School board candidates speak at Stillwater Frontier Rotary Club

Mar. 22—The Stillwater Frontier Rotary Club hosted school board candidates for Ward 4 Thursday at the Best Western on N. Husband St.

Gay Washington, a former SPS educator and administrator, along with Shelia Means, a Stillwater resident and retired U.S. Air Force Major, have been visiting civic groups this week, as well as meeting with the Women's League of Voters, as they campaign for the open seat.

Both candidates gave their perspectives on some district concerns Thursday at the Rotary Club, with Visit Stillwater President Cristy Morrison moderating.

Roles and responsibilities of a board member"One of the primary responsibilities of the board is to set the policies of how the school district is going to operate," Means said. "Another one of their responsibilities is to hire the superintendent, and the superintendent is the one who then implements those policies. They also approve the budget. ... They approve all the hiring and the firing that goes on, but the superintendent is the one who interviews and does the 'first pass.'"

Washington agreed, saying that among other things the Board is "completely responsible" for setting the budget. But she said they are responsible for more than policy or budgets.

"The Board is really responsible to work with the superintendent in setting a vision for the district," Washington said. "Typically, that's done over a three- to five-year period as a strategic plan, but it's revisited every year — typically in June, July — for the next year."

She said aside from just setting policies, the Board reviews policies continuously.

"With legislation typically ending in May, we get new education bills that require new policy typically by the end of June, and then you start that process to make sure that your current policies reflect the new legislation," Washington said. "But just know that that's a long, ongoing process."

She also agreed that hiring the superintendent is one of the "key factors because that's the person who does the day in and day out, and (has) the total responsibility."

Local control versus State control"I'm a true advocate for public education, and public education does allow for local control," Washington said. "And that's really the primary reason I'm running, is because it is so important for us right now in Stillwater — and in every community — to make sure that, not only this race for a Board of Education seat, but everything that is done in the district is focusing on our kids in the local community and what is best for our kids."

She said she thinks it's critical right now that the community advocates for local control, although she said that "we clearly understand" that the Oklahoma State Department of Education, along with the legislation, can set different guidelines that "we will, and have to, abide by."

"It's so important for us to maintain as much local control as possible, that we're listening to the parents in our community that have kids in our district, that have ... grandkids, that it's not influenced by what's happening in the State or what's happening in the nation right now about public ed," Washington said.

Means said, "I totally agree with local control."

But she said good guidelines need to be in place as to what local control is doing.

Means said she's been reviewing local policy, especially regarding books in libraries.

"Concerning the books that are in our school libraries here in Stillwater," she said, "there was a parent that brought it to their attention that there were some books that may be not good books."

She said there were already policies available that say those books should not be in the library without what she called a "big drama course" to get them removed.

"It says in one of our policies, the policy on neglect, abuse and trafficking, that anything that is inappropriate to be in front of a child of a sexual nature, should not be there," Means said.

Parental involvement"I think one of the biggest ways to increase parental involvement is just making sure that they can be involved," Means said.

She said the Rotary Club forum was a great avenue for parents to be involved, as they have access to the livestream access. She also said the district has a student handbook and a parent handbook.

"Everything about how this school is run, is out there," Means said. "Some people don't go searching, and you have to just put the information out there where they can easily see it."

Washington said that parent involvement is a "very complex issue."

She said the question was probably focused on Title I schools, but said parental involvement is an issue at all schools, in all economic levels, although it may be more pronounced in a Title I school.

"Giving parents very specific things that can be done that might help them be a part, (in) actual collaboration, in moving their child forward," Washington said, is the measurement.

She said that SPS works hard to hold events such as Parent Night and Parent/Teacher conferences.

"Over time, I think, truly, it's about that one-on-one connection and making them feel very valuable and that they have a purpose to be in the school," Washington said that makes the greatest impact.

Pertaining to this issue, she also said the district may need to "think outside of the box" by potentially opening the school up at times at atypical hours, providing transportation for some parents or looking at other successful models done in the past or elsewhere.

Significant changes needed in the districtWashington said the district has seen significant changes in the past three to four years, but hopes to keep the district on its current course with specific goals in mind.

"COVID has really changed the way schools look at budgeting, changed the way schools look at teaching and learning, and so some great things came out of COVID, but we're still looking at some repercussions of being out of traditional-type schooling for a couple of years," Washington said.

She said her agenda is not to come and shift things majorly, but to support efforts to reach goals.

"We have to keep in mind that the focus is really on teaching and learning, and anything that supports that," Washington said.

Means said she didn't see a need for significant changes in the district, noting later that some of the good coming out of the district was Richmond Elementary School's Blue Ribbon award.

Washington also noted the strong partnerships that have been formed with SPS, including with Oklahoma State University and Meridian Technology Center.

"Stillwater has a very good foundation as far as their education system goes," Means said.

But she said there are "some things that do need improvement." She said she has studied reading and Math scores and realized "it's not good."

"When we compare ourselves to the whole, we're better than the whole, but the comparison of the whole is not good," Means said.

She said other things in the district, such as opportunities in performing arts and athletics that SPS offers, need to continue doing well, but more could be added academically.

Measuring the school board's success"Some of our success should be measured on how well the students in our district are doing academically, and how well we are handling the taxpayer's money that's coming in to support the school," Means said.

Washington agreed with Means and said there are all kinds of measurements that districts keep statistics on, citing attendance, academic growth and involvement of parents.

"Also, making sure that there is a strong strategic plan, so that, if nothing else, it gives you something to make your decisions by," Washington said. "Especially, when you're managing ... a $60 million budget."

Most critical issue facing SPS

Washington said she believes in the teacher-student relationship and said SPS needs to make sure it has "highly qualified teachers in every classroom."

She said SPS has 35 emergency certified teachers currently, which she said is not a large number compared to other districts its size.

"We want to make sure that we are promoting the positive parts of our district, and then making sure that we're recruiting the best possible teachers, but also doing everything we can — resource wise and morale wise — to keep the teachers that we have," Washington said. "We have some of the very best teachers in the state."

Means said she also thinks that the teacher shortage is the biggest issue facing SPS, as well as across the State and the nation.

"Teaching, nursing, firefighters, policeman — those used to be the professions that everybody admired and they looked up to," Means said. Those jobs all now face challenges in recruiting because of the changing times.

She said, also, that parents instilling respect for themselves and their teachers is a critical need.

Bullying in schoolsMeans said bullying is an issue that has come up as she talks to residents. She said students need to learn to respect themselves, their peers and adults.

"Some of this has to start at home," Means said. "Everything that's going on, we can't put at the feet of what is going on at the school. ... When bullying takes place, I think we need to have a zero-tolerance policy."

Washington said policies on bullying have been in place by law for a long time, but all policies need to re-look at how anti-bullying is being taught.

"Unfortunately, kids learn that from adults," Washington said. "And right now, that's very prominent in our nation. It's not confined to Oklahoma. But there's a lot of rhetoric that's out there, but let's don't let that become the norm for us."

Arming district employeesMeans said with only four School Resource Officers in the district, they can't be at every school location at once. She would support a program with teachers who are willing to undergo security training.

Washington said she does not support teachers in this training.

"If there is a need for someone else to be armed at that school, other resources need to be in place for that," Washington said.

Blending traditional and online learningMeans said the blend of both learning experiences is "here to stay." She spoke of her own online learning experiences and said it's well-developed enough so students can have interaction with teachers and fellow students.

Washington said students have "really blossomed" with blended learning by being able to take "the best of both worlds." Students are growing up in a world of technology, and it's "natural" for students to adapt.