excuse me uh Miss hatchback okay I I would like to thank the performance voters and the Rockford school district for hosting tonight to give us all a chance to get to know us better I am Tricia Karen spine my husband and I moved here from Springfield Missouri almost 10 years ago when my youngest was one we chose here we go not only for falling in love with town but also because of Rockwood all three of our children currently attend Eureka Elementary and our oldest will be attending LaSalle middle school next year I have been serving my country since I graduated high school almost 23 years ago and I work at a Jefferson Barracks and with the Missouri Army
016National Guard I have almost 20 years of active Federal service within the 23 years of traditional services I am currently attending Maryville University to finally finish my HR management degree and I have a certificate in leadership and Workforce Development from completing the United States strong Major Academy in Fort Bliss Texas I am a credentialed victim Advocate within the Missouri guard where I support sexually assaulted victims through their healing process I am also a member of the personal advisory Council within the Missouri guard where I where we write modified and create policies within the Personnel District why I'm running I have been serving our country in the state of Missouri for almost 23 years service is my calling now I want to serve where it matters most with our children thank you now visit Awards uh
017first way to thank the legal voted voters and everybody here for attending and listening to us all up here number one I'm a dad I'm a protective man I have three boys and one boys that go to Bedford Elementary my twins you'll be second grade and their oldest brother is in the fourth grade her mother and I chose Rockwood one she taught here about it for six years and then after being in Rockwood we chose the Adler Elementary's where we wanted to take our kids and so uh for a year and a half we were going around the neighborhood and now we were to find a house and we found and so that's why my voice turned back uh as I said I'm very protective and worried about my boys uh that's one of the
018reasons why I'm running I'm concerned about uh academics here in Rockwood we're a great District a good District to do better for academic scores have been going down for a decade and you've reverse that Trend and I like to be a part of that transparency like the racial transparency into a Rockwood sunlight is good medicine safety and then along with helping out our teachers I believe we're argument and pay for our teachers we should be in the top 10. and like the typical yard budget and move that forward and that's it I'm a single uh businessman that's worked for 28 years in a trash industry I have a lot of employees here in Kansas City and also had a business in Houston at assault thank you and finally thank you my name is Bob cabin
019and I'd like to start by thanking the League of Women Voters Rockwood School District and my fellow candidates for participating in this session you know it's not easy sitting up here and I hope you appreciate that when you're sitting out there in the audience unlike some of my peers here I'm a relative newcomer to the St Louis area I've only lived here 26 years I tell you what high school I went to but I don't think any it's on the New Jersey Shore however I did go to Westport and after that I served for 11 years in the army I got out of the RV and went to graduate school and met a young girl from the St Louis area and then we moved to St Louis for some strange reason currently I'm married to
020a teacher in the district together we have two children who are out of college and on their own one in high school one in middle school and a grandchild in elementary school so I think I can cover all the main platforms here at the district has to offer I'm running to give back to the community Service as has already been mentioned is probably key to every single one of us sitting up here I have a few goals as I look for look at my campaign first I'd like to help unify the community together there is nothing we cannot do I'd like to promote transparency between the district and the community at Large I'd like to help enrich our educational experience and I'd like to promote fiscal discipline because I am also a taxpayer just like
021everyone in here out there so in closing I look forward to a great evening talking with all of you and I appreciate your attention tonight thank you okay thank you so we're going to start the questions now we're going to share with you Mr Dunn and the first question is how would you work to hire and retain teachers and support staff in the district thank you currently the school district does a fantastic job doing that are we have one of the best retention rates in the same in this area when it comes to uh teacher retention rate and three years uh starting here in fact with the most out of all the like Ledoux Clayton Lindbergh even the school districts that pay more than Rockwood does our teachers stay here so that means there's something
022about Rockwood that a lot makes them want to be here as far as uh recruiting them if we already do a lot to do that we go to job fairs we go to HBCU universities to try and pick up uh you know obviously trying to increase the demographics of minority of teachers so what we would do to support staff I mean we already as far as the only way you know 89 of our operating income goes towards payable so there's really not much more we can do in terms of enticing all right that's right so excuse me I believe that we need to have a positive culture in our district to reprove and retain our teachers um as many of you know in this room it's been a little bit toxic we've been pitting side
023against side and if I was coming out of college I don't know if this is a place I would want to work so as a board member I would want to help try to help our community heal we also need to sit competitive with our salaries as well and provide the resources that our teachers need to do their job okay thank you I miss cattle we still have some unused covid money that has already been approved for things like Teachers Pay we could compensate our teachers more right now to retain and hire the best Educators for Rockwood Rockwood is not the taupain district it does not necessarily have to be the first in the state but there is room for improvement the district can reallocate Resources by hiring more paraprofessionals and support staff to give
024teachers a better work schedule and workflow throughout the day we can give teachers better training focused on upward mobility and gaining more certificates for work different positions within the district rather than training that is focused on the latest buzzword from an education consultant the worst book can you repeat the question again please uh what would you do to work to hire and retain teachers and support staff well the top standard attention is great here at Rockwood because we are a good District as a business owner useless programs and I'd like to people into that budget rearrange it and put some more money for our teachers we get higher pay we'll get more more people to come in and try and do the job here at Rockwood for a higher quality and also that will help
025with retention as well so the tension could be achieved at home thank you Mr cadigan thank you reputation that's where hiring and retaining any employee starts from we have to have a reputation of a district that teachers want to work here Forge and a recent article tells us that 16 of all schools that were 16 sorry that school districts are facing a 16 shortage nationally we don't have that here yet in Rockwood but if we're not careful we will to attract and retain teachers we need to have a support environment that supports them both from our parents our community and our Administration that can be informed with professional development supports that and protecting their planning time teachers will stay in a district they want to work at that's what we need to be thank you
026Ms these are all great ideas I'll add that I think one of the things that we need to develop here in the rapid school district is a culture of respect for our staff our teachers our administrators and I think that would really help with the retention piece we started the school year on with all of all of our teaching positions full of and some of the other positions salary benefits is always a consideration and as far as recruiting new teachers there are Partnerships we can do with different universities uh we can some districts are growing their own teaching preparation program are some of our classroom assistants can go into the field of teaching with some additional coursework always looking for some ways to be creative and make sure that our classrooms are probably in the
027staff but I really want to go back and focus on that culture of respect which is very crucial for our for our district and we're going to start with you with youth both online and tonight what we think success in students is and a number of them are concerned about standard ways of measuring academic success so let's start with how do you define success for students so as a former teacher I think a lot of parents and community members look at success for a district based on test scores and I am here to say that that is just one snapshot of Student Success in the district students need to feel safe secure and feel like they belong in their school in order to be successful citizens in their our society so when I say what
028is a successful District it means that people want to move to this District because we have high test scores we have a culture of respect our students have plenty of activities which we do a fantastic job here in Rockwood so that's what success is it isn't just about testing and test scores it's about the whole child thank you on this cat's life I agree with Carrie what it doesn't always subverty or doesn't always measure up to the test scores I do believe that it's the whole student's aspect especially because we are I want to say grooming we're growing our children to be the Future Leaders of us they are going to be sitting here next to us so we need to be able to hold them accountable and become those Future Leaders when I see
029the soldiers that we have coming out of the high school these days they do not meet the standards for the military so I'm just curious if their meetings the um standards as they graduate in high school so we need to grow those people to be successful when they graduate okay thank you Mr Wurzbach I deal with a lot of young men in the trash business and uh that's Tricia said uh they're not coming out prepared right now in high school or for success for schools kids need to be ready to live on their own manage their finances good academic skills but also basic living skills and I I deal with it every day and I would like to come in and school board and see what these standards are and change a few things and
030put in some Financial classes and so on to help people move on because if they don't want to go to college they need to have life skills to move out and take out other jobs and take care of their household thank you Mr Connecticut Rockwood's mission is to help every student reach their full potential for some students that's a great ACT score so they can get into the college they want for others it's getting into a job right after graduation or maybe even trade school our job should be to develop our graduates so that we have we graduated responsible young adults who are able to meet their future where they want to go very good question please yes the question is how do you define success in your student one of the things that I
031would like to do to help answer that question would be to ask our students ask our our graduates and see words the students are five years ten years out of out of high school I actually think being academically prepared to go on to the College of their choice or to to a work situation or any type of training situation is is crucial um I believe that I would find six find a measure of success and the level of critical thinking skills is to enhance how they can make judgments in this very complicated world that we find ourselves in also I think success is how they are as those obstacles that we hear employers talk about all the time and I think a lot of people reference skills as well is how how do they get
032along with their teammates how do they manage their time so I guess okay that was successful finally history done successful students well-rounded education uh with that includes obviously curriculum as well as activities to prepare those for either college or immediate career whether it be in the trains military or a track of their choice ultimately we are responsible logos responsible for securing their future which is our children start with you this time this is and several people um talked about and this is something that you all know and I don't about communicating math scores so I put those questions together and I'm asking you how should Missouri map scores be communicated to Rockwood citizens not just parents and staff but Rockwood citizens if you want to start with that well I think all a bunch of
033us up here are working on transparency that we all can give back to the community so one way would to get to the community would be put in your local papers I mean the education that the taxpayers are paying for they should have some evidence of that so I would say put it out in the local papers thank you Mr where's the what about you uh transparency show those scores not just from the current year uh compare them from all years uh five ten years show the show if it's a product going up or down so people that see what's going on so stakeholders in our community can understand what's going on and put that up on the website print it out in a in a periodical but also have a website dedicated or Ariana
034website dedicated that shows the scores and shows how our kids are performing in school okay thank you Mr Kennedy sure one of the things most school districts need to take a look at is who do they consider their Community when they report information is more than just the parents as has already been mentioned the community includes parents teachers and all taxpayers and even students I think Rockwood does a great job already at posting a lot of information online you just have to know it's there and know where to find you that's where I would say Rockwood needs to focus on how do we make the information easily accessible online and communicate to folks that it is online and where to find them I'm not against other methods small pamphlets small articles things of that nature
035that could Point people in that direction I think those would all help okay thank you very much there's an annual report that is applied to the board we've just had that beginning of February and here it is and that is online it's on our website and it can be accessed through our board docs as well but I think it would also maybe would be beneficial to have other types of communication pieces to go out more broadly to our community to be able to get the word out there because as I said earlier I have a background of continuous Improvement so we always need to be looking at our information and looking at ways to improve and as a community we need to do that together okay there's been done a lot of it's already been
036said uh we already post a lot of the testing results on the website make a little bit more user friendly so it's not multiple clicks but just one click or two clicks uh something else that they can add right now all they really do is show how we perform versus the state or the nation and I think what would be beneficial to the community members is how we how are we doing amongst other districts in our area and use that as a metric to figure out if how we're performing if they're going up down which district is before I go it's going to be nice but we're all performing that doesn't make another competition but just selling for eign so um I'm going to Echo what several people have already said Rockwood just shared their
037annual report at the last Board of Education meeting in our department of communications also shows out the annual report that gets mailed to all homes Max scores are publicized in the Post-Dispatch as well so community members can look at that stores in that way they are on a registered website I agree that sometimes it's a little bit hard to navigate rapid's website so that is definitely an area okay thank you very much um and finally Miss casa are you already answered it okay all right we're gonna start with you this time uh Mr words right okay um several people have asked a question that's um that's similar to other questions so it has to do with this movement called the parents Bill of Rights so a couple of people have asked specifically whether or not
038you support that Nationwide movement other people have asked what role should parents have in in the classroom in in terms of determining curriculum determining method etc etc so I'd like you to address those issues uh uh state house instead right now I have not read them at home but I have for parents rights and from the pieces of what I heard from it I am 100 from what I've gathered uh for because I know the people that are pushing it through and there are people of Kepler uh parents rights are of the utmost importance when it comes to children and I don't know no one should come in between a parent and her child unless there's drastic situation that's it Mr category sure I am in favor of the concept of parents and them having
039rights I do not know the specifics of the current legislation but I do think parents should be intimately involved in their children's education I know Line work I think parents should be involved in curriculum development and I'd love to see more of them do just that I'd love to see more parents abortion of Education meetings talking about what they see in the schools and what they're hearing from their children and I'd like to see them support the school through PTO and other organizations so that they can become actively involved in participating in the whole curriculum and the whole spectrum of schools thank you thank you I am somewhat somewhat aware within the parent bill of right because I attend different meetings where there's where it is discussed excuse me some of the pieces I feel
040are beneficial some of the pieces that I see are problematic um but that will be worked out at our state legislators um in reference to how students how parents are involved in in what goes on the classroom I think absolutely that the parent voice is so so important and because I believe in local control I think the rapid parents should be determining what is taught here in Rockwood and in collaboration with the schools there's different venues to do that it's honestly the strategic planning process but and also our curriculum approval process really brings parents in into that way of doing things so as much as parents can be involved against me I believe yes I believe the parents Bill of Rights I'm not very well the first time at all but I do understand the
041concept I think the school district teachers and parents should be working together on what is most important which is educated with children Rock Rockwood's curriculum uh committee are formed by Administration and invited representative currents to decide what classes and materials will be taught I believe that successful curriculum development is a partnership between all stakeholders including parents parents should be able to access materials that are put in front of the schools but we should be hiring top Educators and administrators who have the ultimate responsibility to prepare lesson plans that if you're to agreement I think he anticipated Miss Parker so um I am Vaguely Familiar with the stick the state level legislation with parents Bill of Rights but one thing um I have a little bit of insight is being involved with curriculum development in Rockwood
042and as a parent I think it is important that your voice is heard um from the very get-go when Rockwood starts a new curriculum parents have the opportunity to complete the questionnaire and making voice their concerns or things that you'd like to see change with curriculum and therefore it goes to the professionals that develop the curriculum and then it comes back for review from a parent advisory committee so they have multiple times to have input with our so I guess indeed think that parents should be about it I think that they have resources that they can share from their professional stances that they can share how we can improve here at Morocco I miss cancer I attended the same um function that rich all of us actually attended it last Saturday about the Bill of
043Rights for the parents and I am for it I have not indulged in all the information I don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to go through all that but um hearing them speak about it I do believe in it as for parents role in the classroom parents should be as active as possible within the classroom and involved in the education process for children the goal for parents and teachers are to be partners we should not be fighting against our teachers we should be there with them partnering up with them for the curriculum I know that Rockwood did not have their curriculum nights like like they usually do a beginning of the school year so I believe we should bring that back thank you so this time we're going to start with Mr
044cadigan and we're going to ask them I have bunched some what I think are tougher questions for us all to think about in the middle so we're going to start with the first one and this came two people one here and one online do you think elected school board members should be helped the same votive ethics That Rock with staff are in regards to social media posts and statements made at public events why or why not okay thank you and thank you for starting with the heart of it uh no I don't think this should be held to the same standard I think they should be held to a higher standard all right one of the things is we represent our community when we're elected into these positions that's right what we do in social
045media or in a restaurant on our own time and reflects on the community once you're elected to a job you have that job 24 hours a day seven days a week the standard should be higher and we should hold ourselves to it our community deserves no less you we take ethics only our sworn as board members and we also have a code of conduct as well and I believe that I agree with Bob 100 when you become a board member your life does kind of change you have to remember that you're representing the District 24 7 wherever you are and whatever you do you because people know you and your behavior Can is out there so absolutely I believe that we should be held to a higher standard and what do you proposed are you
046discussed thank you Mr Dunn hi are you with Bob and and Lynn that we should be held accountable to the same standards if not more as one said we do you know as a quarterback will be taken off of conduct and ethics I think social media is in a way of being out of existence because of what all the problems that it causes we should not be on social media at all when it comes to being a board member or even you know people expressing their employees of Brockton School District you know what because their opinions also reflect what the school district is okay thank you Miss blocker um I agree we should be held to a higher standard we are a direct reflection of our district and our community and I think it's important
047that we are role models for our students we hold our students to a very high standard we hold our staff members to very high standard and we should be holding the Board of Education to the even higher standard and we should be treating each other with different thank you This Cat's fun I believe that we should be held to a higher standard and the National Guard our soldiers who attend their weekend and month drill they do not know they do not understand that they are representing the National Guard every day of the month not just when they're wearing the uniform but every day and that goes back to us as well we should wear a direct reflection of the district and at least you can help to pass our standard thank you Mr wurzba uh
048I think the question is no longer hard I agree with everybody here really okay you ready for this one all right this year in the Board of Education voted not to continue three programs designed to empower students do you support programs designed to support one group of students for example by race by gender bisexual identity why or why not repeat that question yes this year the Board of Education voted not to continue three programs designed to empower students of color in this District do you support programs designed to support one group of students either by race or gender or sexual identity why or why not I think the hard part of this question is what you talked about by Grace by such a identity um I support programs that meet the needs of all of
049our students and those programs may be differentiated for different groups of students the example would be rccr give to program that's a group you know it's out there for a particular group of students so that's where we need to be thinking how are we going to meet the needs of all of our students into the most promising may look different for different groups okay thank you Mr Dunn your answer would be uh no we should not have programs specific for one demographic that we want to make sure that we appeal to everybody so that means if there is a program in place it allows everybody to be a part of it not just one specification and that's why that's why the the contract we've already done okay this boxers so we are public education and
050we have to educate all of our children and if our children do not feel safe and secure in a learning environment then they're not going to learn so we need to have safety nets for those students it might be for a certain demographic it might be for that kiddo that's struggling in reading class and they have a reading intervention teacher it might be the kid that's coming to the United States for the first time and needs help with learning a new language so yes I do agree and according to close the achievement gap between some of our groups we need to take a look at that in this event it took a lot of Courage for the board of directors to tell the District staff they wanted to see changes in what has become a
051pretty political divisive topic I scored their decision we should not be dividing students and parents of between Hillcrest and oppressors unfortunately that's what a lot of the language in the Dei program does I believe that we should have a safe environment for our students but they should be advised of those resources they need at the time when they need them not necessarily for everyone okay thank you Mr worshman it's an important question can you repeat that again yes uh this year the Board of Education voted not to continue three programs that were designed to empower students of color do you support programs that are designed for a particular group of students by race gender sexual identity fully support what the board just did I do not think we need to divide our kids by race
052or by color there's a man out there he had a dream and there was a great speech and a great life which is forgotten judge a man by the continent is a character not by the color of the skin we need to stop dividing people by race and by car divided or weak United or strong and this division needs to stop that's it District Academy when I went to school we had a program for slow readers average readers and for Accelerated readers that was not the same program for all readers but all students have the opportunity and the requirement to be in a reading program I think when we look at any of our programs we need to provide access to all of our students to meet their needs those might not be identical programs
053because every child's need is a little bit different as was already mentioned some students who are coming in from overseas might have more of a language problem some students who are coming in from the inner city might have some social problems so we need to tailor our responses but make sure that same type of service is available for all students who need it independent of the factors just mentioned okay as you're done we're going to start with you this time here is a relating question that appeared more than once I'm going to put two questions together and I think you can answer them very quickly or yesterday one of the best do you believe that trans students should particularly be able to compete in one person said female sports and let me add the second
054piece of this do you think that teachers should ask for students chosen pronouns use them even in front of their parents so these are related and you can probably answer them yes or no although I'm not requiring enough but I'm trying to put these concerns together okay so Mrs Barker so as a school district we follow the rules that are stated by Malaysia with Missouri State High School athletics Association so I support black magella rules with that and then regarding teachers for programs Rockwood has a policy where teachers must follow what the parents request for the student to be called okay thank you this cat's fight I do not believe that um transgendered um a male should not be allowed to compete in females Sports now I do not believe in that and I do
055not believe that the teacher should ask for pronouns okay uh Mr word's book Capital little capital l okay Mr Academy I support Rockwood's current policy for pronouns and addressing students I think we should follow the parents lead on that and that conversation should occur between the students and the parents as was also mentioned the decision on where what sports transgender students participate in is being decided at the state level a supportive education it is out of our control we need to follow what the state directs us to do okay uh [Music] Nisha and also in reference to following our board policies reference to student names and programs okay thank you all right on we go should School staff and faculty be armed yes or no one why that's a really tough question and I was
056recently asked that by a student in journalism that about knocked me off my chair I was ready for it so um you know I've had lots of conversation with folks about safety and isn't it a sad time that we even have to worry about this in our schools and um I would be willing to um well first of all I support her Safety and Security protocols at Rockwood has a place that being said are we perfect no we have room for improvement for Safety and Security of our kids but before I supported something I think we have a lot of research to do we have professionals that we can speak to with a law enforcement so I think we could collaborate with some of the stakeholders before we meet a district as a member of
057the Armed Forces I support um carrying weapons I do believe that if we are not going to allow Ed um some Educators to be able to carry to protect themselves and our students then we do need to have our school resources at every school not just when they can make it to that school okay thank you Mr worth I am definitely open to the idea I think there are a few school districts now that have implemented that want to see how it's going there and I would like to have armed security at every school that that sharing of security people needed at every school but then it's an interesting concept and if that's kind of if it's working in other districts I'm all for more safety of keeping our kids protected especially from outside song
058thank you Mr Kevin I was also in the Army much like Trisha I was taught don't draw your weapon unless you intend to shoot don't shoot unless you intend to kill I would hate to see us teaching that to a teacher I think our current problems with security in the schools is atrocious it's a sad reflection on our society today I would like to ensure all of Rockwood schools are safe and secure and I think there's many things we can do to achieve that I think we should actively engage professionals to ensure we're taking the right steps to protect our kids but I don't think having teachers shoot those kids is a good idea okay do you think that teachers and staff should yarn well as I said during the opening statement is I want
059to ensure that we have academic excellence in the in a safe learning environment so safe safety means a lot of things I think the district needs to continue to study their safety protocols and we'll just see what their options are to ensure our students are safe because Kerry said we presently we have raised my gun through some training uh and I know the district is actively pursuing additional resources okay thank you thank you Mr Dunn in my way to work I've had the privilege to meet a gentleman that uh unfortunately had a solid tragedy where his son died in Mount Fort Lauderdale he started safe schools for Alex and one of his top points was to staff every school with at least one of our school safety officer not a teacher but that's not wrong
060that is right now Rockwood has sros but not in any schools I think we should definitely have an armed SRO at each school and that would start off with the safety particle thanks I'm sure I'm right here is that correct here another one of these all right um there were six questions about banning books and two people said that there is a move in this District to ban books I cannot attest as to whether or not that is true or not but what is your position on that and what is your position on the recently filed ACLU suit to protect Librarians in the state of Missouri from such legislative action I am not necessarily familiar with that Series so I have to yeah all it is is that they are arguing that Librarians should not
061face legislative restrictions on what books are in their life based on some of the books that I have seen in my daughter's school I believe that there needs to be a little more um oversight in those books the reading materials that we need to reflect the values we share as parents in Rockwood we can provide world-class Education Without providing young children with Graphics sexual materials connecting with parents is important part of being a director on the board I want to get opinions and give voice to all the parents who would like to challenge folks with sexual themes pictures or stories example we do not need parents coming to board meetings trying to prove a point by reading materials that are inappropriate for public meetings and classrooms we need to handle those challenges before our comments
062okay thank you Mr worst events repeat the questions yes that is a number of people can ask what your position is on what they perceive as a move to ban books within this District and this is coupled with a number of other questions which say what is your position on the currently filed suit by the American civil liberties Union to protect and I'm using that language from the student Librarians from legislative restrictions oh actually I know about this it was for the teachers but all any books that are already against the law pornographic or so much easily and then uh I'm learning about the book committees on both Banning or particular you know some sentencing boundaries for books and that's something I want to look into there is a concern kind of concern about some
063of the material that our kids are reading and have access to and uh it's alarming and I'm an investigative thank you Mr cadigan I was recently approached by a student and asked about the support look band yeah specifically if I could start with the eighth grade math book I believe all material in our library should be made to program I would not expect to find the same book in the elementary school library as I do the high school library I also believe in local control I think the best judge of what should be in the Rockwood School District Library libraries is the Rockwood School District not in the state of Missouri or the United States legislators I also think parents should have control over what their students or children have access to but one parent
064should not be able to dictate that standard to another parent that is for each parent to decide individually I do not know the merits of the ACLU case but if it follows what I just said then I support it we have a process in place in Rockwood called book selection and it books that are challenged and I support that process and then we get to a point where that process is no longer a viable then we need to review you can follow our our another process for looking at our policies I am not familiar with the lawsuits I can't speak to that Mr Dunham um I'm not really for book Banning I believe in age-appropriate literature that means if you know what Mr Kennedy said it's why would you have a high school book in
065a grade school that's seven I believe that school libraries are different than the public library because not everybody has access to the school libraries only the students use so therefore once again into the age appropriate this District does have book selection process that should probably be review a little bit to make sure that it is followed and as far as the book challenge committees are concerned they are an unfortunately biased out of 14 members there's only four parents that are on the book challenge committee so therefore it's always going to sway in the district's favor that needs to be reviewed a little bit of book challenges that I was a part of there were really no things that were bad I'm going to Echo what Lynn said regarding the book challenge process and the book
066review of the committee the other thing that I'd like to say is our light rooms go through a huge vetting process when they're choosing books for our libraries they would use like they use many journals they look at quality literature they look at award-winning People literature they spend a lot of time before they make purchases for our school libraries I trust our librarians the same thing I'm going to say though is that parents have the right to choose if they don't want their child to have a book come home and I support that as well okay thank you everybody had a chance now to answer this question then we're going to start with Mr wurzba ready well now we're going to talk about taxes a little bit of a break uh because of prop P
067failed last year the district needs to find funds for safety maintenance and technology updates do you think that property should be presented to the voters again this year if not how should these costs be covered money with property I'm always someone else's folks no taxes but I know our school district needs help with buildings and infrastructure and so on and we need to raise money to keep good teachers big prop opinions to be sold better to the public explain better and maybe not this time around or over the course of a year and a half we explain it uh there's a great communication tool that we have uh Cardinals parents affordable parent Square uh can we explain some of this over time what is needed and why product viewer would change the name of the
068prompt to why taxes need to be raised more information thank you I've been to several board meetings now and the discussion of future your future your finances has come up I haven't heard specifically that we need a new proposition but as the taxpayer myself I am anticipating that will be a recommendation at some point in time I don't know that the board should pursue that in this calendar year but I absolutely believe that if the board does pursue another proposition they should clearly communicate to the voters why it's needed and what it's going to do for the community at Large I don't think we did a very good job the last time and I think we need to do better but I also think we need to understand what are the alternatives and then what's
069the trade-off between those short Alternatives that's the job of the board thank you I think at some point in time we're going to have to put something on the ballot another position to be able to update our buildings many of them are Marquette High School I think is 30 years old so I don't have time to do just some cycle maintenance and some other things that need to be done that doesn't mean that necessarily tax includes because the bond issue is something different than that period great thank you Mr Dunn company property was not fully supported because of misinformation the district also did an important job communicating to the public exactly how it's going to work we're definitely going to need it in the future whether it be this year or next year as Lynn
070said we have 33 buildings in this District all but for over 20 years old and they're all going to need infrastructure was going to solve that problem and with uh with with that with that ability to have something back out there it all out rock with the floors and you have all of our buildings up the code and giving the best learning and finding information so I want to clarify that property was not about a tax increase and I'm not going to put it in Palmer within 10 words but Bond yeah it was actually removing money from one one product to another for employment's terms I'm not an accountant obviously um but what I know is that we have a lot of deferred maintenance on our buildings we have old buildings that need new roofs
071new HVAC systems we have to find a way to fund that cycle maintenance um I'm proud of the schools we have in Rockwood any of you have ever been to other school districts we have fantastic buildings and we do a great job with that so I think Rockwood could have done a better job educating our community we didn't have very many open sessions that's what we did when we passed prop T in 2017 and the the stakeholders were able to be a part of the process and I think that we need to do a better job with that if we move forward Miss cat I was going to say the same thing Perry did but it was just moving around funds it wasn't in Floor tracks increase we had a sustainable Revenue stream in our
072foreseeable future and current Surplus that covid relief funds combined with the forecast of declining enrollment so the district level staff and board of directors have a big responsibility to be conscious of Spenders and use our money wisely long-term growth focused projects and build-outs thank you everybody's answered this now we start with you Mr questions all right yeah several people are concerned about the legalization of recreational marijuana okay and they want to know what you're going to do make sure that you have a drug-free school song so just like alcohol I don't believe marijuana has a place in our school buildings I think we have to take a look at what our prevention and detection mechanisms obviously it's going to be hard to smoke in the classroom right with the teacher in front of a room
073but certainly there are many things done in the bathroom and I do recall several of my classmates of course not me trying to smoke a cigarette during High School I think we have to take a look at how aggressive do we get a monitors smoke detectors those kinds of things can be done but we also have to balance that with a little common sense uh let's not go too far down in 1984. thank you it's a complicated questions so I I think that issue is very challenging for any organization um so are you talking adults are we talking students at a certain age adults with medical cards so so there's lots of different factors to it so I think it would be something that would take some study on the district's bar a lot of
074research and looking around some of our neighboring District districts to see what things they are putting into place hey Mr Dunn complicated question um today's day and age and technology is even vape marijuana so I mean it makes it very very difficult for the ability to even do smoke detectors to see if it you know go off so you know obviously there should be nobody on campus that has it I do know that kids get in trouble for even having a vamp in their car if they happen they have to search so as far as trying to curtail the legalization of marijuana would have to treat it just like every other thing that's on the district and that is you know put into the policies and to make sure that the kids do those booths
075and staff are going home I agree it is a tough question and especially having a high schooler and hearing some of the stories of things that are going on in the bathroom um so I know our high schools are trying to be proactive I'm at Eureka High School they just implemented a lanyard system to try with where kids are going when they're going to try to curtail babies and other things that are curtailing in the in the bathroom s but I support our policies to be drunk and alcohol-free thank you this cat is fun difficult question in the military we are in the county name this currently because it is legal in so many different states and now they still have to abide by that standard so a lot of our soldiers we have not
076seen a increase in our drug positive soldiers but we know it's going to happen and we're already getting the questions if we should be allowing it I do not believe that we should have any type of drug in our school or alcohol or anything but I believe that it is going to be a daunting task to try to Corral it as I'm very excited it's all over in the bathrooms but we need to hold everyone accountable for what and if they do for taking those recreational if okay I agree with what's going to set up here and if we need to tighten out tighten up our policy we need to type it up this is a safety issue we have a lot of people a drug our kids do not need to be uh accessing
077apps we need to limit it as much as possible and of course talk to the police about any assistance we could have with him um I definitely would like to type because you know to marijuana in our schools okay I want to give you all hope [Music] that I'm going to ask class and then we're going to go to closing statements um let me just say that there were a number of questions that I think probably belong being answered in that final statement by candidates things like what is your agenda you know why are you running for this some people said you want to get certain things done some people said is this a stepping stone for you for a higher office um some people have asked you know what is your experience with working
078with Rockwood students and I'm assuming two of them who asked that think that that is a really important qualification summer asking about your leadership experiences and managerial experiences and people ask about personal characteristics now I'm assuming since you've been doing this for a while you thought about those things and they probably at least some of them around your final statements but is that fair enough so I don't think I didn't ask those questions I think they belong in the final statement so I'm going to ask the final question and I couldn't ask every single question but we're getting to 12. for six people I know that these candidates will be willing to stay here if I didn't get to ask your question it wasn't that I didn't think it was important it was that I
079was trying to cover as many different issues that I think are serious in the district to me a surprising number of questions filled with relationships between the board and teachers I'm going to combine three of them doesn't Nea endorsement of the school board candidate command um do you think that teachers are professionals that you work with on an equal basis and finally and what about you working with the Union I think that those all speak to you know the same kinds of things and so I would ask you to address them as you feel fit and this last question we're going to begin with Ms minion okay okay does an endorsements patterns for me anyway several people two view teachers as equal professionals with you and pray how will you work with the Union I'm
080going to go with the easiest one to answer first and then do I see teachers as an equal with a course I am a teacher that's my background at 31 years in education there's no more important relationship in our school system than that student teacher the relationship that's where the work happens and the rest of us be it the principal the area of superintendent the board we are here to ensure that that relationship thrives because again there's where the work happens so that's my false respect for teachers at a crossword District does an endorsement matter 70 of our teachers are part of the RR Nea in you know for 70 of our staff to say we endorse you as a board member yes absolutely it matters and how would I work with our association because
081I'm going to use that word instead of the Union okay Mr Dunn your turn I believe all people are evil so that means teachers are the same as my profession in sales or somebody else's profession as a nurse or someone's doctor or architect or whatever they're all working professionals so therefore they're all legal in regards to any RNA endorsement I don't think they should be doing it at all the reason for it is because when it comes time to contracts the board has to separate themselves from the RNA if you're an RNA endorsed candidate or board member working with the RNA Wisconsin therefore it should be separate how many of the teachers that are even sitting here in the audience um have high level degrees they have master's degrees they have Doctorate Degrees um so
082they're holding degrees that are higher than many of the people that are sitting in this room regarding any are any endorsement I think it's important to have the backing of the teachers the teachers impact our students and they're the ones that are in the down on the down on the floors in the classroom reading to them and when we look at our teachers and we look at their impact um they have a they have a lot to say they're the ones that thought that lower classes they're the ones that fought for our kids to have safe and secure secure environments RNA members are teachers of the year they're your kids favorite teacher that came to their baseball game so of course I think it's important regarding the union our district board of education does not
083negotiate with them that's fine I believe the teachers are incredibly important and are some of the most important people and careers that anyone could have they are definitely equal if not higher they mold our children like Harry said they have degrees higher than I know towards me but lots of other people in here but um they are definitely equal for the RNA endorsements I do not believe its importance I believe that like Tom said it's a conflict of interest and when they are up there that we should be not um they should not be the reason why we are doing things and with them being indoors that is just a conflict of interest and how we work for words about teachers are definitely equal footing and uh in some areas more because we're entrusting our
084kids and their care when we're not around uh now when it comes to the NBA rnea I agree with Trisha when you're sitting down with people at the total conflict of interest on one side of the table and the other side of the table you have when you have a the same representative Representatives on the both sides for the table working it's it's it's not a negotiation and on the Nea front uh what they they're more of a my opinion a political art and not a teacher not for the teachers with a lot of political agendas in with the AAA RMA thank you I'm gonna have to start off by disagreeing with several maybe even most of my peers doing I've been on West Point Cadet an army officer a corporate vice president teachers and
085nurses are not my equal they are by far my Superior and we should treat them that way and I'll make no bones about that Ronald Reagan took an endorsement from the Teenage Teamsters again and had no trouble firing the air traffic controllers I think it's not much of a conflict of interest I will take any endorsement that comes locally from Rockwood from any organization that is part of this school district if it means I am doing a better job supporting this community and if anybody thinks a political donation of any kind even just a comment would any way move me knowing the West Point code of efforts you've got another thing coming thank you okay everybody hanging in there so if we go four minutes over it's okay okay Mr cadigan we're going to start
086with your closing statement and you don't have to use all of this thing can I buy something somebody else wow look at this group we have here tonight a veteran and a current service one two board veterans three Business Leaders and two ladies with an in-depth knowledge of our school system any District should be proud of this slate of candidates but you can only elect three of us I hope this forum has helped you make that decision I'd like to give you a little perspective I think the board last year hiring Dr Kane was a good first step in moving this District forward but Dr Kane can't do it alone he needs a board that is going to help support him and help unite the district teachers students staff and the community at Large the
087question for all of you is who do you feel the right candidates to do that are do we want to be a school district that's been in the news for some of the things we've been in the news on lately or rather would we like to be in the news as a district known for our openness and acceptance for our high academic standards and for our continued pursuit of Excellence that's the question for all of you and I hope this forum has helped thank you very much uh Mr wordbot you're next uh thank you again for all coming [Music] today we've heard us answer a lot of questions I stand by all my statements stand by what I said um as in Rockwood great School District amazing parents amazing teachers but we need to work
088on our academics we need to raise him up that's one ways that I want to be on a school board uh transparency safety teachers um there's a there's a lot of things going on a lot of agendas that are inside our school system and yes we are in the news we are in the news for things that I don't think we should be in the news for there's a lot of narratives out there and we are a good group of people and as a Rockwood representative I want to make sure that uh the good people are represented that's it thank you thank everyone for coming tonight and getting taking the time to get to know us better and again thank you for the league of foreign voters for organizing this event why I'm running is
089because I enjoy serving my community I've done it my entire career that is who I am is to serve people and I stepped up because I was frustrated with some of the code with policies that we had to go through I would be a physical response a physically responsible representative for all the taxpayers your children can count on me to be a positive role model while serving as director I support the teachers and I want to ensure that they are taken care of I want to be as transparent as possible with everyone in the district and I want to advocate for ever for the teachers taxpayers and for the children okay thank you very much Miss Parker I just want to thank everyone in the audience and those of you that are viewing Online for
090being here and educating yourselves about the candidates and I really appreciate those of you coming to listen um I am really proud to be a product of this District in my opinion we are one of the best sisters in the country but as a board we have a chance to control The Narrative of what's going on here we've had four superintendents in the last five years it's impacting our kids let's be honest so when I say I'm for the kids that truly comes from my heart I want our school district to provide the top-notch quality education we've consistently delivered to our kids each and every year we're all kids of the opportunity to have a safe and secure learning member my entire adult life has been focused on kids the kids of Brockport as a
091classroom teacher as a parent volunteer and even when I was a student in Rockwood I was helping my fellow classmates so my focus is going to be on students and the well-being of our schools and our school district I'm for the kids this isn't just a campaign slogan it's through I am and it's what I really appreciate your book thank you Mr Dunn thank you everyone as a former board member uh who allows me by valuable Insight on how things work I was also known as being level-headed common sense and usually we're actually I'm a former believer in public education in the Aloha School District with the education with my daughters and I trust breakfast for school district within education of my daughters and your children once again I'm focusing on student achievement facilities and
092security and fiscal management born on April 4th to secure rockman's future thank you current board member number has for the past six years it's just been an absolute honor and it's something that I have really dedicated many hours to because I like Harry I've spent my entire Adult Career supporting students all types of students students with special needs students an addictive program and everything in between so I am I am in awe of what goes on in our classrooms every single day when I have an opportunity to visit classrooms even all of our teachers or teachers and what they have their dedication and what they have done in the past number of years I I see a very bright future for the Rockford school to be able to Fantastic superintendent who I want to continue
093to support curious right we've had four in the past uh in the past few years I've hired community so I've been on the team so I understand and just very excited about our future I love Rockwood I love our community and we just need to move forward I'm a person I see opportunities not problems I see Solutions and together we can make that we can make those Solutions more for our for our kids Unity is very important respect is very important so that being civil to each other and we need to go forward and show the world what record what record can be it has been said before this is Robert okay let's make sure that we get where we need to go because it is about our students all 19 000 Plus thank you
094so much for coming tonight okay first of all let's give them [Applause] a couple of words from people who believe in voting okay so thank you for participating thank you for all of you for making this a successful event and I look forward to seeing how many over a thousand views we have with this foreign um think about becoming a member of the loop you can do a local do nothing but give a little money every year or you can do a lot and right now I think all of us need to do a lot um because we have to educators we have literature and volunteers outside who can talk about that and you don't just need to go to the polls you need to encourage at least five people you know to go to
095the polls and they need to be informed to go to the polls so two things number one around March the 17th St Patty's Day vote411.org is going to be up live online we do six counties in the city we're doing about 150 ballot issues and 1100 candidates um you can put in your address go411.org and get just your ballot we do not endorse anybody okay we try to explain propositions in English and give you information about the candidates remember that you all are lucky and safe you can vote anywhere because your board of election bought machines that allow you to do that so you can also vote now no excuse absentee voting it's until Monday and if you get on the board of election site there's a number of universal polling places to do now
096as well as the Board of Elections um you hear a lot of problems about voting you hear a lot of things about elections not being fair or being stolen or nobody cares et cetera Etc you know what the trouble with voting is really that we don't vote so we have to change that everybody thinks about National Politics the things that affect your life the most are right in your own backyard your school your city council let me tell you that I think a number of people live in Wildwood right we are having a candidate forum for the Wildwood city council and if I read the tea leaves there might be some stuff going on in Wildwood on Monday March the 20th you can just look at the league website and see it there you've got
097nine candidates it's gonna be a big one um and you know tune into what we're trying to do we're trying to get people to participate and secure this democracy for the next generation and we need to do that folks things are not going well and let's start in our own backyard so Logan and thank you very very much for your kind intention I'm sorry I couldn't ask all of your questions I tried to do my best I think we gotta love that so they'll stay and talk to you for at least a few minutes