School Board Candidate Questions Are Out

Exactly one month from today is Election Day for 38 individuals who stepped up to run for and open seat on their local school district’s Board of Education. Last month I put up a post seeking feed back on what you’d like to ask the candidates running for election. With the some of the feedback received, I’m happy to say that the questionnaires have been delivered to all but 4 candidates (still trying to track down email addresses or anything other than snail-mail addresses for them).

You might be interested to know the final version of questions that went out. I will post them below. For fun, why don’t you take a crack at them in the comments!

Candidates have a deadline of Friday April 14th to submit their responses. A series of posts will go up the following week (April 17-21) in which we will share the full, un-edited responses from each candidate who chose to complete the questionnaire.

By the way, if you are a candidate running for a Board seat and you did not receive your questions, let me know in the comments and I’ll get that taken care of ASAP!

It is also possible that we will see more candidates file to run, as we had an unexpected vacancy on the Christina School Board. The Department of Elections has posted an April 20th candidate filing deadline for the vacated District B seat. To date, 3 candidates have filed: Angela L. Mitchell, Karen E. Sobotker, and Monica Moriak. So stay tuned, campaign season is now underway!

2017 Blue Delaware School Board Candidate Questionnaire:

1. Please tell us what your connection and relationship is with the School District in which you are seeking election to the Board of Education.
2. In your opinion, what is the purpose and function of an elected Board of Education?
3. What are you opinions on:
   1. School Choice
   2. Magnet Schools
   3. Charter Schools
4. Where do you stand on School Vouchers? How would they benefit or harm public education?
5. Do you believe poverty affects education and educational resources? Yes/No/Maybe
   1. Why or Why not?
6. Delaware provides special education supports and resources for children with higher levels of need in Grades 4 through 12 but not for children in Grades K through 3. Should Delaware expand support for special education needs to K-3 children? Why or Why not?
7. Below is an excerpt from a Baltimore Sun story summarizing recent legislation making its way through the Maryland legislature focusing on suspension & expulsion policies for students in Pre-K through Grade 2. Please share your thoughts on this and how it could pertain to Delaware schools.

   • The House of Delegates approved legislation Thursday that would significantly curb the practice of suspending or expelling the youngest public school students without first taking other steps to improve their behavior. The measure now goes to the state Senate, where a committee approved a similar bill Thursday. Delegates voted 91-48 for the House measure, which bars the suspension or expulsion of prekindergarten, kindergarten, first and second grades students except in narrow circumstances — such as bringing a gun to school. Students could be suspended for up to nine days in the House version — five in the Senate’s — only if a mental health professional determines there is an “imminent threat of serious harm to other students or staff” that can’t be addressed another way. The legislation directs that schools provide “intervention and support” for students who are suspended or expelled instead of merely sending them home.

8. Governor Carney has repeatedly said that the Delaware Department of Education will be refocused as a support service for schools and districts. What are 3 items or services that you would ask the Governor to prioritize?
9. Governor Carney’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 places tens of millions of dollars of State public education funds at risk of being eliminated. Now that the budget process is in the General Assembly’s hands, what words of advice do you have for our legislators?
10. Final Thoughts. Please share any additional thoughts or comments you would like us to share when we post your responses and know that we sincerely thank you for taking the time to respond to our questionnaire.