D-49 candidates agree: Board needs harmony

Editor’s note: This is another in a series of profiles of the 10 contested school board races in the Pikes Peak region. The stories will run intermittently in the days leading up to the distribution of mail-in ballots in mid-October.

It’s been a chaotic year in Falcon School District 49, which was hit with: an unsuccessful campaign to recall two school board members; a dismal national curriculum report reflecting stagnant academic achievement; the departure of the sixth superintendent in three years; the firing of a dozen administrators; and growing pains that have some schools bulging at the seams.

But the word mentioned by candidates for the school board is “hopeful.” They point to a new superintendent and assistant superintendent who are winning praise. And they note that the November election will bring three new faces to the five-member school board, which has long been accused of a lack of transparency and failure to listen to the community.

“It’s a good start,” said  Jackie Vialpando, one of seven candidates.

The three newcomers will join Andy Holloman, who was appointed to the board three weeks ago to fill a vacancy, and Dave Martin who barely survived the recall effort. His term expires in 2011.

All seven candidates are emphasizing collaboration, saying it’s been lacking in the district and hurting student achievement.

 “A lot of parents are unhappy with the board’s failure to listen to them; teachers have been unsure of their security,” said candidate Jon Rowley. “When the you have constant turnover of top leadership in the district, when teachers and building administrators have to continually adapt to a new vision, it causes confusion. All that contributes to low student achievement.”

Vialpando says the board needs to get back to doing what boards are elected to do.

“It’s not the board’s job to micro-manage the administration and make decisions behind closed doors. That has to stop,” she said. “The job of the board is to conduct board business in public. The attitude that ‘we need to talk to our lawyer in the back room’ doesn’t sit well with the public.” And, she said, the board’s job is to represent the community, which means listening, conducting town meetings and giving that feedback to administrators.

Candidate Tammy Harold said the board’s duty is to “create policy and governance, not nitpick the administration, not make deals for pet projects, the ‘I’ll vote for yours if you vote for mine’ mentality. Instead, decisions needs to be made on what is best for the kids.”

Candidate Danielle Lindorf agrees that board trust is imperative and that problems have been exacerbated by lack of communication. “There is misinformation everywhere,” she said. She suggests beefing up the district Web site, more use of the flash alert system, and ensuring that administration and teachers do a better job of informing parents.

Another candidate, Don Quashie, wants more communication in other areas, too: “Teachers need to communicate more with parents about their students’ progress. Often there is no information until things have gone wrong.”

Quashie and all the other candidates say solving the overcrowding problem will help the stagnant test scores, and for now, the district is trying to address it with boundary changes. But that will be only a band-aid fix until more buildings are constructed, and candidate Christopher Wright says mill levy overrides are not the best way to tackle construction needs.

“We need bonds, and I think it hasn’t gone over so well in the past because the district has had trouble connecting with the community,” Wright said. He lays blame for the community’s reticence to invest in the district on infighting — “all the name-calling, patronizing, stereotyping, angry rants and behind the curtain deal making.”

Among the other issues that candidates mentioned:

• Quashie wants to see a curriculum that is more engaging and challenging, to inspire learning and make students globally competitive. He also favors incentive pay and pay-for-performance for teachers. “I know that teachers organizations sometimes aren’t always for that. But I think that education for children is so important, that we have to encourage teachers.”

 • Harold wants to slow down the high turnover of teachers, which she believes will come with providing more direction and district stability. She wants to better evaluate programs to see what is working and what is not.

• Lindorf doesn’t believe more programs are needed, but wants more accountability from teachers and principals. She also wants to look for additional ways to engage students to decrease flatlining scores and the dropout rate.

• Vialpando believes creating a culture where parents are appreciated and listened to will help out scores. “Research shows that if parents get involved, kids do better.”

• Rowley wants an atmosphere of cooperation among board members so every time they go to make a decision, they ask “How does it benefit kids?”

• Wright said he would use team-building practices that he’s successfully used in several businesses as a way to “build a culture of excellence.”

 Candidate John Koster did not respond to several phone calls asking for his views of district issues. But in a Gazette candidate questionnaire, he said he wants to “build on programs designed to meet children where they are, when they don’t fit into a general education model.” He also wrote that he wants to “mend the rift many have felt with their board.”

THE D-49 CANDIDATES

FALCON SCHOOL DISTRICT 49 CANDIDATES
• Tammy Harold, 42, owns a bookkeeping/accounting business. She has worked on several school and district committees, including PTA president, Building Accountability Advisory Committee and District Accountability Advisory Committee.

• John Koster, 44, is a systems engineer, designing and testing satellite ground system software. He served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years as a master sergeant.

• Danielle Lindorf, 31, is a small-business owner. S She serves on the parent school board of Banning Lewis Ranch Academy, the D-49 Long Range Planning Committee and the boundary sub-committee.

• Don Quashie, 46,  is a U.S. Postal Service employee.  He served in the U.S. Army for 12 years as a staff sergeant.

• John Rowley, 50, is admissions representative for Johnson and Wales University. He was a teacher for 20 years and administrator for eight years.

• Jackie Vialpando, 40, is a school nurse in Colorado Springs School District 11.  She served in the Air Force for six years. and has worked on several D-49 committees including the Mill Override Committee, the School Advisory Committee at Sand Creek High School and District Accountability Advisory Committee.

• Christopher Wright, 39, owns P & D Leasing. He served 10 years as a captain in the U.S. Army. He has been a PTA president and served on training and education boards in the Army.