TCAPS candidates talk equity, enrollment, spending and Central Grade at forum

Oct. 13—TRAVERSE CITY — Candidates for the Traverse City Area Public Schools board of education talked spending, enrollment, Central Grade School and more during a forum ahead of November's election.

The forum was held at the Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere Avenue and hosted by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters Grand Traverse Area. It was moderated by Jean Howard, a member of the League of Women Voters.

There are four spots up for grabs this November on the TCAPS school board and eight are vying for them. Two incumbents, Matt Anderson and Sue Kelly, are not seeking re-election. Seven of the eight candidates running for the school board attended.

Misten Boysen, 48, a physical therapist, was absent because of a family commitment, Howard said.

A crowd of about 30 people sat in the in-person audience.

Howard asked the candidates 11 questions, all of which were generated by audience members at the event, attending virtually or individuals who wrote questions in ahead of time. The questions were reviewed by screeners from the League of Women Voters for clarity and relevance.

Candidates were given one minute each to give opening and closing statements, during which they introduced themselves and spoke about the reasons they are running and the issues that they see as most pressing to the school district. They had 45 seconds to respond to each question.

Trustees Erica Moon Mohr, 49, and Andrew Raymond, 38, seek re-election to the school board this year. Moon Mohr is a real estate agent, and Raymond is the chief financial officer at Kalkaska Memorial Health Center.

The other candidates vying for a seat on the school board are Holly T. Bird, 52, an attorney and the executive director of Title Track, a local organization focused on social justice, equity and environment; Matthew Hanley, 38, an attorney; Beth E. Pack, 73, a camp nurse at Interlochen Center for the Arts with a background in education; Nicholas Roster, 53, an instructor in the biology department at Northwestern Michigan College; and Justin Van Rheenen, 40, a delivery driver for Moomers Ice Cream.

The questions focused on a range of topics. Some were broad, including questions about teaching innovation and equity in education, while others were very specific, like questions about Senate Bill 1093 — which deals with teachers union dues and was unfamiliar to the candidates — and Central Grade School.

The seven candidates at the forum answered in agreement on most questions, and there was no visible conflict between them at the event. Many made jokes about the short amount of time they had to answer the questions throughout the forum.

When asked about what areas should the school district prioritize spending, candidates listed curriculum, student mental health and teacher recruitment and retention. Raymond added that facilities should also be a priority, and Pack added school safety to that list.

Another question asked whether or not TCAPS should renovate Central Grade School, and all candidates agreed that the school needs repairs.

The candidates were also asked if there would be opportunity in the future for innovation in teaching at TCAPS.

Pack said she thought that teachers need to be encouraged to be more innovative in their one-on-one engagement with students. Bird, Van Rheenen, Raymond and Roster said it should be the board's responsibility to support teachers and empower them to innovate in the classroom, and Moon Mohr said she thinks that the district's leadership is already working toward helping teachers embrace change and teach in new ways.

"We need to step up and take education in a progressive direction, and the only way we're going to do that is with support from the board," Roster said.

Howard also asked the candidates how they think equity and equality factor into public education. Van Rheenen said school should be the place where students gain opportunities towards equality, while Bird said equity has been a part of schools for a while and should continue to be ingrained in the way schools operate and are set up for students.

Moon Mohr and Raymond both said that schools need to address students' unique needs, some of which are related to their social and emotional needs, and set them up for success in learning.

"Equality to me as everyone gets to go to school, but ... everyone is unique and so everyone needs different attention so that they can reach their fullest potential for whatever that is for that individual," Raymond said.

Howard also asked the candidates how important they felt it was to support the principle of intellectual freedom and student rights to access reading materials in schools. All candidates said they supported students' rights to pick and choose what they want to read.

Some candidates addressed the issue of banning books and representation in books more directly. Raymond and Roster said it's important for students to have books that they can see themselves represented in, while Moon Mohr, Bird and Van Rheenen agreed and added that it's also important for students to learn about others through books as well.

Hanley said he agreed with those sentiments, and that decisions on books should be left to librarians.

"Librarians can make a choice and figure out what's best for their individual students to explore and learn about diverse experiences," Hanley said.

The candidates were also asked whether or not they had concerns about TCAPS enrollment, which has been declining for years, like most schools in the region.

Van Rheenen said he felt that a better dialogue between the school and parents would improve enrollment, while Bird said funding teacher retention will be a major factor in boosting enrollment numbers. Hanley, Moon Mohr and Raymond all said housing was a major issue impacting TCAPS enrollment, and Moon Mohr added that birth rates are a factor, too, and that TCAPS should loudly celebrate its wins to draw more students.

Whether or not the candidates would support mask and COVID vaccine mandates for students was also a question posed in the forum, and each candidate said they would defer to local health experts, including the health department and local doctors on those decisions.

The forum was broadcast on local television by the Traverse Area Community Media, which also livestreamed the event to the League of Women Voters Grand Traverse Area Facebook page and the Traverse Area Community Media Facebook page.

A recording of the event is available on both Facebook pages.