by 
Candidates Yolanda Ewing, Max Magallanez, Catherine Sommers and Jon Duarte. Nina Crowder | Superior Sun
The chamber of commerce and the Optimist Club hosted a School Board Candidate Forum at the chamber of commerce. All but one candidate was there to answer questions and there was a meet and greet afterwards. Hank Gutierrez was the moderator. The candidates for the upcoming Nov. 4 election are Jon Nathan Duarte, Catherine Sommers, Ignacio “Max” Magallanez, Yolanda Najera-Ewing and John Tameron. There will be two positions on the school board that need to be filled in November. Gutierrez asked several questions to the candidates and gave them each two minutes to respond.
Tameron could not attend and had a typed statement for Gutierrez to read. “Hello, while I support candidate forums I would very much like to participate but I will be unavailable during the upcoming chamber sponsored debate. As you know, I own several small businesses one of them needs my immediate and undivided attention due to unexpected employee transitioning. I am reorganizing and training for the next few weeks. Please give my apology to the other candidates and the audience. Thank you.”
What is your vision for education in Superior and what do you bring to the table?
Ewing responded, “I have said a number of times and I will say it again we need to bring our teaching techniques and our students in our school into the twenty-first century. We need to provide appropriate support and appropriate equipment. We currently are working on a program called 20/20 it has worked for other districts, we have been implementing it and it does require a great deal of parent participation, that is what we are going to need to focus on.”
Magallanez responded, “I agree with Ms. Ewing that along with that we need to be as part of the school system as a community. I don’t know what types of curriculums are out there yet until I am more involved. I think a different type of curriculum and hopefully we will go from there.”
Sommers responded, “Being a teacher for 14 years, I probably have a different perspective on this when it comes to education. I strongly feel that education is a three pronged approach you have to have your community, parental and responsible school system in order for it to be viable in our community. We all know that no matter what we do parental support is lacking and that can’t be our primary focus we still need to be able to move on with our goals. In our goals we should have financial goals and operational goals then we can set a target we can meet and then we will have a system that is strong. I think it is a different level of approach educational leadership, supporting our teachers then our teachers can support the students, that is just my viewpoint.”
Duarte responded, “My vision that I would like to see the school come up from where it is right now it’s that we don’t have the equipment, the tools and the people. I know that principals are teaching we need to figure out ways to get people here to help those people do better jobs. They may be over-extending themselves and I would like to see support from the community and I think it’s been here for a long time we just need to get things in order start working on technology. A part of everyday life is technology, people need to learn computers and there is none of that here in Superior, they have lost wood shop, welding and I don’t know how good the resources are anymore and we need to work on that stuff.”
What would be your number one district priority to improve education in the district?
Magallanez said, “First off we need money to be able to change anything, that has a lot to do with tools or anything of that nature. We need to find some money somewhere, every time you turn around the government is taking away money from education, we need to have it brought back.”
Sommers said, “I think that as a school board member we need to close the gap in how the school board deals with the community. I don’t feel that they bring in the teachers that know first-hand what should be done, how it should be done and value the expertise. Community support is again an optimist rebel but when we have communication out there that brings them in and is able to draw attention to the needs of the school. Are resources are tapped, we are over extending teachers, don’t have time to go to donorschose.com and ask for requests we need to have a grant writer in place to go out to obtain technology. As I was looking for jobs this year, there are a lot of schools who have technology because they knew where to go get the grants. We have resources if we know where to go look for the grants. This has to be a priority. It has to be a goal if we are going to make our kids function in a global society to go out and be successful in. The world is changing and it could be what our kids learn now is changing but they will be able to have the skills to adapt. Those are things we need to teach our kids and teaching them foundational skills so they are confident and able to adjust to what the world is.”
Duarte said, “I believe we need to start with security for the kids. They don’t understand or have the knowledge to know what is out there. We are in the day and age where technology is one of the biggest places to obtain jobs. All these different jobs and we are not able to push the kids forward because they do not get what they need out of the school right now. If we can obtain those things then the kids will have better opportunities. It’s all about the kids in the school and they need our help. It’s not one person taking on the county or State to get money. It’s us as a group to make sure we do our best. Like Ms. Sommer’s said the grants are there why are we not going after them? The security is important there has been incidents with shootings, knifes, there is a lot of things going on and making sure there is enough people in the school to take care of issues that are going on is going to take time and money but I think we can do it.”
Ewing said, “We have already contracted with a company ENVOY, they come and teach the teachers to become more effective in the classroom, and we also have people from the state that come to help us as well. I am sure everyone is aware of the fact our junior high had some problems as required by the State at this point and time we have people coming in to help. Not everyone is going to college we know that we need to train children by making the education of the school system relevant to this world. We have to start teaching them in other areas as well. The money of course is a big problem right now because we are not attended to by the State Legislature we are having a mass exodus not just from this community or the State, teachers, superintendents, school supporters know we are not supported by the legislature. We need to work in this area as well. We need to start preparing our children for the world they will be exiting into.
Once the school board votes to approve an action or policy what do you believe is your responsibility to that policy or action if you do not support that policy or action?
Sommers replied, “If the policy is adopted by the school board it needs to be enforced. We as school board officials may elect the policies but it is up to the superintendent to make sure they are enforced throughout the district. Personal preference whether or not I agree with it is irrelevant.
Duarte replied, “I agree with that in support of that the superintendent needs the school board. The decision would need to be upheld and we would need to make sure things are happening that should be.”
Ewing replied, “A school district has a hierarchy and the school board sits as a board but not at the top. The most important level is the teachers they are directly affecting our futures and then the principals, superintendents and the school board. Once a policy is passed by the school board it’s the job of everyone concerned including the board members to support that. If the policy is not supported by anyone further down the chain that’s a good reason to talk to that person and ask what is going on. I agree that once the policy is passed it must be supported by everyone whether I agree with it or not.”
Magallanez replied, “I agree with what everyone has said, you need to support the decision and be professional about how you take your stance. The bottom line is to be professional.”
What guidelines do you think should be adapted in regards to bullying in school?
Duarte response, “I don’t think anyone is going to stop bullying unless everyone is involved. The board members, superintendent and I say again, security. There needs to be someone there that can handle the situations and take care of the kids. Bullying happens every day we see shootings, knifes and there is no one there to stop it from happening. Sometimes there is someone there, but if we have someone in place we are giving our kids a chance to continue and move on where they might not be able to. We need to make a strong effort that our kids are safe in school the bullying policy is in force and once again we need the community, teachers, and parents. Everyone needs to be involved. We just need to provide support.”
Ewing response, “Arizona Revised Statue Title 15 deals with schools and under the law explicitly there are only two explicit commands or two powers that the board members are given, one is to hire and fire the other is to set policy. As far as I know we have set a strong policy on bullying. Mr. Duarte is right we need to start with the teacher, informing the teacher that the child had been bullied. Then the principal is notified and then the superintendent, that is how it works. We have had people from the county and the State come in and address these issues and we have also invited parents to come. I agree that we should have more people on the playground, in the hallways, during lunch and after school. Having assemblies to reiterate what has been said and done about bullying.”
Magallanez response, “I agree with both Ms. Ewing and Mr. Duarte bullying is going to be an everyday occurrence whether in school or the work place. It’s not an easy thing to be bullied, I have been bullied a lot and it’s not an easy thing to deal with. We need to educate the kids so they know what to do if they are bullied, I am sure the kids are aware, but we need to let the kids know it is okay to talk about it and that it’s not right to be bullied.”
Sommers response, “With bullying it’s been a spotlight at the Federal and State level for quite a while, but when it comes to that there are a lot of things to deal with that we can’t control. We can’t control home life where they might learn this in and then they bring it to school. We need to find the methods in order to handle it correctly. It needs to be ingrained in our school system. We need to educate the people who will implement the policies and make sure our children and school will know what bullying is and how to handle the situation. The children need to be able to stand up for themselves when they need to. We need to be able to provide a safe and comfortable environment for them.”
There were a few more questions asked and all the candidates replied with qualified answers. The meeting was well attended by the community and it will be up to the community members to choose the two appropriate people to join the school board in November. Good luck to each one of the candidates.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
by by