EVSC superintendent says 'approach matters' after Musgrave criticizes city schools

EVANSVILLE — During his "state of the schools" speech on Tuesday, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. superintendent David Smith responded to a negative comment made during a mayoral candidate forum earlier this month.

In that forum, Republican Cheryl Musgrave suggested parents would have to leave Evansville to find a decent school for their children.

"Indeed all you have to do, almost in its entirety, is leave the city of Evansville limits to find a better school," she said on April 13.

While Smith did not specify which candidates' remarks his own were pointed at, Musgrave was the only one to comment harshly on the school corporation.

Smith said he received a lot of phone calls after the Courier & Press published an article the forum. Smith said people also asked him about the comments in-person while he attended an event over the weekend.

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"I'm simply going to say approach matters," he said.

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Meanwhile, Smith praised current Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, who was in attendance Tuesday, for his approach to the city's relationship with EVSC.

"I trust him. He has always done what he says he would do," Smith said. "I value the conversations we have. And I value the conversations because of his approach.

".... Elections are won because people show up to vote," he said. "Don't take what we have for granted."

What the candidates said

During the forum April 13, hosted by the Southwestern League of Women Voters, all four Evansville mayoral candidates for mayor agreed there should be a relationship with the EVSC. But the degree varied.

Musgrave took the harshest look at the relationship of any of the candidates.

She said schools are one of the main reasons why people choose to live, or not live, in an area. She emphasized that school quality is a key facet to drawing young families to the city, and that it's one of the big reasons Warrick County attracts people with children and good jobs.

Republican Natalie Rascher said the relationship between the mayor and the EVSC should be a close one.

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The EVSC creates a pipeline for businesses and "laborers" in the city with students graduating high school, she said, but the partnerships should happen before graduation, too.

Libertarian Michael Daugherty, who will not appear on the ballot until the general election, said he'd like to see the mayor or a representative attending EVSC board meetings. He also said the mayor and the EVSC should support each other and stay in communication.

Democrat Stephanie Terry, meanwhile, who is unopposed in the primary, spoke to the crowd about revitalizing the education roundtable created by former mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel.

Terry said she'd look to work with the EVSC and have meaningful conversations addressing the needs the city's children face. She also lauded the Promise Neighborhood: a group of six schools that will benefit from a recent $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville superintendent responds after Musgrave criticizes schools