School board candidates call for greater public debate

Candidates for the Schenectady school board unanimously called for more public debate at meetings when the board fleshes out district policy, during a candidate forum Monday night.

Five of the six candidates vying for three open seats showed up at the one chance voters have to hear from all of the candidates at the same place on the same issues. Kanema Haynes, Janelle Hooks, Tanya Hull, Bernice Rivera and Katherine Stephens were all there. Dharam Hitlall, a current board member running for another term, was not at the forum.

When asked about whether the school board should participate in more debate and discussion of issues and policies, the candidates all said yes – that’s the public forum the board has to discuss how they plan to educate the community’s children, they said.

“I really believe in public debate; it’s important to have transparency and have that discourse for people,” candidate Rivera said. “Sometimes it’s difficult and tough to have those conversations, but that’s what will lead us to solutions.”

Hull, the one current board member present for the forum, said the board “could certainly stand to be a little better about debate.” She said board members often get questions they have answered prior to meetings but that it would be better if they fleshed out those questions in the public setting of a board meeting as well.

The candidates sounded similar alarms about state funding and the threat of changing federal policy, and mirrored answers about the importance of retaining teachers and meeting students’ special needs.

But the candidates bring a wide range of backgrounds and experiences to the table. In the forum that lasted a little over an hour, they gave a glimpse into the types of niche they might fill if elected.

Hooks and Haynes, parents of current district students, said they intimately understand the Schenectady community – they both grew up in the city and attended Schenectady schools – and the challenges facing students. Haynes emphasized staff diversity and student discipline in particular – an issue she has dealt with directly as a parent – and called for a greater use of “restorative” practices that aim to have students deal with consequences more constructive than suspension.

“Suspending or expelling them wouldn’t be a great idea at this level,” Haynes said of middle school and high school students. “It kind of pushes the kid out instead of having them be held accountable and responsible for their actions.”

Hooks said she wanted to reach the “children we are not quite reaching,” providing more programs for students at risk of suspension, incarceration or dropping out of school. She also said some of the district schools are understaffed and that a lot comes down to advocating for more funding. Hooks formerly worked as a paraprofessional at Paige Elementary, and she proposed Monday the district could do more to work with community members to build its own local workforce. She suggested some prospective teachers could start out as paras and stick with the district as they acquired the schooling and certification to become classroom teachers.

“There are children that graduate the high school and want to become teachers,” Hooks said. “We should get them in as paras and work with them as they go through college and becomes teachers. We can recruit our own kids here in Schenectady.”

Rivera showcased her familiarity of education issues, policy and what goes on in classrooms. A former middle school teacher in Schenectady, Rivera works on teacher training programs for New York State United Teachers, the state’s largest teachers union. When the candidates were asked if they would support a tutoring program aimed at special needs students, they all said yes. Rivera went the next step and laid out the questions she would have about what the program would look like: When in the school day would it run? How would it be structured? What training would teachers involved receive?

“I have an array of experience understanding the complexities that [are] happening in our schools, not just in Schenectady but around the state,” Rivera said. “I have seen things that work and things that need to be worked on.”

Rivera signaled that she may challenge Superintendent Larry Spring on social promotion – the practice of advancing students to the next grade even if they haven’t demonstrated full readiness to advance. Spring cites research that suggests students who are “held back” are far less likely to graduate than their classmates. But district teachers have also criticized district leaders for a policy of social promotion, arguing students think they can do anything – skip class and blow off schoolwork – and still advance to the next grade. She highlighted the policy as a challenge twice during the event.

Stephens, who works as an education program coordinator at Proctors Theater, highlighted the importance of engaging students in meaningful programs as a way to keep them interested in school. She said educators can’t lose sight of the arts when talking about other issues – she called it “STEAM,” science, technology, engineering, arts and math. She also said retaining teachers would be a high priority and that supporting teachers would benefit the overall school culture. She said students would do better if they had more teachers “who look like them.”

“I believe in public education, I believe in Schenectady and I believe in collaboration,” Stephens said, promising to “work harder than I have ever worked” if elected to the school board.

Hull honed her focus to what she said were two key issues: the fact that students of color are still suspended and punished disproportionately and the lack of full-day pre-kindergarten programs at some district schools. She said every school should have a pre-k program and the district should do more to focus on improving literacy in the youngest grades. She also emphasized the struggle for increased funding and the importance of improving teacher and staff diversity.

The six candidates are running for three-year terms and will be up for election May 16 – also the day of the school budget vote and a $67 million capital project referendum.

Categories: News, Schenectady County