Let's examine questions for the BOE candidates on this thread.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

Answers

Here's Erik post from the week of February 22.

The students' questions are in. At today's Student Affairs Council meeting the following questions were agreed upon as the ones to which students' would most like to hear responses from potential candidates. There are certainly more questions here than we will want to ask, and I am sure others have concerns not addressed by this set, but I hope as many as possible will be included. I will be away for the next four days, but please tweak them amongst yourselves; feel free to combine, flesh out, or edit any of them for improvement. To ensure fairness, it is imperative that these questions are not divulged to any of the interviewees.

As a Trustee of the Board of Education, how would you seek communications between the board and students, staff, and all elements of the community? How much discussion would be enough for you to make a policy decision for the district? Would you wait to hear public input, results from other schools, statements from an expert, legal advice? If the students held an opposing view from the majority of the community, which body would be more influential in affecting your final decision? How do you feel about a student sitting as a non-voting member of the Board of Education? Many students are apathetic and disengaged, as a Trustee of the Board of Education, what would you do to captivate students in learning? As a Trustee of the Board of Education, what would you do to involve parents in their students' education? As a Trustee of the Board of Education, how would you balance students' rights with enforcement of policies? As a Trustee of the Board of Education, how would you ensure a complete budget passes? As a Trustee of the Board of Education, how would you make sure good teacher stay at Onteora and bad teachers go? What is your vision for Onteora and how would you achieve it?

-- Erik (erik@memo.cx), February 21, 2001.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

Response to students "questions for candidates". Counting down the bullets on Erik's list, I liked questions: 1-how to ensure communications, 4 - students should know if candate supports student rep on board, 5) How to overcome student apathy, 9 - on quality of teachers - I wonder if board members have any say in hiring/firing practices in first place?, and 10 - what is your vision for Onteora? My own thoughts on #5 - How about creating a "School Within A School", which would provide alternative course substitutes and activities for disaffected students? We created one in my old High School and it was pretty cool. We came up with some alternative elective courses such as "Poetry of Rock", found teachers to teach them and students to take them. We also created our own room/lounge for meetings, support groups etc. Another idea i'm interested in is the "NO Bullying" policy that's being used in a Maine elementary school to much acclaim and success. Any takers on that for our elementary schools? There is a strong connection between bullying and oppression -racial, gender, class, etc, of any type. Another pet idea of mine is social skills training from elementary schools on up. The idea behind this is to help children learn from early on how to get along well with others, and establish meaningful connections with others. Not only valuable in itself, also addresses the issue of violence ie, Columbine - violent kids often feel on the social fringe and obviously lack empathy. I guess this could be put as a question to candidates alnog the lines of how to prevent school violence? Meaning not just on whether we have metal detectors or not, but what can schools do as educators to teach children the skills they need to function successfully both socially, emotionally, as well as academically. (And I'm NOT talking DARE here!) I guess the question I might put to candidates would be something along the lines of: Given the current stressors on American families, and the resulting lack of time and energy that many parents have for their children, some say that schools need to contribute to students social/emotional development in addition to academics. What do you think the schools' responsibilities should include in the future and how would you envision implementing these ideas? --Irene

-- Irene (ibrody@ulster.net), February 23, 2001.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

Below is the list of questions for BOE candidates compiled and edited by Sharon. Please read and offer input as we would like to pare it down to about 8 questions. Also, please be discreet as we would like to keep these questions secure until we interview the candidates. Thanks.

1) What are the 3 greatest problems facing Onreora and how do you think the BOE should begin to address them?

2) What is your vision for Onteora and how would you would you achieve it?

3) Describe how you see your role as a Board of Education trustee.

4) Describe any past experiences you have had in working with other people and how you have been instrumental in bringing opposing viewpoints to consensus on an issue.

5) What are your thoughts regarding having a non-voting student representative on the BOE?

6) As a trustee of the BOE, how would you seek to commnicate with students, staff and all elements of the community?

7) Many students are apathetic and disengaged, as a trustee of the BOE what would you do to better engage students in learning?

8) As a trustee of the BOE, what would you do to better engage parents in their student's education?

9) As a trustee of the BOE, how would you ensure a complete budget passes?

10) Given the current stressors on American famnilies, and the resulting lack of time and energy that many parents have for their children, some say that schools need to contribute to students social and emotional development in addition to academics. What do you think the schools' responsibilities should include in the future and how would you envision implementing these ideas?

11) What reading do you do on educational topics, and what was the last thing you read that you considered applicable to the Onteora School district?

12) What departments do you think should be considered first for trimming the school budget, if necessary?

13)Why should our group endorse your candidacy?

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

My favorite eight question for potential candidates are numbers 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 12.

I think 2, 3 and 13 are too general and will probably be addressed in the opening/closing statements of the potential candidates. Number 8 relates to 10 and perhaps 9 and 12 could be combined into one question.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

Please feel free to comment on the questions or add any we may have missed.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2001

I prefer questions #1, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10.

I would also like add:

14) A school budget often reflects the values and direction a community places on education. What is the role of a board member in the school budget process?

15) Special education students comprise nearly 20 percent of the student population at Onteora and 20 percent of the budget. Does this have a positive or negative impact at Onteora? What role does a board member play in the Special Education needs of the district?

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Question List for Candidate Interviews:

We used Eric's excellent candidate questions process, known as EECQ!! to cull down the questions to eight, which I'll list in no particular order:

1 What do you think are the three greatest concerns facing Onteora, and how do you think the BOE should begin to address them?

2 What are your thoughts regarding having a non-voting student representative sit on the Onteora BOE?

3 Many stucdents are apathetic and disengaged, as a Trustee of the BOE, what would you do to better engage students in learning?

4 As a Trustee of the BOE, what would you do to involve parents in their students' education?

5 Given the current stressors on American families, and the resulting lack of time and energy that many parents have for their children, some say that schools need to contribute to students social/emotional development in addition to academics. What do you think the school's responsibilities should include in the future and how would you envision implementing these ideas?

6 What research do you do on educational topics, and what was the last thing that you found out that you consider applicable to the Onteora School District?

7 A school budget reflects the values and direction a community places on education. What is the role of a board member in the school budget process?

8 Does Special Ed have a negative or positive impact on the Onteora district? What role does a board memeber play in the Special Education needs of the district?

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

The next SOS meeting is the candidates interviews on Saturday, March 24 at 9am. It will be held at Judy's Kitchen in Shokan.

Please attend this important meeting to fully understand the decision we will have to make afterward for SOS candidate support. We must make a final decision after the interviews. Election day is approaching rapidly.

9:15am - Michael Goodman

10:15am - Kathy Hochman

11:15am - Meg Carey

12:15pm - Tom Rosato

The candidates interviews should last about 30-45 minutes each. The candidates will open with a five minute introduction. The interview format will then involve eight questions to be asked of each candidate. Jim Sofranko will moderate the question and answers. A five minute summation will follow for the candidates closing remarks.

No videotaping will be permitted but a audio tape recorder will be permitted for SOS non-public reference. If someone has the resources to record audio, please do so.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001