13 Responses to “Official Candidates”

1. posted by gruntled at June 18, 2008 7:57 am :
   

   Glad to that the 5th District has a couple of choices besides Jewell. I don’t know much about Brandon, except that he materializes right around election time. I hear that Shewmake has been a solid president for the WHCA for a few years now.

2. posted by Common Sense Mom at June 18, 2008 10:07 am :
   

   I’m thrilled to see that Marty Jewel has opposition. He does not stand a chance in Springhill or Woodland Heights. His voting record this term has been in complete opposition to the spirit and wishes of these neighborhoods. He voted to allow the S&K Mart to sell single 40’s after 10pm and he voted in support of the heavily opposed Crosland Manchester on the James in Springhill. He has also been very vocal in his opposition to the Patrick Henry Charter School, aligning himself squarely with King Salim Kilfani. It is clear that Marty Jewel has a personal agenda he is trying to advance….and I’ll stop short of saying what that agenda is but you can fill in the blanks. When you compare his record to Kathy Graziano’s, it is clear Marty does not sit on City Council as a labor of love.

3. posted by Common Sense Mom at June 18, 2008 10:23 am :
   

   Does anyone know if Rev. Otis Mallory (running against Betsy Carr for School Board in the 5th) is in support or opposition to the Patrick Henry Charter School?

4. posted by gray at June 18, 2008 3:37 pm :
   

   We know that Carr voted yes to the Charter.

   I bet Jonathan Mallard is for the charter and I’ve heard some good things about him.

5. posted by Ron at June 19, 2008 7:23 am :
   

   It’s my understanding that Adria Graham’s Scott’s position is that she favors strong schools that give parents a choice, including working for better public school choices, and charters when they have the kind of community support and intelligent thinking that is behind the PHI.

6. posted by gray at June 20, 2008 11:48 am :
   

   Heard today that John Lloyd also is in favor of the PHI.

   1) I would like to know from the SB candidates what would be the first specific thing they would want to fix or change in the RPS system?

   2) What made them want to run for School Board?

7. posted by Jonathan Mallard at June 20, 2008 9:39 pm :
   

   1. I would draft policy changes to require board authorization for A.) all expenditures over $100,000 and B.) Any Category Fund transfer in excess of $50,000.

   The board’s job is to set policy, establish a budget and hire a superintendent. I have a hard time believing that such major structural modifications have to be made “on the fly” if you will. This could have prevented the waste of $628,000.

   To put that number in perspective, the *systemwide* category of Staff Development is budgeted at $649,000 in ‘08 and $609,000 in ‘09. Ask yourself how many instructors benefited from the IT move.

   2.) I started poking around in the budget, and determined that it was (and still is) structurally out of balance. When I started asking how and why, it was very difficult to get an answer. Once it was announced that the seat would be open, I decided I would put my name out and see what that leads to.

   And yes, I just checked below, and the issues are still there.

   http://richmond.k12.va.us/indexnew/sub/Departments/Budget_Reporting/documents/09BoardsApprovedBudgetMarch32008.pdf

8. posted by gray at June 21, 2008 12:47 am :
   

   Thank you Jonathan Mallard. I’ll have some follow up questions in the future and by the way, it was a pleasure meeting you at Plant Zero yesterday.

9. posted by Carol A.O. Wolf at June 22, 2008 9:03 am :
   

   Dear Friends & Citizens,

   I need to decide by this coming Wednesday whether to mount a write-in campaign or to sit this one out and allow Norma Murdoch-Kitt to have a “walk-on” to serve as Northside’s School Board member for the next four years.

   I have already heard from so many of you who have called, dropped by or sent e-mails urging me to battle on for a multitude of reasons. Many of you have offered to help.

   Serving on School Board involves far more than simply representing one’s district, therefore I am asking to hear from citizens throughout the city. I would appreciate it if you could let me know what district you live in when you post a comment.

   In addition to asking for your help with this decision, I would most appreciate hearing from citizens across the city concerning their thoughts are on what the SB’s priorities should be during the next few months leading up to election.

   Please weigh in with what you think of the Richmond School Board and what you would like to see happen to improve the quality of education in the City of Richmond.

   Respectfully,

   Carol A.O. Wolf
   Third District Member
   Co-Chair Student Disciplinary Committee
   Member, Finance Committee
   Member, Legal, Legislative, Policy and Communications Committee

   Personal e-mail: Wolfies@aol.com

10. posted by Bert Berlin at June 28, 2008 5:23 pm :
    

    Gray,

    Let me answer your second question first with this excerpt from my statement of candidacy:

    “I am running for the School Board because I am deeply committed to public education. I believe that we, the citizens of Richmond, are obligated to provide a first-class education to all of our children. Although we have made considerable progress in the quality of our schools over the past few years, the job is not done. I can provide the leadership to continue the journey.

    “Until now, I had no plans to run for public office. I just wanted to live close to my grandchildren and enjoy my retirement. However, a few years ago I became involved with Richmond Public Schools as a volunteer in the Micah Initiative. Soon after that, I started serving on the Citizen’s Advisory Group for Communities in Schools at Westover Hills Elementary School. Although both of these “jobs” give me great satisfaction, I am often frustrated that I can only help a few kids at a time.

    “I am the fortunate recipient of a quality public education. Had not the generations of my grandparents and parents made the commitment to provide high quality public schools for me to attend, I am sure that I would have never achieved what I have achieved in life. Now that I am a grandfather, it is time for me to start paying forward.”

    As to your first question, if I am elected, the first thing I will do is spend a lot of time listening. Although I have spent a great deal of time over the past years learning about RPS and public education in general, there is so much more for me to learn. I also want to listen to the voters of the fourth district. I can best represent their interests by understanding their concerns and needs.

    As to specifics, first I will concentrate on eliminating wasteful and improper spending by RPS. We must instill throughout RPS from the top down the attitude that it is the taxpayer’s money we are spending and that we are accountable for its use. We must also make sure that each expenditure is justified before it is made.

    As I have recommended before, we must adopt some form of zero-based budgeting for RPS. This would require every office and operation within RPS to justify its continued funding at least every two years. If the office or operation cannot demonstrate to the school board that it is contributing significantly to the education of our children, the board should refuse to continue funding it.

    We must also address this recommendation in last November’s Crupi Report,
    “The Richmond public school system should audit every position by position to determine if the cost benefit of the services provided is worth the expense and whether reorganization could contribute to greater efficiencies. The focus should always be about bringing the best educational services to its students.”

    Recently, I asked school board Vice Chair Linda Dawson whether or not RPS had made progress in implementing the Crupi report recommendations. She indicated that the board had chosen to first pursue other audits recommended by Dr. Crupi. However, the next audit will address the staffing concerns of the report. In Ms. Dawson’s words,
    “The upcoming audit is a staffing audit, both administration and schools. We need to know if we have the right people in the right positions doing the right things. That is coming from outside and a RFP is already out.”

    The staffing audit will serve similar purposes to my zero-based budgeting proposal. There is a widely-shared belief in the Richmond area that RPS is top-heavy, having far too many administrative positions. If that perception is true, both zero-based budgeting and the position by position audit recommended by Dr. Crupi will show us what administrative positions, if any, need to be eliminated.

    Second, I will propose funding in the RPS fiscal year 2009-10 budget for four International Baccalaureate primary year programs to be established at two elementary schools south and two elementary schools north of the river. I described the IB Primary Years Program in my blog in May. http://jamesrivermaven.blogspot.com/2008/05/lets-talk-ib.html These IB primary years programs will provide more challenging and interdisciplinary educations to over fifteen hundred of our elementary school students.

    Third (this is still tentative); I will propose the creation of an ombudsman function for Richmond Public Schools. As I envision it, the ombudsman would be a place for parents to bring complaints concerning how their children have been treated if they are unable to get satisfaction at the school principal level. The file entitled “RPS Horror Stories” on my desk top is filled with instances in which parents have complained that their child was not receiving proper treatment in our public schools. Many of those stories have ended sadly with the child’s needs going unsatisfied. An ombudsman function would assure that every parent’s concerns with how their child is being treated in RPS will be considered by someone with direct access to the Superintendent of Schools.

    Fourth—I am still working on fourth.

11. posted by gray at June 28, 2008 6:58 pm :
    

    Thanks Berlin, I really like the IB program at the elementary level, for one, it is open to all in the district –children don’t have to pass a test to be part of the program– and secondly, it would draw neighbors into their district schools.

    I’m hoping for some type of innovative program in the east end, whether it be IB or montessori –anything hands-on.

12. posted by gray at June 29, 2008 12:34 pm :
    

    RPS has an ombudsman called Safety and Security. Parent’s concerns do reach human resources and/or the Superintendent and nothing much is done –these departments hope that parents will give up and go away or they will pad reports against the families. All agencies within RPS protect the system first.

    This is why we need a non profit agency outside and very separate from RPS to advocate for the families and inform them of their rights. This agency would also have a lawyer on board. Many cities already have such agencies. Across the nation, school culture has become too corrupt to police itself.

13. posted by Bert Berlin at July 1, 2008 11:53 am :
    

    This really needs to have its own thread and I hope Bill will set it up.

    As a candidate for the School Board, I am seeking your input on the
    issues confronting Richmond’s public schools. Let’s start with this one.

    In the fourth district, we have three elementary schools–Fisher,
    Southampton and Westover Hills. I am closely familiar with Westover
    Hills. Each week I see excellent, motivated teachers interacting with
    children eager to learn. I see excellent administration both in principal Sally Pitts and assistant principal Sheila Hines. The school building is not new, but it is very well maintained and provides an excellent learning environment. Although I have not spent the same time in Fisher and Southampton, I assume that the teachers, administrators and physical plant are as good as at Westover.

    My questions–

    1- Why do so many parents living in the fourth district choose not to send their children to our neighborhood elementary schools?

    2- What changes would it take to restore the confidence of fourth distric parents in our neighborhood schools as educational venues for their children?

    Thanks for you thoughts.

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