Trades and trans athletes: There’s a lot that distinguishes the candidates for Central Valley School Board

The challenger in a race for Central Valley School Board seeks to end division in the community over what he characterizes as politically motivated actions that the incumbent defends.

Incumbent Pam Orebaugh, a nurse educator and former nurse, is vying for a second term on the board to continue her role as a “bridge between the district and the community,” she said, pushing back against disagreeable state directives, keeping a scrupulous eye on district spending and taking a public stance to “protect girls sports” and parents’ rights.

“We’re not elected to represent the state. We’re not elected to represent the district, even. We are elected by our community to be that bridge between the community and the district,” Orebaugh said. “We go back and forth over the bridge, bringing concerns and teaching our public and bringing it back to them.”

Challenger Mark Bitz runs with “no political agenda,” he said, and is prioritizing boosting trades education in Central Valley schools, a passion of his garnered through years as a founding teacher at Spokane Valley Tech and an engineer at Hewlett-Packard, now retired. He said the education landscape is changing, and he would like to see schools offer more career and technical education that would prepare kids for the workforce and teach them academic skills in a way that appeals to them. He touts connections in local industry that could help him bring more worksite-based learning to Central Valley.

“Giving kids focus and then giving them the tools and the framework to run with, it’s magic,” Bitz said. “I uniquely bring that to the board, and I’m not bragging; it’s because of my life experience.”

Bitz and Orebaugh advanced from the only school board primary in the county. The two eked ahead of Rob Linebarger, chair of the Spokane County Republican Party, who endorsed Orebaugh after his loss.

Here’s how the candidates differ on topics facing the Central Valley School Board.

Transgender athletes

Depending on who you ask, transgender athletes’ participation in sports is either irrelevant or among the most important topics facing the school board.

Bitz said people rarely ask him about his position when he is door-belling, while Orebaugh said it is one of the most frequent queries.

The Central Valley School Board has made its position clear, sending letters to the federal government imploring an investigation and expressing its confusion in conflicting directives from the state and federal government. The board also approved joining a potential lawsuit against the state authority on the matter.

Bitz questioned whether these actions were worth the time, as the feds were already investigating the state. He said he would follow the state law that allows trans kids to play on whichever team with which they identify. If that law changes and he is in office, he said he would work with the board to be in compliance.

“These actions that the board took changed nothing in policy and wasted valuable board time that could be spent on problems and improvements within the board’s control,” Bitz said. “They deepen the division in our community, and worst of all, they alienate CVSD students. Our district is no place to fight political battles.”

Asked what he would rather spend time discussing, Bitz said trades education and school safety.

“We’re not trying to improve our schools, and they need some work,” Bitz said. “Education has really changed – the need for it to be relevant to what the workplace and citizenship needs are today.”

Orebaugh is steadfast that a firm stance on transgender athlete participation is well worth the board’s time. It fits her role as a school board member, reflecting the community’s values as their elected representative, and defending the “true spirit” of Title IX.

“There’s a lot of female athletes who have come to talk to us or parents or that I know of girls, and they’re just discouraged, like, ‘Why do I even compete anymore? The best I can do is second place,’ ” Orebaugh said.

Orebaugh said her stance is not meant to discriminate against transgender students. She is in favor of opening a third co-ed category in school sports, open to all sexes and gender identities while limiting the girls category to those born female.

“I truly believe we have to protect biological girls sports, just for biological girls,” Orebaugh said. “What that looks like to give everybody a place to play, I think we really need to have some good, constructive, not hateful conversations about.”

There are an estimated five to 10 transgender student athletes in the state, according to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, among a quarter-million student athletes.

Both Orebaugh and Bitz said a productive conversation is in order, pointing to division the topic has brewed among their community. Orebaugh said she has been name-called in public comments at meetings, and Bitz pointed to public comments from students speaking in support of their transgender friends, who feel “alienated” by the board’s actions.

Academics, test scores

Both candidates said state test scores do not necessarily reflect achievement, saying other ways are available to measure student success and boost academics.

While Orebaugh has sat on the board, the district has made a few changes surrounding teaching, including establishing “professional learning communities” wherein all teachers of each grade level and subject convene at least weekly to compare teaching strategies and student work.

She is also satisfied with a recent move to standardize curricula across the district so that each grade level and subject area teaches the same content along the same timeline. It keeps learning consistent, she said, with mixed feedback from teachers.

“It was quite a firestorm, especially from the teachers who have been with us for a long time, like, ‘It’s my autonomy, and I’m an educator,’ ” Orebaugh said. “We’re like, ‘Great, but you’re not a curriculum developer, so you’re not going to develop your own curriculum.’ ”

To improve student success, Bitz advocated for a more diverse selection of course offerings that reflect students’ career goals so they can see how learning materials would apply in their career of choice. The district should “offer a buffet of opportunities” for students, he said.

“They can explore and choose pathways relevant to their futures,” Bitz said. “Now, CVSD is already a long ways down that road because we’ve got a variety of learning opportunities, but I think we can improve those by expanding career-specific and trades education. And again, this is firsthand experience in leadership and execution that I bring to the board.”

He also advocated for deeper partnerships with local business and industry to increase worksite learning, something he saw benefited students and businesses while a teacher at Spokane Valley Tech.

Legislative advocacy

While they do not have a direct role in shaping state policy, school boards lobby lawmakers for their priorities under the collective Washington State School Directors Association.

Bitz said he would use his position to push for policy that helps students and the community, rather than a “political agenda” that only divides the community, he said.

“I think lobbying for more community voice is fine,” Bitz said. “What I don’t agree with is spending our tax money and our board time, when we really have big issues to solve, on political issues.”

Namely, he said legislation adopted last year stifled worksite opportunities for students by increasing the penalties employers must pay for violating youth labor laws and requiring the Department of Labor and Industries to conduct inspections before issuing some minor work permits. As a result, employers are more wary about involving students in their industries, he said, something that benefits both employers and students.

“It lets the businesses know that these kids aren’t all a bunch of video gamers; they’re capable, they want to work, they already know a lot,” Bitz said. “Community -wise, what better thing could you do than to put employers and students together?”

Orebaugh said she has not conferred with the rest of the board on their priorities yet, but said funding is always a need. She proposed increasing the per-pupil allotment that schools get from the state in order to rely less on local tax collections from levies.

She also advocated for changing state law in line with the federal government’s directives to bar trans girls from girls sports and ensuring the state does not withhold information from parents about their kids’ medical and academic records, for example.

“Don’t make us come between our parents; just stop. It’s not what our community wants,” she said.

Endorsements

Specifying that she was acting in her personal capacity, outgoing board member Tere Landa endorsed Bitz, calling him “Mark the moderate,” who would bring a critical perspective as a retired educator. Reached by email, board President Stephanie Jerdon endorsed Orebaugh as a “conservative Christian” who will uphold the law and is invested as a mom of a student.

Board members Anniece Barker and Cindy McMullen did not respond to requests for comment. Orebaugh’s campaign website lists Barker as an endorser.

Bitz has the endorsement of the Republicans of Spokane County, and Orebaugh has the endorsement of the Spokane County Republican Party.

According to her website, Orebaugh also has the endorsements of the state GOP, Moms for Liberty and the Public School Employees Union.

According to his website, Bitz has the endorsements of the Central Valley Education Association union, some local trades unions and the state body of the Public School Employees Union. He is also endorsed by former school board members Keith Clark and Debra Long.