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ICSD BoE Candidates field questions from PTA

May 6, 2006

On May 16, Ithaca city school district residents will be asked to vote for three new school board members and to vote on the school budget for next year. Below are all six of the candidates' responses to a PTA Council questionaire.

Beth Kunz
Carol Warshawsky
Stel Walton Whitehead
Deborah O'Connor
Jay True
Allen Lambert

Beth Kunz

Q. What educational or district school issues have motivated you to run for the ICSD Board of Education?

There is not a single issue that has motivated me to run for the ICSD Board of Education. I feel that it is my civic duty to participate in the community in which I live. Serving on the Board of Education is a natural fit for me as I formerly taught and believe strongly in the value of education. Both my husband and I are advocates for public education and I want to ensure that all children in our district are given the opportunity to achieve their academic potential. My concern is not for one child, one school, or one neighborhood. Instead, my concern is for all children in our district.

Q. What special expertise or skills would you bring to the Board of Education regarding education, finance, management, decision-making, administration, and communication? In what areas do you feel you will need additional training to be effective as a Board member?

I hold a Ph.D. in history and I previously taught at Fordham University and Caldwell College. Prior to moving to Ithaca I worked as a sales manager for a New Hampshire company and managed all sales related business, the sales staff and customer service. I currently work at Cornell as an events manager and this requires me to work with a wide variety of people throughout Cornell and the wider Ithaca community. I have strong administrative skills and I am able to manage multiple projects. I also handle a large part of the marketing and communications for the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. In my job, I have spent the last year developing communication strategies that meet the needs of our college community. I have a wide array of skills that I feel would be an asset to me as a board member. In areas that I may be lacking, I am confident that I will be able to learn what is necessary.

Q. Please describe your recent involvements with the Ithaca City School District (ICSD);
Board of Education; ICSD District Committees; PTAs or PTSA; Site Councils; or with other community volunteer efforts that have affected the school community?

I am the parent of a second grader at BJM and I regularly volunteer at BJM. Currently, I am the secretary of the BJM PTA and I serve on the ICSD Key Communicators Committee. I also work with the United Way and I am a member of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative. I regularly attend board meetings and frequently address the Board members in public and via e-mail.

Q. As a Board of Education (BOE) member, how would you solicit and use input from the various stakeholders in the educational & district school community? How do you envision the BOE role as a communicator to the overall community?

I feel that the board needs to participate in the community more as a whole. This year the Board began holding their meetings at different schools again as a way to engage the community. There are numerous organizations (the Multicultural Resource Center, GIAC, IAAA, the Village at Ithaca, the Latino Civic Association, GPLA just to name a few) in Ithaca with which the board could partner to insure that the community has an opportunity to voice concerns and share expertise and resources. BJM regularly partners with local organizations and these are productive partnerships.

In addition, the Board must move forward with the much-discussed plan to televise board meetings on the local public station. The district and Board rely too much on the Ithaca Journal and district Web site to disseminate information.

Seeing is believing, so the Board members must visit each school and get a feel for what is happening. To my knowledge few Board members have visited BJM this last year to see how the new community was doing. It is a simple act, but a meaningful action incumbent of Board members.

Q. Is the ICSD providing an equitable and quality education that challenges all our students to their absolute best? What is the BOE role in addressing racial and socio-economic differences that affect student outcomes? Does the ICSD adequately support teachers and educational support personnel (paraprofessionals) in their teaching & classroom support missions? What would you change, and how?

I do not feel that the district has made any significant progress toward equity and eliminating race and class as predictors of performance.

The Board can and does support teachers by encouraging and supporting meaningful and lasting professional development. Our teachers are incredible resources, they should be consulted to discuss curriculum, changes in the district and anything that impacts the schools. The district must treat all staff with honesty and integrity. We need to make sure that those who work in our schools are paid a living wage.

In order to achieve this goal, a strategic plan must be developed. The Board must ensure that the district administration implements the plan. Studies show that if a district has a strategic plan that provides system-wide coherence the success rate of low-income children rises. The elementary, middle and high schools must all have well-defined curriculum that support this goal.

Schools with large populations of at-risk students need smaller class sizes, trained staff and dynamic academic support systems.

The district needs to hire the best staff possible. There needs to be a district-wide initiative to hire people of color in order to provide positive role models for all students.

The district should avoid pre-packaged lessons that restrict and confine teachers to focus on one level. Instead, project-based learning should be used. This would allow students to take particular subjects as far as they can. We should use NYS learning standards as a starting place, not an ending place. We need to encourage and support more curriculum development for teachers that helps train teachers to handle all levels of students and ensure that we are creating a culture of inclusiveness.
Q. What do you see as the role of the BOE in relationship to the Superintendent and the ICSD Administration? What qualities do you consider essential to leadership roles within ICSD? How will you determine the Superintendent's job performance?

The BoE should be setting out a comprehensive plan for the district and the Superintendent to implement. It is the Board's role to give guidance to the Superintendent on what direction the district should move. Essential leadership qualities include an ability to communicate effectively with many different constituencies and the ability to listen effectively, particularly to criticism and then incorporate the feedback into one's actions. The Superintendent must create an administration that is inclusive and well respected. The Superintendent's job performance should be based on his/her ability to move the BoE's agenda forward, not on the popularity of those decisions.

Q. In light of decreasing State funding for education and increasing operational costs, discuss your approach to the financial management of ICSD. What are your budget funding priorities?

My priorities are those items that directly impact the education of our children. This means those items in the budget that directly impact the classroom must have priority over the continuing trend of ever-more general administration.

Q. Do you support the ICSD BOE stated goals? With which goals would you be particularly qualified to assist the district?

Yes, I do support the current Board's stated goals. In particular, I feel that I could aid in the fifth goal of evaluating the results of redistricting, as I am intimately acquainted with the process. I have worked closely with Denise Gomber for the last year to help with the transition and we have had lengthy discussions about how to evaluate this aspect of redistricting.

I feel that my involvement at BJM over the last year has taught me an extraordinary amount about the Board's first three goals. I advocated very strongly for BJM at during the budget process to make sure that the district lived up to its goals in relation to BJM. Moreover, in my previous job at Cornell I worked on a collaborative project with Ithaca College and the City of Ithaca to provide people of color with social and networking opportunities (First Fridays). This experience helped me to understand the importance of working as a community to help recruit and retain employees of color.

Q. Are you prepared to devote the necessary time and effort needed to attend numerous meetings in order to keep informed and to be present during important BOE business voting? Do you plan any extensive absences from the District?

I would not run for the Board unless I could make the commitment that is necessary to do this job effectively. I live in Ithaca 12 months out of the year and will make every attempt to attend Board meetings and the other meetings that will help me be an effective Board member.

Q. Anything else you would like to add?

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Carol Warshawsky

Q. What educational or district school issues have motivated you to run for the ICSD Board of Education?

I care deeply about how we educate our children; it will be the basis for their future success and ours as a community. Equity and quality must be key values in our district. I think it is important to find ways to be fiscally astute but without jeopardizing the education we offer our children. Much of the quality that our district can tout comes from our teachers and professional staff. Demonstrating support and respect for them as they do their job is also a key to our district’s success.

I am concerned with the growing dismay of so many stakeholders in the community. Problems with equity issues; with communication between the district and parents / public; as well as cuts that impact struggling students and high performing students (teacher/staff cuts, diminished after school programs, staff development money, cuts in liaison positions etc) have motivated me to run for the School Board. Because of my experience in business, and in the district I think I have something to offer as a Board member.

I have skills from my business background and experience from 16 years of volunteer service in the district. I have run a large company with 600-1000 employees (about half were unionized workers). I appreciate the benefits of working together cooperatively and harmoniously. I have dealt with human resources, strategic planning, budgeting and finance. I also managed industrial real estate and have experience in building maintenance and capital improvements.

In the district I have worked in the classroom, the library, school offices, on district committees, as well as on the Cayuga Heights, Boynton and IHS PTAs (ways & means, vice president, president), VIC@IHS (Volunteer Involvement Center), founding a VIC@Boynton (now defunct), and PTA Council, recently as president.

I have attended Board of Education meetings regularly for many years, out of my own interest, and more recently as vice president and president of PTA Council. Besides my answer to question 2, I have been on hiring committees, worked on a pilot program geared to increase family involvement of incoming kindergarten parents, sat on several committees to reintroduce Driver's Education. I have worked with district administrators and the Board on many issues over the years.

I am a past board member of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) where I coordinated their Adult Spelling Bee for several years which funds their Mini Grant program for ICSD teachers.

Board members' contact information is widely publicized, but that does not always mean those with concerns contact you, so a Board member has to be proactive; being a school liaison and a presence in the community are ways to stay keep informed. I am good at responding to emails and seeking out answers; I am open to hearing from and responding to stakeholders. I think communications throughout the district need improvement. Some suggestions might include a series of Op Ed pieces for the Journal and the Times: 'Conversations with the Board'. IPEI was successful in just such an endeavor this year.

No, we are not entirely successful in providing equitable and quality education that challenges all students. The district is trying to address this problem; they must continue to focus on it.

The Board needs to be proactive, maintaining support for challenging courses, and making sure there is proper support for struggling students. It is necessary to find resources to support programs such as after school, family liaisons to work with students in need, and significant resources for staff development. Partnerships with community groups that are working on similar issues will help move the process along and hopefully keep our costs down. Together we have a chance to make a difference.

Creating a sense of support and respect for those responsible for the education of our students is paramount. I think the structure of union negotiations needs an overhaul to a 'mutual gains bargaining' style, finding 'win-win' solutions. It isn't easy and can only happen when each side tries to understand the other's point of view and build up a basis of trust. A continuous dialogue as well as starting new contract negotiations the day after a contract is signed fosters a relationship of trust and partnership. We have great expertise in the Cornell Industrial Labor Relations school, we should take advantage of what they have to offer.

Q. What do you see as the role of the BOE in relationship to the Superintendent and the ICSD Administration? What qualities do you consider essential to leadership roles within ICSD? How will you determine the Superintendent's job performance?

The Board supervises and evaluates, while the Superintendent must provide educational vision and set the direction for the district. Presently there is an annual review of the Superintendent. I would like to see periodic updates to make sure things are being done according to plan and that the Superintendent is addressing any shortcomings in her performance.

Leadership qualities I would look for stress long term vision, flexibility, consensus building, and supporting one's staff. The district must hire based on quality then mentor and support in order to retain those hires.

I also feel that succession planning is critical to any organization and I think that is missing from ICSD.

Q. In light of decreasing State funding for education and increasing operational costs, discuss your approach to the financial management of ICSD. What are your budget funding priorities?

I would like to think it is possible to keep budget cuts away from the students and demonstrate respect for teachers and staff as a core component of our academic program. Not sure how I would do this knowing we have deferred maintenance and enormous 'fixed' costs that only go up each year. However I would hope to find some margin to help defray cuts from our educational programs.

Also through BOCES programs and community partnerships I would hope we could find ways to both offer better educational opportunities and save money.

Q. Do you support the ICSD BOE stated goals? With which goals would you be particularly qualified to assist the district?

I support the goals; I think progress has been made on creating a culture of evaluation and more is being done. The work on safety and wellness is moving along well. I hear exciting things about the structure of the wellness committee that might be useful in achieving other Board goals such as eliminating race and class as predictors of academic success and equity issues. This would be good since those two goals are moving along sluggishly.

I have a fair concept of the time commitment involved with being a School Board member. I already devote a large amount of time to the district so I do not perceive this as a problem. I appreciate the question and I am prepared to do my homework and attend meetings. I will be an active member of the Board.

Q. Anything else you would like to add?

Please be sure to vote on May 16, noon - 9PM.

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Stel Walton Whitehead

Q. What educational or district school issues have motivated you to run for the ICSD Board of Education?

I believe that there is an excessive gap in the academic, achievement, and graduation rate that targets students of color and children from a specific economic status.

It is essential that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education. We must hold the Ithaca City School District accountable.

I am a certified teacher and I have worked in administration on the district level in Alachua County in Gainesville, Florida.

I have worked on enrollment, retention, and graduation projects with the University of Florida and Marshall University.

My major is Communications with a minor in English. I am now a program coordinator at the Southside Community Center.

I would like to study the financial options open to the District.

My initial involvement with the district began by reading the student handbook. I learned it is very difficult for parents to get questions answered by the district. I would like to be an advocate for parents. I have been a volunteer in the community as a Tompkins County Human Rights Commissioner.

Education is one of the subject-matter areas addressed by the Commission. As program coordinator at Southside, I collaborate with many educators.

A review of my vita will tell you that I am a bridge builder. There is a lot of work to be done in the area of collaboration and communication.

I have worked with administrators, parents and students on the elementary, middle, and high school level. I believe the community supports equity.

The role of the board of education should ensure that its mission to speak to racial and social economic gaps have set goals and measures specific outcome.

It is not enough to speak in vague generalities. Specific targets have to be set. The district should be held accountable for reaching those targets.

I would propose that the district create an Equity Council to assist the BOE in achieving these goals.

The role of the Board of Education is to set policies and to provide the necessary financial support to meet those policies.

The board must hold the superintendent and the ICSD administration accountable for meeting those goals.

I think true leadership involves enlisting the creativity and insight of teachers and the community as a hold.

Q. In light of decreasing State funding for education and increasing operational costs, discuss your approach to the financial management of ICSD. What are your budget funding priorities?

I am gravely concerned with the amount of money in the budget for litigation. In principal I believe the measure of a community is its willingness to meet the needs of its children.

Q. Do you support the ICSD BOE stated goals? With which goals would you be particularly qualified to assist the district?

Yes, but I am concerned that the budget for diversity was cut. The unresolved issue of equity has damaged the ICSD image.

Yes. I expect and look forward to 3 years of hard work.

Q. Anything else you would like to add?

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Deborah O'Connor

Q. What educational or district school issues have motivated you to run for the ICSD Board of Education?

My reasons for running again are similar to those when I ran for my first term: I believe that educating our children is one of the most important things we do as a community; I want to ensure that the same high-quality education my own children received here in Ithaca is available to all of our children; and I want to help improve the achievement of low-performing students so that they may take full advantage of the District's tremendous educational opportunities. We must help ALL children succeed.

I bring three years of experience on the Board, including two years as vice-president, a year as chair of the Board’s Human Resources Committee, and two years as a member of the Board's Student Support Services and Curriculum and Instruction Committee. As the first incumbent in three years to run for reelection, I will bring much-needed experience and continuity to the Board. While on the Board I have advocated strongly for programs and policies important to children, I've demonstrated the ability to compromise when presented with convincing arguments, and I've worked constructively with other Board members and with district staff.

In addition I bring 18 years of experience as a parent and volunteer in the District, and my firsthand knowledge of the day-to-day experiences of students and parents obtained through my extensive volunteer activities at several schools and my connection with many parent groups. I am a hard worker and I am passionate about education. I am dedicated to doing the best we can possibly do, given our financial constraints, to provide our students with the high-quality education they need to become productive and fulfilled members of our society.

My undergraduate and graduate training was in the sciences. I am good at analyzing data critically.

If elected I would take the recently mandated state fiscal training for new Board members.

Q. Please describe your recent involvements with the Ithaca City School District (ICSD); Board of Education; ICSD District Committees; PTAs or PTSA; Site Councils; or with other community volunteer efforts that have affected the school community?

In my three years on the Board, I have served as vice-president, chaired the Board's Human Resources Committee, and served on the Student Support Services and Curriculum and Instruction Committee. I have also served on the District's Curriculum Council, and as an active and engaged Board liaison to the District PTA Council, IHS PTSA and Site Council, and to the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI).

Over the past 18 years, I have served as a classroom volunteer; in major leadership positions at the Caroline, DeWitt and IHS PTAs and of PTA Council; as Newsletter Editor at DeWitt and for the IHS PTA; and on numerous district committees.

Before joining the Board I also served on the Board of Directors of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative and on executive committee of the Fine Arts Booster Group.

Listening to and using stakeholder input is key to being an effective Board member. I have been diligent in my attendance at Board meetings and workshops, and in fulfilling my liaison duties to the district PTA Council, to Ithaca High School and to IPEI. I routinely attend education-related programs and meetings sponsored by non-district groups and write articles and opinion pieces on Board and district issues.

I would like to improve the district's and Board's outreach to different constituencies by improving the website, by continuing to rotate Board meetings to different sites, by increasing and improving collaboration with community groups, and through better communication of district issues through the media. Yearly surveys of parents and 3 to 5-year surveys of the entire community might also be helpful.

Our district provides an excellent education for the great majority of our students as evidenced by standardized test results and other measures. However, we need to assure that ALL of our students achieve their full potential. Many students of color and students from low-income families continue to face significant obstacles that we must address.

While the schools cannot realistically do everything, we can do a lot by providing: a safe and intellectually nourishing environment for our children; well-trained, well-qualified, and diverse teachers and staff; pre-K programs for all at-risk children; and extended day and strong summer programs for underperforming students. Finally, we must vigorously challenge any bias and prejudice that exists within our schools.

The Board is committed to recruiting and retaining outstanding teachers and support staff through fair and competitive salary and benefit packages. As a sitting Board member, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss ongoing contract and negotiations issues. However, I do believe that effective teacher and support staff training is vital to achieve the district's goals.

By law, the Board hires and supervises the Superintendent, establishes the district's policies, and, with the Superintendent, sets the budget. An elected Board of Education, through these activities, reflects the needs and aspirations of our community. It is the Superintendent's responsibility to supervise the Administrative team, to ensure that the Board's policies are carried out, and to oversee the day-to-day running of the district. The Board can and should advise the Superintendent on administrator hiring, but the Board cannot by law hire administrators, only approve or veto the Superintendent's choices.

Administrators must be: expert in their area of responsibility; good managers of people, programs, and budgets; excellent communicators; and work in collaboration with all members of our staff and our community. They must value diversity, of opinion as well as of background, and must be able to make decisions in an open and transparent manner. Most of all, they must love children, be committed to doing their absolute best for our students, and get results.

Q. In light of decreasing State funding for education and increasing operational costs, discuss your approach to the financial management of ICSD. What are your budget funding priorities?

Setting the budget each year has been one of my hardest jobs as a Board member. I want to do what is best for our students but we are constrained by how much we can ask of our property-tax payers. So each year we struggle with balancing competing needs, both within our schools and with the demands on the taxpayers.

My top funding priority is the academic program. All of our students can and must learn; all of our students need to be challenged and engaged in meaningful educational endeavors. Students who are not performing to their full potential must receive the services they need to succeed.

Q. Do you support the ICSD BOE stated goals? With which goals would you be particularly qualified to assist the district?

Yes. I helped write several of the goals and voted for them in each of my past three years. Given my background in science and data evaluation, I am particularly well-suited to the "culture of evaluation" goal in that it is only through the constant evaluation of programs, policies and people that we can attain our other goals.

Now that the difficult issues of redistricting and the time changes have been dealt with, the Board and the District have the opportunity to refocus their attention back to attaining all of these goals.

Demonstrably yes. I have attended over 150 meetings in each of the past three years. I have no plans any extended absences form the district.

Q. Anything else you would like to add?

In public education, nobody has all the answers. We must constantly evaluate programs and procedures, find out what works, and forge collaborations between the district and our many communities. We need a knowledgeable school board, whose members have diverse opinions and life experiences, but who can work with each other, with the ICSD staff and administrators, and with the greater community with cooperation and respect.

Please be sure to vote on May 16th for the three candidates you feel will best serve our children and our community and please vote yes on the budget.

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Jay True

Q. What educational or district school issues have motivated you to run for the ICSD Board of Education?

To make the processes, procedures and communication of the Board and Administration transparent and effective. I believe it is the responsibility of the Board to be inclusive of the community's opinions in a more systematic way. Many good suggestions have not been incorporated into solutions resulting in the public and the staff, as a result of being "excluded", becoming discouraged. Improving staff morale should also be a goal.

While the School Board should represent the entire community, I would be one of only a few individuals on the Board in the last 20 years from the Business community.

I have managed and grown True Insurance to an organization employing 20 employees with over 10,000 clients. I have knowledge of finance, budgeting, human resources, customer relations and communications. I am a current Board Member of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce and 15+ year member of the regional Boy Scout Council Board. I have served on a Pre-School Board, as Past President of the local American Cancer Society and served on various Church Boards.

In business, I have had Government and Non-Profit organizations as clients enabling me to observe what makes Boards successful or unsuccessful.

Q. Please describe your recent involvements with the Ithaca City School District (ICSD); Board of Education; ICSD District Committees; PTAs or PTSA; Site Councils; or with other community volunteer efforts that have affected the school community?

I closely followed the redistricting process of last year and I am an annual student of the Budget process. I am a member of the Northeast PTA. As past president of the Northeast PTA, my wife has kept me well informed of the Northeast PTA's activities that I usually participate in as well as the Board meetings where she attends and takes minutes. True Insurance supports the Fine Arts Boosters, Sports Boosters, Hockey Team, Baseball Team, the IPEI Spelling Bee as a Major Sponsor, and the recent Reading Partnership reading challenge in the schools. True Insurance was also a major sponsor of the new Northeast School "Jean's Green" play area.

There needs to be a more systematic process to include the community’s opinions. I believe there are plenty of opportunities and methods to communicate to the Board but that the Board needs to respond better to these concerns and ideas after they have been raised.

We need to improve the equity and quality of instruction for all of our students. The Board has the goal to eliminate race and class as predictors of student academic, social, and co-curricular performance as a priority and I support this goal.

Resources need to be adequately supplied to all personnel for the Board's priorities to be met. I would want to know of any critical shortcomings in resources and see that they were quickly addressed.

It is the Board's job to direct and review the job performance of the Superintendent. The Superintendent works for the Board and should carry out the Board's directives. The Board's role is to govern, not to micro-manage. I am interested in the process used to review the Superintendent's job performance and I appreciate the question being asked.

Q. In light of decreasing State funding for education and increasing operational costs, discuss your approach to the financial management of ICSD. What are your budget funding priorities?

While recognizing the need for buildings, buses, etc., I feel that money is best spent in delivering instruction to the child. Therefore, within a budget, the better the administration and Board can accomplish this goal of directing resources to instruction instead of administration and overhead, the better they are doing their job.

Q. Do you support the ICSD BOE stated goals? With which goals would you be particularly qualified to assist the district?

I support all of the goals/priorities. I am particularly interested in "Reemphasizing the commitment to a 'culture of evaluation'".

Not only am I prepared, I am anxious to put in the time necessary to help oversee our School District towards improving its effectiveness in representing its many stakeholders. No extensive absences expected.

Anything else you would like to add?

Background: Graduate of Ithaca City Schools and Hamilton College with graduate work in the Cornell School of Business. I was a NY Certified Teacher and taught in the Ithaca City Schools.

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Allen Lambert

Q. Motivation to run for Board of Education (BoE)?

I am passionate about education and community service, and school board is the best way to combine those interests. And it permits me to make a contribution where my extensive experience and knowledge would make the most difference on a board that has the least total experience of any in more than 25 years.

Q. Special expertise or skills in education, finance, management, decision?¢‚Ç¨‚Äòmaking, administration, and communication?

My School Board (BoE) experience includes six years of elected service; twelve years attending most meetings; and four years academic research on BoE organization, operation, culture, and decision?¢‚Ç¨‚Äòmaking, and on district management.

I have served on all BoE committees and as chair of both Finance and Curriculum. I was part of the original Strategic Planning effort in 1993-94 and served on four of the committees. I helped re-establish the District Curriculum Council as well as BoE Curriculum Committee in 1994 and initiated the effort to develop a systematic evaluation process in 1995. I have been very involved in District budgeting B development, oversight, and proposing different approaches.

I have served on several kinds of governing boards, both educational and others. And I have developed and managed three small businesses.

Q. Recent involvements with ICSD, BoE, PTA, etc.

In addition to attending almost all BoE meetings, I have attended PTA meetings at seven different schools this year. While off the BoE I have served on several committees, including After School and Multicultural Education policy.

My wife is an elementary teacher at South Hill (after 15 years at BJM) and our children are recent graduates of ICSD.

Q. How solicit and use input from the various stakeholders? Vision of BOE communicator role.

More and better communication and participation have probably been my strongest theme going back to 1992. There are many ways to solicit and use input from the grassroots level. I have long promoted more public communication and debate, attendance of BoE members at meetings sponsored by various institutions in the community, active participation of community members in every way (from volunteering in classrooms to service on committees). The BoE has sometimes tried various efforts and I will encourage the BoE to continue such and to expand where a new situation arises.

One kind of effort of BoE has been to hold regular BoE voting meetings at various schools. I suggest an alternative B rather than regular business meetings, the BoE could hold communication meetings at schools solely for the purpose of hearing and discussing with members of that school community.

BoE members as elected representatives have a strong obligation to communicate with community, in as many ways as possible, both individually, in small groups, and through media and providing packets of information to schools, library, and other public places. This communication should include both listening and educating about what how District is operating and where it does well and not so well. Most BoE members do a good job of responding informally to individual citizens, but improvements can be made for the Board as a whole in its meetings and official action.

It should not be forgotten that the BoE has had a good communications policy for many years; the challenge is to improve implementation.

I have in the past engaged in numerous extra efforts to communicate. For example, during my first term on BoE I produced and hosted a local access TV program called "Education in Ithaca" which had many different voices come and talk about ICSD. I have also long supported having BoE meetings televised. When I was a BoE member I organized parent groups to get together to talk about various problems and I went out to many groups to help them develop a way to approach BoE and get its concerns addressed. And I encouraged more guest editorials by BoE members and Administration. I would continue to do such things.

Q. Is ICSD providing an equitable and quality education that challenges all our students to their absolute best?

If the key concepts are "all" and "absolute best" the obvious answer is "no". A better question would be what, where, and how to improve. Areas needing improvement include achievement gap, gifted and talented, and vocational skills.

Q. What is BOE role in addressing racial and socio?¢‚Ç¨‚Äòeconomic differences that affect student outcomes?

In general, the same as for addressing any/all problem-solving: good planning, policies, staffing, stakeholder participation, budgeting, vision, oversight, etc.

For more elaboration see my answers to the "Village" questionnaire.

Q. Does ICSD adequately support teachers and educational support personnel in their teaching & classroom support missions?

"Adequacy" is in the eye of the beholder. Given ICSD unusually high Per Pupil Expenditure, we provide better support than most districts. Could we do better? Of course. I have, for example, been the only BoE member to propose higher spending on classroom materials (so teachers do not spend so much out of their own pockets). I have supported more spending on library materials and staff. I have been a strong supporter of good working conditions and protecting fairness and observing proper procedures according to employee contracts. And I was the strongest supporter on BoE of the very large pay increase granted to Paraprofessionals in last contract negotiations (2001).

See also my answers to questionnaire from unions.

Q. What would you change, and how?

Classroom and library materials is an example. There also seems to be some concern about management, supervision, and evaluation. But I would solicit recommendations about what needs changing and the priorities among those from people doing the actual work and who know best. Then I would ask for it to be added to regular budget and policy processes and BoE agenda for consideration.

Continuous staff development and training are also important.

Q. Role of the BoE in relationship to the Superintendent and Administration?

In general, BoE governs while superintendent manages. Governance entails establishing parameters (vision, mission, policies) within which administration operates and providing oversight and evaluation. The BoE selects and directs the superintendent; and many Boards are also involved with superintendent in selecting other senior administrators. Part of BoE role in establishing goals and policies is representing views and values of citizens.

Q. Qualities essential to leadership in ICSD?

Other than such general characteristics as good problem-solving, decision-making, and communication, there are not many specific traits common to all "leadership" which tend to be role and situation specific. Responsibilities and roles of BoE, superintendent, principals, program directors, department heads, etc., are very different and require different knowledge, skills, orientations, and characteristics. Good leadership is better defined after the fact, when results are considered good, than before the fact.

The kind of leadership a BoE should exercise is in vision and mission, communication, decision processes, oversight, and representation (which should reflect the full range of significant views and values in community).

Q. How evaluate Superintendent's performance?

There are general principles, professional standards, and annual goals against which to measure superintendent performance. Important activities for review include budget development, selection and retention of quality administrators (both district level and building principals), provision of information and alternatives to BoE, communication with public, long range and strategic planning, process and solution to particular problems (like redistricting), implementation of policies and procedures, and so on.

Q. In light of decreasing State funding for education and increasing operational costs, discuss your approach to the financial management of ICSD. What are your budget funding priorities?

First, while the percentage of ICSD budget coming from State is slightly lower now than a decade ago, it is not true that State funding of public schools has decreased; it has kept pace with inflation. The problem is that ICSD has been increasing its average Per Pupil Expenditure (PPE) at a much higher rate than inflation and incomes, going from about $9,700 a decade ago to about $15,000 in this new budget.

Principles, all of which have to be taken together:

Sufficiency: there should be at least sufficient in all categories of employees and materials to do a good job, including instructional, maintenance, support, and administration.

Balance: between needs of students and staff and needs of citizens; and between areas which support students and staff. That means if an area or aspect is underfunded, it needs to be increased before extra funding for another area. For example, maintenance and safety of buildings and grounds are aspects which may not be adequately funded.

Affordability and Sustainability: rates of funding must be sustainable over many years and rates of tax increases must be affordable to the lower one?¢‚Ç¨‚Äòthird of income families in community

Centrality: Core vs Peripheral activities. For example, funding instruction, including Fine Arts, comes before communications consultants ($30,000) and data analyst ($75,000).

Procedures and practices: I would propose modification of budget process, e.g., consideration of some standard budgeting techniques involving evaluation of effectiveness, best practices, contribution to goals, determination of affordability index, and so on. I would also re-activate full implementation of BoE Transfer Policy and fiscal oversight functions.

Q. Do you support the ICSD BOE stated goals?

Since BoE goals are subject to change every year, I cannot say what a new Board will adopt for next year. The kind of large idea adopted in the past few years are very different from previous years when specific objectives reasonably achievable within the year were adopted. This year the BoE changed the word "goals" to "priorities" and modified them somewhat. Perhaps a new Board will return to the standard organizational approach which clearly differentiates large ideas (vision and values) from annual objectives.

That said, I take these as ideals to which we should aspire while seeking to make them more concrete and achievable, identifying more clearly the associated contributing factors and alternative solutions, determining what BoE and District can actually do something about, etc. Seeking better wording and being cautious about what we call something may reduce cynicism and dissatisfaction when we fall short (e.g., "eliminating class as a predictor").

Q. With which goals would you be particularly qualified to assist the district?

Several are of special interest to me, including culture of evaluation, evaluation of redistricting, achievement gap, and reaching full potential.

Q. Attend numerous meetings, keep informed, be present for important votes? Do you plan any extensive absences from the District?

I expect to attend and actively participate in virtually all meetings, including committees. My record is that continuously since 1992 I have attended most meetings of the BoE, more than anyone in history of ICSD except Art Berkey. During 5 of my 6 years on BoE I very rarely missed any meeting. Even during my last year of BoE service while I was doing graduate work in Albany in Education Administration and Policy Studies, I missed only 4 regular Board meetings, sometimes making a six hour roundtrip just for a meeting.

As for keeping informed, no one on BoE does more research or keeps up better than I.

Q. Anything else?

Yes, but no space.

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