Community meets BOE candidates

As Board of Education candidates Karyn Reid, Heather Cameron and Lorienton Palmer took their seats in the district office gymnasium on April 30, silence fell over the room. The roughly 75 Baldwin residents in attendance had traveled through heavy rain to hear each candidate’s thoughts on key education issues and the time had arrived.

Over the course of the 90-minute candidates’ forum, which the Baldwin Council of PTAs hosted, the prospective board members answered questions that included the hiring of the district’s next superintendent, uniting the community and budgetary issues.

The candidates offered similar sentiments on nearly all of the 13 questions asked, each with a common goal of preserving educational opportunities for students, strengthening academics and keeping a close eye on the budget so that programs are maintained but the tax levy cap is not pierced.

There is currently one vacant seat on the five-member board. The person who fills that void will be part of one of the most crucial decisions any board must make: hiring a new superintendent. As reported in the Herald last week, board members will begin interviewing superintendent candidates in June and make a decision over the summer.

Cameron said the board must make sure the schools’ next leader is the most qualified and best fit. For Palmer, a superintendent with a strong background in finances and academics is crucial.

Each candidate said they support the 2014-15 budget, which was adopted last month, because it stays within the cap and preserves programs. Palmer said the budget was the district’s biggest issue moving forward. “When you have a budget of ($122 million), we should go through that budget line-by-line,” he said, looking for ways to cut costs.

Reid, who said she has made trips to Albany in recent years to advocate for more state aid for Baldwin, said the district is carrying its weight on the local level but needs some help from elected officials. “We need to advocate for our fair share of state aid,” she said.