School board candidates square off

(Page 5 of 6)

Lester: Fortunately, we have a superintendent that makes those kinds of decisions. He recommends to the board. And, to be honest, that really is a superintendent decision. The superintendent is our educational leader. The board’s position is to set policy. It’s not to micromanage what the superintendent is supposed to do. Right now, we have gone away from the chairperson structure, because what we tried to do was involve K-12 with the directors. I don’t think that was as successful as we had intended. But we do have a new curriculum director now that is paying an incredible amount of attention to that exact factor, and I think he is making progress. And to not give him the chance to do that would be wrong.

It is a good thing to have a curriculum director that actually looks at a K-12 curriculum, because you cant build the end result without the firm base. The firm base has to be built and it has to be taken into account where you are going to 12 years from the beginning. So I like that idea. But then again, the superintendent doesn’t necessarily have to be married to something he didn’t choose. He was not the superintendent at the time the chairperson were taken out, but if he feels that it will be successful, we have to listen to him, because he is the guy that we hired to take care of this.

Treston: The board does hire the superintendent to take care of the educational system, and this school board oversees that. So again, there’s an issue of what a school board can do with the curriculum that really isn’t in our jurisdiction, other than having the school administration oversee that.

Concerns regarding the environment have risen with regard to the high school field. It has been suggested that a new environmental study be done before moving forward. What is your stance?

Treston: As for the bond, we’re in it. There’s no turning back. There’s a legality issue. The money has been set aside for the bond. As far as the environmental concern goes, if I had a child playing football on those fields, I would want them tested.

Page 5 / 6