Western school board candidates make their pitch

Oct. 17—RUSSIAVILLE — Community engagement, boosting the school district's reputation and parental involvement were some of the issues discussed Thursday at forum for Western school board candidates.

The forum was for candidates in Honey Creek Township and those vying for one open at-large seat.

For Honey Creek Township, it's Jill Newby, Dean Leicht and Rhiannon Thompson. Newby is the incumbent.

Cindy Hurst, Joey Dyer and Greg Stephens are the at-large candidates. Hurst holds the at-large seat, after being appointed earlier this year. She did not attend the forum, due to an illness.

There are two other spots for Western school board on the ballot, however they are uncontested. Harry Kenworthy and Scott Gaskins will retain their positions on the board.

Thursday's forum was hosted by the Russiaville Lions Club.

Candidates were given four-minute opening statements and two minutes for closing statements. In between, there were question-and-answer rounds. Questions were unique for each candidate; no two candidates were asked the same question.

Some were prepared by the Lions Club; the audience was also allowed to submit questions.

Below is a summary of candidates' responses throughout the evening. Not every question or response is included.

Joey Dyer

Innovative ways to improve Western's reputation and include parents more were two things Dyer spoke on.

Dyer said academics need to be the crux of a school's reputation. He proposed Western find ways to offer more Advanced Placement classes in person, noting that many of these classes are taken online.

AP courses are for high school students. Scoring high enough on an end-of-course AP exam can net a student college credit.

Dyer said new and creative ways to get parents involved in the classroom should be considered. And as a board member, he'd be willing to listen to the community's ideas on how to do it.

"I want to be a sounding board," Dyer said. "I want to be a listener. I want you to vent to me."

Transparency, involvement, engagement and communication were topics that came up multiple times in questions and candidate responses.

Dyer is a local pharmacist and the public address announcer for Western basketball and soccer. His community involvement includes Russiaville Twisters and the Russiaville Youth Baseball League.

Dyer said he is running for school board as a way to give back to his community.

"I have a vested interest and passion for a community that has given so much to me," he said. "Western needs to be the leader in the area."

Dyer said Western needs to not be stagnant when asked about improving school facilities. He mentioned an HVAC-replacement project at the high school as a step in the right direction.

Dyer is supportive of turf playing fields for baseball and football.

Greg Stephens

The founder of Stephens Machine in Kokomo is running to devote more time to education.

Stephens is a Western graduate and parent. He helps his wife organize Distinguished Young Women of Howard County, a scholarship program for high school girls.

Stephens said in response to a question about how he would handle disagreements among school board members that his experience in business and starting companies lends itself to working through different opinions.

The candidate was asked about STEM programming at Western. The school district added STEM curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grade this year. School officials hope to expand the STEM offerings in the coming years.

"I think we're on the right track, myself," Stephens said.

Asked about LGTBQ protections for students, he said every student should feel safe to go to school.

Stephens said he'd support "family values" and make decisions based on what's best for everyone.

Both Stephens and Dyer applied for the at-large vacancy Hurst was appointed to.

Dean Leicht

Leicht is now running to represent Honey Creek Township after running for the at-large seat vacancy earlier this year when the seat was vacated after Pam Carter resigned. His message remains the same — more school board transparency and engagement from the community.

It's two themes Leicht has brought up at board meetings for the last year. He has pushed the board for more context about agenda items and more discussion about the decisions being made.

In his closing statements, Leicht said the superintendent has the responsibility to provide more information.

However, Leicht said some of Western's strengths include the school board, along with the school district's culture.

As a school board member, Leicht said he'd try to be in the school buildings on a regular basis to talk with teachers, hear what's going on and listen their concerns.

"The format of (a) school board (meeting) does not facilitate discussions," Leicht said.

The candidate said Western should make more of an effort to solicit suggestions and engagement from the community.

"There's a lot of collective wisdom that isn't being tapped," he said. "I really want more community engagement. You need to know what decisions are being made."

Asked what his strongest quality as a board member would be, Leicht replied his faith. He is an associate pastor at Kingdom Life Ministries.

"It is my responsibility to listen ... to love and be there for people," Leicht said.

Jill Newby

A retired Western teacher, Jill Newby, is the current Honey Creek Township representative.

Adding courses students want to take is one issue Newby would like to see Western focus on. She said 155 students who attend Western leave each school day, whether its to go to the Kokomo Area Career Center, Indiana University Kokomo, etc.

"I think this is one of the things Western needs to work on," Newby said.

The school board member said the issue will impact the number of teachers at Western since less students at school each day means less teachers.

Newby was asked how she would navigate controversial issues, such as race, religion and gender.

"These are all things we need to have an open eye to, and we need to respect each other's values and choices," she said.

Newby co-founded Community Day with her daughter, an annual tradition where Western seniors spend a day volunteering in Russiaville.

She's still involved with education and children, including serving as a court appointed special advocate for children in the legal system.

"I feel like this is my time to give back," Newby said. "My education is in education. My work is in education. My retirement is in education. This is what I'm about."

Rhiannon Thompson

Thompson said one of the main issues at Western is retaining teachers.

A parent with a child at Western, Thompson said attracting and retaining teachers is important, but so is finding substitute teachers.

Pay, benefits and good school reputation will help keep teachers, she said.

"If we don't retain teachers, we are going to be far worse off down the road," she said.

Communication and parental involvement in their child's education are also issues, Thompson said.

Asked if she would change Western's policy of accepting out-of-district students, Thompson said she would first have to familiarize herself with the actual rule, but students wanting to come to Western is a good thing.

"I think accepting out-of-district students shows there are kids wanting to come to our school," she said.

Thompson was also asked about parents being able to opt their child out of sex education. It was a relevant question for her, as she said her child had brought a paper home that week detailing what would be discussed in sex ed. Parents had the option to opt out.

"I'm not sure what else we can do," Thompson said.

Thompson is the founder of Russiaville Twisters.

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.