Incumbents Dennis Depping and Kristi Donohue were the only Fulton School Board candidates - out of a field of seven - to participate in the Fulton Community Teachers Association's (FCTA) candidate forum Thursday night.
Depping is finishing his third term on the board; Donohue is finishing her first.
According to Trish Alexander with FCTA, Charles Baysinger could not attend because his daughter had a choir concert in Mexico, Darren Dzurick had a work commitment, Clay Caswell had a prior commitment, Chad Bristol did not give a reason for not attending and Woodrow Foster did not respond to any of the invitations or reminders about the event. FCTA set the date and sent the initial invitation in February.
During Thursday night's forum, Depping and Donohue answered a series of randomly-drawn questions in seven categories from district staff. The candidates were given the categories ahead of the forum, but not the questions.
The candidates took turns answering the questions first. The first candidate had three minutes to answer the question and the second had one minute to add to that.
What experience do you have with complicated budgets? When you are given a 100-page budget, what will be your process to determine if it is a good budget?
Depping acknowledged that the budgeting process - and understanding it - can be complicated, but noted Jennifer Milligan with the central office over the years has consolidated that information and made it easier for board members to understand.
He said the biggest thing he looks at with the budget each year is "what's being brought in to pay the bills, and are we exceeding the bills or are we under the bills?"
Depping also talked about debt spending and bond issues - noting the board has saved the district $2 million over the past four years through refinancing and paying off bonds early - before repeating his stance about looking at the end balance.
"Bottom line, are we overspending or are we breaking even," Depping said. "If we're overspending, why, how long and how we're going to recoup."
Donohue made note of her experience working on the budget when she worked in early childhood special education in Columbia. She said when she first started she "spent a lot of time on the phone" with district administrators asking questions to make sure she understood how the budget worked.
"You have to ask a lot of questions," Donohue said.
What is your opinion of the current district curriculum?
Donohue said the curriculum has changed a lot and will likely continue to change, but said she would like to eventually see some consistency.
"I would like to see us hit a specific curriculum and stay with it long enough to actually see if the children are achieving what we need them to be achieving, but it keeps changing and we have to keep re-gathering data and re-teaching to keep up with everything."
Depping added that even with the standards the district is required to adhere to, teachers have some freedom to "formulate how you want to teach that, and I never want to lose that as a district."
What do you believe to be the benefits of continuing education for district staff?
Depping said he interpreted continuing education as professional development, which he said is "very, very important."
"In professional development, not only do you as a teacher of x, y, z subject get to meet with other teachers in your subject, but you also get to see what's working, what's getting results," Depping said.
Donohue said she agreed that professional development is important.
"Most of us at our jobs have that opportunity for continuing education," Donohue said, noting it is a requirement for her job. "Most of the time I learn something new or find something to work on."
What experience do you have with Missouri Learning Standards?
Donohue said her knowledge of Missouri Learning Standards is what she has learned from what Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Hull has shared with the school board.
"Before I ran, I didn't know what all it entailed and how much went into this position and how much learning there was," she said.
Depping said the standards are the grade level or course level expectations to which the district aligns its curriculum, but emphasized that the learning standards "are not the curriculum." He reiterated his earlier stance about giving teachers the flexibility to create their own learning experiences for students in the classroom.
How much time do you plan to invest to the district?
Depping said getting involved in something like the school board is not about punching a time clock, but it does require a commitment.
"Every night, every week, we're getting updates, phone calls following through on things. ... It's easy to spend an extra 20, 30 hours a week making sure we're prepared and doing the right thing for the district," he said.
Donohue agreed, adding that "you have to put in the time and make that effort."
Against what metrics will you assess district leadership's attainment of key goals and how will you know when a program or decision has been successful?
Depping said he would base it on what the district is doing this year at the middle school and what it has done in recent years to achieve success at the elementary and high school levels - careful analysis of student data and performance on regular classroom assessments.
"They've really gotten to know their kids, they know where they're at," Depping said.
Donohue also said the board uses data to make its decisions.
"We base a lot of our decisions on data," Donohue said. "Whether it's using tests they do in school, that's how teachers can tell (if a student is moving forward). It's in the data."
How important do you feel your presence in the district is?
Donohue said it is very important for board members to be out in the community representing the district.
"Learning about our community, our teachers, our students, just representing the fact we are concerned and we care," she said. "I couldn't very well run for this position and you not feel like you can approach me, call me, talk to me, share a concern with me, and the best way to do that is to be out and about, representing the school and myself so you know we are here."
Depping said he agreed, adding that he tries to make it to as many extra curricular activities as possible to show his support for students.
"It's important to show our support for those kids in our district," he said.
What specific steps would you take as a school board member to improve transparency and make school district information more widely available?
Depping said that issue is something the board has been exploring recently "because it's been brought to our attention."
He said the district has always had ways of hearing from patrons, with specific procedures to follow to help maintain order during school board meetings and ensure the board is able to get through the business it needs to take care of. He said the biggest thing is making sure patrons know they can get the information and see it for themselves.
Donohue also said the district is taking steps toward being more transparent.
She specifically mentioned how many of the school buildings now are posting goals and achievements in the hallways, and how a number of teachers are more present on social media giving parents a look at what is going on in their children's classrooms.
"It makes you feel more connected," she said.
Donohue acknowledged that sometimes information can be hard to find on the district website, but said it is all there and calling to the central office garners help in finding what patrons are looking for.
What are three overall education priorities that, in a perfect world, you would accomplish in your time in office? How will you go about achieving them and why are these the most important?
Donohue said her first priority would be to get more money in the transportation budget so the district is able to provide transportation to all students in the district.
"If we're not getting kids to school every day, we can't expect them to learn," she said.
Donohue's second goal would be to have more professional development days with "teachers collaborating, getting together and seeing what's working, what's not working. I like seeing that."
Depping said his concern would be the end result. He said his priorities would be:
•To continue increasing the graduation rate - Depping said the district has increased its graduation rate 12 percent over the past four years;
•To continue decreasing the dropout rate - Depping said the dropout rate has dropped 5 percent in recent years but said in an ideal world he would like to have no dropouts; and
•Increase teacher pay.
What is your opinion of teacher tenure?
Depping said tenure is a powerful tool to allow the district to hold on to its best teachers.
"We need to be able to have the district growing enough that they want to stay here," he said. "We should have things in place where they can go and get their master's, have a program in place where we can continue to keep them in our district."
Donohue agreed, adding that tenure gives teachers a goal, pride in the district and a desire to stay.
How will you engage the community to improve public schools in this district?
Donohue said the best way to get the community interested is for board members to get out more and show their interest.
"I think us being out more in the public, going to as many functions as we can and introducing ourselves as board members to show that we care to get others to care," she said. "They have to see that from us first."
Depping said that along with that, the board needs to continue to listen to teachers and their ideas on how to get the students more involved in the community as well.
What has the district done well over the last five years and what is something that it hasn't done so well that you would like to change?
Depping said the caliber of teaching has improved over the past five years.
"It is phenomenal the changes in the classroom," he said. "We've had a lot of people step up to the plate and ask, "What can we do better?'"
Depping again mentioned progress on the graduation and dropout rates and his desire to see continued improvement there. He also said he would like to see school clubs continue to grow and have more participation.
Donohue made note of changes at the high school and the resulting change in the graduation rate, and increased collaboration and positive changes at the elementary level. She said she would like to see some of those same changes at the middle school.