JC School Board candidates Anne Bloemke-Warren, Adam Gresham, Marc Ellinger and Erika Leonard discussed transparency in education, pandemic response and anti-smoking policies in the latest round of News Tribune reader-submitted questions.
The election is just around the corner on April 5.
Q: To what extent do you believe Jefferson City parents should be able to see and have a say in what is being taught in schools? How would you allow access and transparency in teaching?
Anne Bloemke-Warren
A: I fully support access and transparency in education. As the parent of a current student of JC Schools, I understand I have access to view curriculum and lesson plans that are taught in my daughter's classroom at any time. I also understand that if I have questions about the curriculum or materials, I can reach out to her teacher and will receive a prompt, courteous and informative response. This has been the case in every classroom my daughter has been in since she began kindergarten at JC Schools, and I'm confident it is true of every teacher in the district.
Adam Gresham
A: Parents have the right to know what is being taught in their children's classrooms just as taxpayers have the right to know what is being taught in the schools their tax dollars fund. To be clear, the state sets standards and the district determines curriculum. This curriculum process, and the results thereof, should be transparent just as lesson topics and references should be transparent. Right now, they are not.
Marc Ellinger
A: Parents should always be able to see and know what is being taught in their children's classroom. The school board must be open to parents at all times to bring concerns about that instruction, and the board must carefully evaluate those concerns. The curriculum and the resources being used in class should be available at the beginning of the school year and also online for parents and the community to see. Transparency in what is being taught will further bolster trust in our schools and help foster excellence.
Erika Leonard
A: Parents and guardians should have access to what their student is being taught in school. Parents should begin by meeting with teachers. They can attend open houses, communicate through the teachers' classroom app and parent-teacher conferences to understand what and how materials are being taught. School board meetings are not the best places for parents to learn about curriculum. Our teachers and principals are best qualified to answer parent questions about what is happening in classrooms.
Q: Do you support or oppose the Jefferson City School District's response to the pandemic regarding in-seat vs. virtual instruction, masking and other disease-mitigation policies?
Anne Bloemke-Warren
A: I believe JC Schools did an exemplary job mitigating risk to an appropriate level during the pandemic in order to ensure our students remained in-seat throughout. We were the largest school district in the state to remain in-seat for the duration, in no small part due to the dedication of our administration, staff, parents and students to ensuring proper protocols were in place to keep the spread low and our community safe. Our children learn best when they are in a classroom with a teacher and their peers, and they can focus fully on their education.
Adam Gresham
A: Hindsight provides opportunity to analyze the district's performance during COVID, and we are wise to do so. While the response may not have been perfect, the district rightly placed a great deal of emphasis on in-seat learning and deserves credit for this focus. Given the illumination hindsight provides, I am opposed to mandatory masking in the future for COVID.
Marc Ellinger
A: Students should always be in the classroom in person, and masks should not be required to be worn. The learning loss that has occurred in the past two school years due to virtual learning and masking will be difficult to make up, and we need to ensure that this doesn't occur in the future.
Erika Leonard
A: I am proud our district was able to have students in-seat for the majority of the pandemic and commend teachers and staff for all their work to make in-seat education happen. During the short period of time that virtual instruction was required, better parental guidance and training could have occurred. But overall, educators throughout the district did their best to help students and their families cope and evolve throughout the process.
Q: While cigarette use among high school students has declined over the years, use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed. The current school district policy prohibits all employees, students and patrons from smoking, using tobacco products, imitation tobacco products, and electronic cigarettes in all district facilities, on district transportation and on all district grounds at all times. Do you support policies and strategies to reduce student use of e-cigarettes? If so, do you have thoughts on how to improve implementation or amend the current policy to further reduce student use?
Anne Bloemke-Warren
A: I support any policy aimed at curbing the use of addictive nicotine products on school property. I would also be interested in a discussion about implementation of smoking and/or nicotine cessation programs that could include incentives. I was a young smoker, and having quit 20 years ago, I understand how difficult it can be. But I also understand that for every year before age 30 you quit, you are able to avoid additional irreparable damage to your lungs. So I think anything we can do, not only to impose restrictions, but encourage positive change in the students, we should do.
Adam Gresham
A: I am aware vaping is a growing problem at the middle school level, even occurring in class. This is a manifestation of the disciplinary problems facing the district. The district's policies regarding tobacco and nicotine need to be enforced, holding students accountable for their decisions and actions, and rendering punishment in accordance with possession of other illegal products.
Marc Ellinger
A: E-cigarettes, along with other smoking devices, should not be allowed in schools, whether by students, teachers, staff or visitors. The health issues with e-cigarettes are not well-known and until there is a more sufficient understanding of the concerns, it is not the role of schools to address usage outside of school facilities, as that is the role of parents and guardians.
Erika Leonard
A: Student health and safety is a priority, and the board needs to review policies and procedures regularly to ensure we are ensuring the health and safety of our students. Strengthening policies to cut down on students utilizing e-cigarettes is a priority and if elected, I will invest time and attention to learn more about how we can mitigate the growing use of e-cigarettes.