Published: May 02, 2008 11:47 am            

‘Nasty’ politicking talked about at GCCS school board forum

The Greater Clark County Schools board election has caused quite a commotion, with 13 people fighting for four seats.

There have been allegations of illegal politicking by some people, who are accused of putting out letters for candidates that insinuate they are from the teachers association, when they are not. Others have argued that not all signs have clearly said who has paid for it, as required by law. Candidates also have complained about getting signs stolen or signs being placed at illegal locations. The school board even had a special meeting to reinforce what the election rules are.

So, the Greater Clark Education Association — which for the first time is not endorsing candidates — hosted a forum Thursday night at Jeffersonville High School to let the candidates speak. Eight of the 13 showed, but only about a dozen people came to watch.

“It is a nasty election and this is a scary time for my teachers,” said Glenda Kovert, president of the education association, referring to budget cuts. “We’re just hanging on as tightly as we can and it’s become an atmosphere of distrust. We are just hanging on by our fingernails.”

Bill Halter showed the audience a postcard that is being sent about him. It says it is paid for by his college roommate. He said he doesn’t believe that is who is behind the mailing.

“This race is good versus evil and it’s in all these (Clark County) races,” Halter told the audience. “This is the nastiest election I have seen, not only with the school board, but with everything in Clark County.

Stacy Wiese agreed, saying she was at an election board meeting Wednesday night. She said the board agreed wrongdoing has happened with the school board election and said they were going to hand over the case to the prosecutor. Election board members could not be reached by press time to confirm her statements.

“It’s hard to determine who is good and evil anymore,” she said.

Christina Gilkey said she doesn’t think any alleged wrongdoing will effect the outcome of Tuesday’s primary.

“If all you have to talk about is the negative, then maybe you don’t need to be running for school board,” she said. “I believe the voters in Clark County are smart enough to make a good decision and listen to those who are talking positive and not negative.”

During the forum, Kovert asked the candidates about issues that affect the association, such as class size, vocational programs and budget issues. Before the question-and-answer session, candidates were given all the questions to fill out for schools to have available for any teachers who wanted to read them.

One of the main points each candidate stressed was that the board needs a plan.

“We wouldn’t be in the financial fix we are in now if we would have planned when our reserve fund started dwindling,” Jerry White said.

Jim Wesp talked about the three main things that need to be done with the school board. Those include having members declare potential conflicts of interest and reviewing the budget, line by line.

“The board also needs to be out in the public. We need to communicate with constituents,” he said. “Communication creates positive outcomes. If you don’t communicate, it creates doubt, skepticism and distrust.”

Richard Sawyer said smaller classes are needed.

“The larger the classes, the harder it is for the teacher to teach the students,” he said. “Smaller classes help lower behavior problems too.”

Bob Burgan has a different approach to handling that issue.

“Some teachers are good at communicating to larger groups,” Burgan said. “We have to look at who are more talented and more qualified to do that (teach larger classes).”

Kovert also asked the candidates if they were elected, how they would handle a situation where the school board and teachers don’t agree.

“I would make sure to listen to both sides of the issue,” Rebecca Christensen said.

Once the forum ended, Kovert talked about the small crowd. She said she believed few people came out because just hours earlier, Hillary Clinton was at Jeffersonville High School campaigning.

“I was disappointed, but I think for the next election we will do better,” she said.

However, this did help at least one undecided voter make up his mind.

“This did help me to get a feeling where they stood,” said Frank Denton, who teaches at JHS. “It made a difference to me.”

        

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