Four candidates seek school board posts

For the first time in ages, both trustee positions for the Mountain Home School District that are up for election on May 15 have competition, with two challengers facing off against two incumbents.

In Zone 1, incumbent Toni Reynolds is being challenged by Sandra Pitts. In Zone 3, incumbent Tom Rodney is facing a challenge by Rick Checketts.

The school board election will be held May 15, with polls open from noon to 8 a.m. The only polling site is the district administrative office at 470 W. 3rd East St.

Each of the candidates offered the following thoughts on why they were seeking election:

Zone 1

Toni Reynolds -- Incumbent

Incumbent Toni Reynolds is seeking re-election to her second term on the school board, representing Zone 1.

She said she had not problems being challenged for the post. "I'm excited. I think it's a good thing. I'm glad to see people getting interested" in the school district.

Born and raised in Mountain Home she has worked at Les Scwhab Tires for 23 years. Married for 31 years, all three of her children have gone through the local school system and she currently has a grandchild at West Elementary.

"I'm really concerned with the quality of education of our children, and their safety in the schools," she said.

She supports the school bond "because of Mountain Home's growth. We need new facilities to keep up. When you look at districts in our area the same size we are, we're below them. Our buildings are really old. We've got so much growth, we've got to keep up with it."

If re-elected, Reynolds said she would push for a summer school program, which was canceled during the 2001 budget crunch when the legislature cut school funding. "I wasn't aware that we didn't have one until just recently," she said, "and I don't think the district has the money now, but it's something that needs to be addressed and followed up on.

"It's not fair to the kids who need the extra help. It just puts more of a burden on the parent."

She said the district's strengths lie in "a strong school board and a strong superintendent."

The weakness, she said, "is the lack of funds for summer school and a lack of involvement in the community."

She supports the No Child Left Behind Act and the Parents as Teachers program. "If you start young, with the little guys, and get them excited abou education, and get the parents involved, it follows them through the entire system."

Reynolds also would like to look into the possibility of requiring school uniforms. She said the issue has been raised by some parents, "and I've had some positive feedback. I think it will help with the safety of the children. It wouldn't categorize them. Everyone would be some the same, level playing field. I'd like to follow up on that."

She encouraged voters to get out to vote, adding, "I'm looking forward to serving another term. It's been a great opportunity to be involved in the community."

Sandra Pitts -- Challenger

Sandy Pitts is seeking the Zone 1 school trustee position, in part because "I really believe that the No Child Left Behind Act has been a disaster, especially for rural, poor states like Idaho.

"I don't think it will last and I want to be in place when it goes away.

"I think the money spent to comply is unbelievable and would be better spent on teachers, especially in Idaho, where we have too mnany teachers teaching out of their field."

Pitts has lived in Mountain Home for ten years. She has a Ph.D. in education, specializing in reading. A career educator who most recently taught at the Embry-Riddle program at Mountain Home AFB, she is a former chairman of the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Albuquerque.

The mother of three children and five grandchildren, she has been active in the Mountain Home community as a member of the Mountain Home Arts Council, helped form the Western Elmore County Recreation District and served on the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Community College Committee.

She is in favor of the proposed school bond, expected to go to the voters this fall. "I know we've been taxed to death," she said, "but I know we have to have it. We can't rely on Hacker and the annex forever. We have to move these kids (into a new high school). We have to invest in these things."

She said one of the big issues faces by Idaho and Mountain Home schools is the problem of bilingual education.

"Someone got the idea that teachers must be fluent in the child's language. That isn't true." She said English as a Second Language teaching techniques don't require that, but what is more important is that the teacher be able to teach reading, writing and math. The high drop-out rate among Hispanics and Native Americans, she said, is often due to the fact that "they're not getting the foundations they need."

And it's important locally because the Hispanic population is growing so rapidly.

She stressed the need to hire teachers who actually are certified in the areas they are teaching, and that all teachers need to be trained in helping students be able to read and write effectively.

She said she sees the district's greatest strength in the parental involvement with their children's education, and the overall support of the community for the schools, which she said is a rare commodity.

The district's weaknesses, she believes, lie in teachers being overburdened with too many demands outside the classrooms, and the loss of control over their curriculum due to the No Child Left Behind Act.

She said if elected she would like to develop a Master Teacher Program that would take the district's best and send them throughout the schools to teach both students and better teaching techniques to younger teachers.

Zone 3

Tom Rodney -- Incumbent

Tom Rodney is seeking re-election to his third term as a trustee representing Zone 3 on the Mountain Home School Board.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed doing it," he said of his previous six years on the board. "It's been a real challenge."

Retired from the Navy, Rodney currently is the civilian chief of logistics for the Civil Engineering Squadron at Mountain Home AFB. Married 35 years, he has five children and nine grandchildren.

"I've always worked with kids," he said, noting his many years as an assistant coach in high school and youth athletics, "and I like the education system."

He said his greatest accomplishment as a trustee was overcoming the budget deficit several years ago when the legislature made a massive cut in funding for local schools. It was "a grueling time," he admitted, "but I thought we handled that well."

The challenge he sees before the district today is to reorganize the schools. "We've got to get 9-12 together 9 (at the high school), 7-8 together (at the junior high), and 5-7 (at Hacker), and leave just K-4 at the elementary schools. That's our goal."

And for that reason, he supports the school bond, which is designed to accomplish that goal.

"There is definitely a need for it. We need this for the future."

He said one of the biggest difficulties of serving on the board is dealing with all the unfunded mandates from the federal and state governments. But, he said, "the bottom line is, we have to give the best quality education to the students that we can."

The district faces a number of concerns. In the wake of the most recent school shooting incident, Rodney said the district immediately began reviewing all of its security procedures, and will be increasing the number of annual exercises it holds with the police department.

He said the district has worked hard to get caught up on its textbook upgrade program "and we're trying to keep up with technology, computers in the classrooms, but it's gotten pretty expensive."

He'd like to be re-elected because, he said, "there's a lot of things we're in the middle of," that he'd like to see finished. "There are some things that need to be done, and I think I'm a key member (of the board)."

Rodney said the hardest job of being a school board member "is the expulsions. But, it comes with the job. You're sitting there, mother has tears in her eyes, the child has tears in their eyes, but they've clearly violated the statute, and you really have no choice."

He said he believes the greatest strength of the district is its curriculum, which he described as "excellent."

It's weakness, he said, "is the lack of the right facilities to handle the students we have."

Rick Checketts -- Challenger

Rick Checketts is running for school board trustee in Zone 3 because "they need some new blood in that school district. They need new ideas.

"They need to come up to date on certain things."

Checketts is a long-time resident of the community, arriving here in 1967. For most of his career he was a police officer, serving as the department's juvenile specialist and serving as the first School Resource Officer for this area. Upon retirement, he assumed a leadership position with the local Elk's Lodge and became a substitute teacher for the school district, teaching a variety of classes.

"I've seen a lot of changes (in the schools) in 30 years," he said, "but the one thing that really needs to be looked at is discipline. We've been too lenient, especially in the higher grades. At the higher grades, fifth grade on up, love and logic just don't do as well as they do for the grade-school kids. It doesn't work at the higher grades," and with so many "latch key" kids in the district, "we see them more often that the parents do," so strong discipline is a necessity.

He said one of his concerns about the district is the need for better communication. "The public really isn't all that informed about what is going on. Most people don't even know what zone they live in."

He also said that if elected he would have the time to go to the legislature to lobby for the educational needs and funding for the district.

Checketts does not support the high school bond at this time. "I think we need another grade school, first," he said. "Eventually, we'll need another high school, but right now our priorities should be another grade school."

Checketts believes the district has good people at the district level administration, but he has concerns with some of the school level administrators.

He said one of the district's problems is a poor relationship between those administrators and the teachers and non-classified staff. The administrators, he said, tends to "fall down in its support of the teachers."

The biggest problem he sees, however, "is with the kids going into junior high that can't read, or don't want to road." He also objects to the fact that "they don't teach spelling anymore, and I've even run into teachers who can't read cursive (writing) anymore."

He said one of the reasons he believes the district has such a high drop-out rate is because too many of the classes are geared toward college preparation, and not enough to vocational training.

As far as the No Child Left Behind Act, "we're leaving more kids behind that ever before," he said. He said board trustees don't spend enough time in the schools, "but I'll be there all the time," if elected, he promised, adding that he would like to have regular meetings with teachers and other staff to keep them informed and to give them a forum where they "have the freedom to speak their minds without fear of reprisals."

In the end, he said, "our kids are our most valuable asset. We've got to get them educated, and we have to motivate teachers and support them."