A Learning Process School Board Members Discover Education Can Be Complicated And Time-Consuming

Kay Bryant laughs as she talks about being a green-as-grass school board member. “I remember one of the first documents that I was asked to review, I can’t remember what school it was, but they were going through a remodel, and here was their wish list — pages and pages long. “I believed that it was my responsibility to look through and know all details of this planning,” she said. That was nine years ago. Now, Bryant has an entirely different take on her job as a member of the Central Valley School Board:

A school board sets policy.

Put another way, a board sets a school district on course. The school administration makes and executes specific arrangements to carry out that plan.

With election day nearing, several school board members are running. Most are unopposed. Still, this is a good time to examine how elected school officials operate. After all, they oversee millions of dollars of tax money and labor in relative obscurity.

Just what do school board members do? What kind of preconceived notions do new school board members outgrow?

Candidates who come in carrying specific issues on their agenda sometimes reach surprising conclusions.

When Craig Holmes campaigned four years ago for a seat on the Central Valley board, he wanted a leaner administration and more streamlined bookkeeping.

Since then, Holmes has almost reversed his first position. “When you get on the inside, you see (administrators) really are pushed,” he said. Particularly now, with construction of the two new high schools, “I’m actually concerned about our administrators that we don’t overtax them. They’re good people.”

As for bookkeeping changes, Holmes says he was wrong there, too.

“What I found when I got in there was my understanding of the process was not accurate at all. There has been a lot of streamlining, but not because of me,” Holmes said. “I wish I could take the credit, but I can’t.”

Michael King, a candidate for an East Valley School Board seat, says he’s running because of two concerns. First, he’s heard that school board members or administrators have traveled to Disneyland and Hawaii. He wants to rein in that kind of elaborate travel.

Second, King said, he wants to help East Valley reverse gradually declining test scores “compared against European and Asian countries.”

King admits that he has not checked to learn if board members or administrators paid their own way on the travel he’s concerned about. (They did, said East Valley business administrator Tom Crouch.) Nor has King ever attended an East Valley School Board meeting.

On the other hand, East Valley incumbent Tim Wick emphasizes budget issues and education reform. He also pinpoints something that is a crucial hump for new school board members to get over: “I’m only one vote of five. It’s very difficult to say I did anything. It’s we as a board of five did something,” Wick said.

Serving on a school board is a push-me, pull-you act. While board members are expected to voice opinions, both theirs and those of their constituents, they also must pull together.

Debbie Hjortedal was appointed last month to an open seat on the West Valley School Board after going through an interview with board members.

Veteran board member Pete Schweda asked Hjortedal:

“What if there’s a tough decision and you lose, four to one, and the next morning someone comes up to you and says, `Gee, that was a terrible decision.’ What are you going to say?”

“We’re still a team. I still have to be supportive whether my view is voted up or down,” Hjortedal replied.

Several board members who were interviewed agreed that serving on a school board consumes up to 10 hours a week.

“And that’s without running a bond or levy. You add in a special project and your family wonders if they’ll ever recognize you again,” said Cindy McMullen, currently president of the Central Valley School Board. McMullen has served 12 years on the board and is unopposed in this election.

One contested school board race is in Freeman. Incumbent Ron Fulkerson and challenger Bill Adams, who previously served on the board, are friendly contestants. Each says the other would do a fine job if elected.

It’s a good thing that most school board members do get along. They spend much of their time laboring in relative obscurity.

Almost like college students in an endless semester, they are perpetually listening, learning and reading. They attend school events and learn that a quick trip to the grocery store may turn into a discussion with constituents.

The packets for Central Valley’s biweekly school board meetings run an average of 60 to 75 pages - printed front and back.

Few citizens attend board meetings unless a controversy is afoot. Occasionally a hardy Boy Scout will come to a school board meeting, working on his citizenship badge. If he’s stalwart enough to stay more than an hour, it’s cause for comment.

How steep is the learning curve for new school board members?

“Straight up,” replies Marie Francis, who was elected four years ago to the East Valley School Board. She is running unopposed this fall.

“It actually has taken two years to figure it out,” says Sue Wendt, who was elected two years ago to the East Valley board.

“I found by the end of my second year of being a board member that I knew absolutely nothing,” McMullen said. “After that, I was able to learn a few things.”

Bryant says there’s a transition that school board members can make, when they learn to go beyond their personal agendas. Successful bond issues or successfully hiring a superintendent, for instance, require tremendous teamwork and communication skills.

“Yes, we can make a difference, and it’s through education of our public and taxpayers that we do,” she says.

This sidebar appeared with the story: School board candidates

CENTRAL VALLEY

Cynthia McMullen

Central Valley School Board

Incumbent, Position 1

Personal: Age 47 … self-employed attorney … active in Girl Scouts … member of Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce and Sunrise Valley Rotary… married, three children.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University … law degree from Gonzaga University.

Issues: Getting new high schools built … successfully moving ninthgraders into high schools and sixthgraders into middle schools.

Kay Bryant

Central Valley School Board

Incumbent, Position 3

Personal: Age 61 … manager of classified employent services for Community Colleges of Spokane … member of Spokane Valley Rotary, Valley Chamber of Commerce and two drama groups … single, four grown children and two grandchildren.

Education: Pursuing bachelor’s degree at Eastern Washington University.

Issues: Increasing community and parent involvement in schools … raising awareness of lifelong learning.

Patty Minnihan Central Valley School Board Incumbent, Position 4 Personal: Age 47 … former teacher … member of Spokane Regional Health District’s School Advisory Board … married, three children. Education: Bachelor’s degree from University of Washington … teaching certificate from Seattle Pacific University.

Issues: Continued emphasis on school safety … support for alternative education programs.

EAST VALLEY

Marie Francis

East Valley School Board

Incumbent, Position 1

Personal: Age 42 … marketing assistant for Excel Food Stores … married, four children.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from University of the Pacific.

Issues: Preparing students for the work world and involving parents in that process … ensuring that the public understands importance of bonds and levies.

Tim Wick

East Valley School Board

Incumbent, Position 2

Personal: Age 42 … purchasing agent for Wagstaff Inc. … married, two children.

Education: Graduate of East Valley High School … associate’s degree from Spokane Community College.

Issues: Complying with state education reform guidelines … finding a way to fill the void created by budget cuts to education.

Michael King

East Valley School Board

Challenger, Position 2

Personal: Age 49 … former field technician for the U.S. Bureau of Mines … Boy Scout leader … library volunteer … married, four children.

Education: Associate’s degree from Spokane Falls Community College … Working on another associate’s degree at SFCC.

Issues: Travel expenses by board members and administrators … concern with gradually decreasing math and science scores on tests when compared against students in Europe and Asia.

WEST VALLEY

Mark Shulkin

West Valley School Board

Running unopposed, Position 3

Personal: Age 33 … worked 17 years for the West Valley School District as a bus driver, custodian and maintenance worker before resigning earlier this year … now doing landscape maintenance work … married, one child.

Education: East Valley High School graduate, and two associate’s degrees from Spokane Community College.

Issues: School safety and security.

FREEMAN

Ron Fulkerson

Freeman School Board

Incumbent, Position 1

Personal: Age 51 … claims management specialist for Farmer’s Insurance … former police officer and juvenile detective in San Francisco Bay area … member of Rockford Volunteer Fire Department … married, four children.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University … master’s degree from Golden Gate University.

Issues: Helping new superintendent and high school principal get up to speed on local issues … bringing college courses to Freeman High School.

Bill Adams

Freeman School Board

Challenger, Position 1

Personal: Age 49 … owns Northwest Images Photography, a studio in the Spokane Valley … volunteer yearbook adviser for high school … member of Coast Guard Auxiliary and Spokane Optimist Club … assistant scoutmaster … former school board member … married, four children.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University.

Issues: Keeping up district’s progress on educational reform … ensuring that the upcoming federal census is carried out accurately within the school district.

Sue Cronk

Freeman School Board

Incumbent, Position 3

Personal: Age 43 … administrative assistant at Fire District 8 … past president of Spokane School Directors Assocation … married, two children.

Education: Graduated from Freeman High School … attended Spokane Community College and Eastern Washington University.

Issues: Ensuring that district policies reflect community values … working with other schools and agencies on such issues as school safety.

Kathleen Lundy

Freeman School Board

Incumbent, Position 5

Personal: Age 44 … works in accounting for Community Colleges of Spokane … Camp Fire leader … EMT volunteer with Fire District 8 … married, two children.

Education: Associate’s degree in administrative justice from Santa Rosa Junior College.

Issues: Providing college classes on campus for high school students participating in Running Start.