More than 100 people showed up to Boulder Pointe on Oct. 14 for the Oxford School Board Candidate Forum, hosted by Greater Oakland Republican Club.
‘I was really glad (about) the number of people who showed up,? said GOP Club Member Rod Charles, of Oxford, who organized the forum.
The forum facilitator was Oakland County Commissioner Mike Spisz (R-Oxford). The format for the evening included two-minute opening statements by candidates and one-minute each to answer ‘fishbowl questions? from the audience.
The questions were sifted through by Former Oxford Superintendent Dr. Mark Orchard and Charles? wife, Karen, to make sure they were ‘fair and objective and non-combative.?
Present at the forum were candidates Joyce Brasington, Paula Foster, Amy Hamilton, Angela Mitchell, Pam Phelps, Mike Schweig, Kim Shumaker and Mark Stepek. Noah Stevens was unable to attend due to college classes.
What is the purpose of the school board?
The night kicked off with candidates weighing in on what they believe is the purpose of the school board.
First and foremost, Schweig said the school board is ‘the leader of the district.?
‘The responsibility of the school board is to make policy, set policies and ensure they are carrying them out appropriately,? he added. ‘Also, they are to hold everyone accountable for their performance.?
As a former teacher and administrator, Schweig said he has witnessed well-run meetings and not so well-run meetings.
While Shumaker agreed that the board’s role is setting policy and watching over the district’s finances, she noted that ‘the role of a board member and the purpose of the board? is something she’s had to learn over time, but her number one purpose as a board member is putting students first.
‘For me personally, I always want to focus on the students,? she said. ‘I want to be forthright and honest including not having an omission of facts and I want (to hear the public’s) opinions.?
Stepek said the purpose of the school board is to ‘be a guiding light for the students.?
‘They have to go out and set policy and make sure that everybody from students to teachers to administrators to counselors (follows it). Everybody has to be accountable to policies that the board sets,? he said. ‘Some of them that are in place, I think, need review.?
Reviewing those polices would be part of Stepek’s mission if elected.
Brasington pointed out the purpose of the board is not only setting policy and approving budgets, but also hiring and evaluating the superintendent.
‘My purpose is to support the district’s mission statement,? Brasington said. ‘My job on the board would be to make the best decisions possible for the students and always remember that I represent the community and not any one thought or one person.?
Foster believes the purpose of the board is to ‘serve as a community voice.?
‘It’s our job to serve, to hear and to listen to what your concerns are (and) to always put the students first,? she said. ‘After that goal is achieved, I believe we should make sure our budget is balanced and that we are spending wisely. We do not want to throw away money in the areas that are not best serving the needs of our students.?
Foster agreed with Stepek that policies need to be reviewed and upheld.
Hamilton said part of the school board’s purpose is figuring out how to provide what the children need, but they cannot do that without healthy discussions.
‘I fear decisions are made (currently) before they even hit our board’s discussions and in order for us to make the best decisions for our children and as a board, that’s what we’re supposed to be doing. We need to be open and discuss with each other, in addition to the public,? she added. ‘The public needs to know what’s going on. You only seem to hear highlights when it’s something huge. We need to get every piece to them.?
Mitchell said the ‘practical goal of the school board is to oversee the education of the community,? but she also believes there is a ‘symbolic role? that comes as a member of the school board, which deals with how they interact with the public.
‘The board sets the tone for the community and how they feel about the community’s impression of the school district,? she said. ‘I think that’s an important role that shouldn’t be forgotten.?
Pam Phelps, who served on the board previously, used the analogy of a ship and the superintendent as the captain.
‘The school board puts the superintendent in place ahead of the ship and then he is accountable for the performance of everyone underneath him,? Phelps said.
Speaking of the superintendent, candidates were asked what they see is the working relationship between the board and the superintendent?
Shumaker said that relationship ‘begins with trust,? which she believes will be a key issue for any member that is elected.
‘For me trust comes from full communication. Being willing to hear input from the community, that is huge for me. Obviously, the students are going to be our focus, but as parents you speak on behalf of your students. That’s why your input is critical to me,? she explained. ‘I would never want to presume to be knowing what is best for your individual child.?
Stepek described the relationship as ’employer-employee relationship.?
‘We as a board, one of our primary functions is to hire the superintendent,? he said. ‘We need to make sure the superintendent is following those guidelines that we as a board would set.?
Stepek also said the superintendent needs to be very clear with regard to his plans.
Brasington said the relationship between the board and the superintendent is ‘two-fold? and one of accountability to each other.
‘All board members need to have that working relationship; it can’t just be the board president and the superintendent working hand-in-hand alone,? she explained. I think it’s important that all seven members of the school board have a voice.?
The relationship between the two is the most important as far as serving the needs of the public, according to Foster.
‘Accountability of how the school is running, how we develop that is about building relationships. Not only relationships between the board members, but also with the superintendent. The more we know people, the more we understand who they are and how they think and what their goals are,? Foster said. ‘That is affecting all of us. We all bring certain things to the table. We all have different issues that are important to us. It’s about how we communicate that to each other.?
Hamilton believes the superintendent is there to guide the board, but discussion must be taking place.
‘The board needs to be able to trust and needs to be able to discuss issues that many of us won’t be familiar with,? she said. ‘We need someone to guide us (as to) what needs to get done, but everybody needs to have a voice and everybody needs to trust that we can go to the superintendent to help us facilitate what needs to get done.?
Mitchell said the school board ‘delegates duties to the superintendent through board policy.? In order to accomplish this she, too, believes it must be done through honest and open communication.?
In years past, Phelps said the superintendent always submitted what he intended to do for the year and gave updates quarterly to the board.
‘That’s the superintendent’s responsibility,? she explained. ‘Our responsibility then is to keep the plan and purpose and vision he put into effect when he first came into the school. It’s our purpose to make sure that stays intact and that the children are protected.?
Schweig also believes the relationship with the superintendent to be a ‘critical one,? and that the board and superintendent need to be on the ‘same page in regards to goals and objectives.? Those goals and objectives he believes should come from community input.
‘Not just parents and students, but also community members, families who have raised their children here and (now) their children have moved on,? Schweig said. ‘It’s important to hear from all members of the community on what they feel (the) schools should be doing.?
For Stepek, ‘the biggest concerns facing Oxford Schools? is the need for polices of the school board to be reviewed.
‘I think everybody, students, administrators, faculty and superintendent all need be compliant with those guidelines, the rules, the polices and they need to be revisited, adjusted and brought into the current times,? he said.
As a parent, Brasington would like to see more decisions by the board made based on data.
‘If we’re going to use a lot of time and energy of the employees of the district, we need to make sure it makes sense for the kids of Oxford,? she said. ‘We also need to look at teacher contracts and administrator contracts, paraprofessionals, secretaries, bus driver contracts.?
Foster sees ‘transparency? as the biggest concern.
‘As a parent, I am very concerned that board meetings have been done in special meetings, that information on agendas has not been put forth to the public, information we need to make good decisions,? she said. ‘It’s probably the number one concern and why I am up here tonight.
Hamilton said the biggest challenge is ‘making sure our children are healthy, educated, and successful.?
‘We can all fool ourselves and pretend (that) drugs and alcohol are not a part of Oxford Schools. I don’t want it to be negative, but I want us to be honest with ourselves that we need to make sure our children are okay and they’re making proper choices,? Hamilton said. ‘When they don’t make proper choices, (I want to make sure) we have avenues to get them help and get them the education they need, so they can be successful because I think that’s what we want for all of our children.?
As a result of a lack of communication ‘it doesn’t always seem like everyone is on the same page or working towards the same goal, whether it’s administration, it’s the superintendent, it’s the board (or) it’s the staff,? according to Mitchell.
‘Human nature is if you don’t have information, you make up your own story,? she said. ‘You make up that story and you tell people your story and all of sudden that story is grown and now, we’re all going in a different direction, working on different information that isn’t factual.?
As far as transparency goes, Phelps reiterated that closed meetings are in accordance with the Open Meetings Act and not everything they discuss can be talked about in the public.
‘Everything we can talk about is on TV or in the meetings,? she said.
Schweig’s number one concern is ‘morale and making people feel appreciated.? He believes administration needs a better working relationship with other agencies outside of school including working closer with parks and recreation and the local newspaper (Oxford Leader).
‘We cannot have an adversarial relationship and closing the doors on reporters when they ask questions about our goings on,? he said. ‘Let’s be open and honest. Let’s get on the same page with everybody and promote Oxford first.?
Shumaker believes there needs to be better communication, specifically with the public before big important decisions are made on controversial topics.
‘I believe the more we communicate to the public in advance, you can come on the journey with us and give your input. You can give us new things to think about that we may not have considered because the seven of us are not all-knowing,? Shumaker told the crowd. ‘I would prefer to do that than hand you the scrapbook afterwards. For me, it’s really about being forthright in the community regardless of how many questions it raises.?
How do the candidates feel about the school district’s global initiatives and ways to improve academic performance and test scores? Find out next week when we publish Part II of this story.