4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, May 7, 1997 arg Bi a A Campaign (continued from page 1) Redmond believes attitudes, mo- tivations and work habits of stu- dents need to be improved. “I have seen a decline in the educational preparedness and motivation of the in-coming col- lege students, some of which is reflected in my own children,” he wrote in a prepared statement. Redmond said a great concern of his is the average student. “I wonder how well they have been motivated,” he said. ~~ Redmond has four children, two are still in the Dallas School District. His wife; Lois, is a ten- ured Spanish teacher at the high school. Redmond has been teaching at Wilkes for more than 20 years and has served on many boards in- cluding the Luzerne County Con- servation District, as chairperson and as Associate Dean of the School of Science and Engineer- ing. “My approach to some of the problems...would include an ef- fort to involve all interested par- ties in the resolution of the prob- lem,” wrote Redmond. “The many interests represented on the board are not necessarily mutually ex- clusive and it would be far more productive to seek out areas of agreement and maintain the dig- nity of the district.” “4 For Our Kids,” made up of candidates Frank Natitus, Stephen Wengen, Ted Wright and Tony Barbose say they are not running on any particular issue. Recently Wright voiced concerns about the newly completed teach- ers’ contracts and the overcrowd- ing at the high school. “I want to know where the board's priorities are. The high school is over- crowding and they're worrying about the teachers’ contract,” he said. Wright predict the over- crowding will get worse and men- tioned that he “wasn’t so sure we shouldn't be building a new high school and putting the elemen- tary kids in the old high school.” Karen Z. Kyle and Jamie Kozemko are also running for the school board. Most of the candidates said they have been talking with the com- munity on many issues as they get ready for a “Meet the Candi- dates” night May 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the high school. The event is sponsored by the Westmoreland and Dallas Elementary PTO. The Post created its own “Meet the Candidates” by asking each a se- ries of five questions. Meet the Candidates Night Thurs., May 15 ¢ 7:30 p.m. ¢ High School Auditorium Sponsored by the Dallas and Westmoreland PTO organizations American Legion to sell poppies Susan Stephens, will be chair- ing the poppy sales for the Daddow-Isaac American Legion in Dallas. The annual event is being held by the Dallas Legion's Ladies Auxiliary in conjunction with the Dallas Legion. The ladies along with the Ameri- can Legion veterans will be out in the Back Mountain area on Armed Forces Day Sat., May 17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. selling the poppies. The poppies can be purchased from any members of the group at both Insalaco’s in Shavertown at the Back Mountain Shopping Cen- ter and in Dallas at the Country Club Shopping Center. Poppies are also being sold at the Legion in Dallas. They may be purchased in the bar area. Any- one wishing to purchase or any business wishing to sell poppies may contact Susan Stephens at 287-6821 or auxiliary treasurer Marion Kunigonis at 675-5997. The monies from the poppy sales will be used at the Veterans Administration Hospital for the American Veterans who are stay- ing there or living at the hospital's home for the veterans. : Anyone interested in joining the Ladies Auxiliary at the Dallas Le- gion may attend the third Thurs- day of the month. The next meet- ing will be May 15 in the meeting room downstairs of the legion. Jean Levi, auxiliary president will be presiding. : i ii ! BC PRED Candidates’ responses to standardized questions The Dallas Post asked the same five questions to each candidate for Dallas School Board. These are the questions and responses. What do you think is an ap- propriate maximum class size for the lower grades? Would you support adding teachers to stay below that level? If it was necessary to curtail spending, what areawould you select to cut back first? What steps do you feel could be taken - at any grade level - to improve academic perfor- mance? Do you think the school - board and administration have done an adequate job of com- municating with the public? Can you name one thing the presentschool board has done particularly well? Maureen Banks I would go by what the litera- ture says, around 15 to 20 per class. Personally, not over 24. The problem you get into is if the numbers dwindle, laying off teach- ers becomes extremely hard. I need to look at projected num- bers. I'd probably see what we can get by with. Extracurricular activities and the business office. There are always ways to look at business expenses as far as copies and so on. would check into renegotiat- ing to see if we need to cut cor- ners. Even look at co-pay for activities as a possibility. So many things. Big things. Mr. Howanitz, inservice educa- tion, accomplished a lot and car- ried it back into the classroom. (Howanitz reviewed teaching and learning styles.) I would encour- age more faculty to take part in doing that. I don’t think we expect enough of our students. To do that we need the cooperation of the par- ents. I think there is always room for improvement. You always like to think that you did a good job, but then you hear that some people didn’t think so. There is a need to work on it. Top of the list is we don’t al- ways agree but we work things out. I can honestly say we do disagree very well and that has shown at the meetings. Also, financially and in regard to per- sonnel. Several things. Smaller is always better; 25. Yes, so long as everything is kept in check, such as taxes. I couldn't give an honest an- swer without looking at the bud- get. Have smaller class size through middle school, because it pro- motes a more personal relation- ship with the teachers. It's a great benefit. I think the high school’s inten- sified schedule will work, but it will take some time. More time spent during flex period for teacher access due to lack of room. No. The school board hasn't been adequate. They could've given the public more acknowl- edgment. For example, many parents spent 100’s of hours gath- ering information about maintain- ing a swimming pool in the dis- trict. The board listened to them for 15 minutes. Finally making a decision on where to put the new elementary. school. z Vo TH % NS -“ « Jamie Kozemko The ideal number would be somewhere in the area of 16, but being realistic, it would have to be more in the range of 20-25 in the core subjects. If we need to hire more teach- ers toward that end then we should. I think we owe it to our children to provide them with the best eduction we possibly can. I am intensely aware of the fact that extra curriculums are essen- tial to making a well rounded person, but extra curriculums would have to be looked at first because it would take time to work out the legal contractual agreements with district employ- ees, A positive attitude in the school, creative classroom techniques, and reinforcement of sense of self. I believe that sense of self means knowing you are a capable and productive person, and a vital link in your family, school and community, in addition to having a high self esteem. I don’t feel the current board as a whole makes themselves avail- able enough to the public. Nor do they do enough to find out what public opinion is on any issue prior to voting on it. I feel there is far too much back door dealing with too many of the present board members. No, I am genuinely sorry to say, I cannot think of a single thing. Karen Kyle 25 maximum. I would support adding teachers if it went over that number. 1 think a lower class size is especially important for grades K-2, when the kids are first learning math and how to read. If class size was larger two years in a row, I would seriously consider more teachers. I would look at the adminis- tration first, then fixed facilities expenses and lastly, anything af- fecting the students directly. It’s important to have support staff in reading and math in the elementary schools so that kids don’t fall so far behind. By fifth grade they have to be at a certain level and a support person can give kids extra help in school. All students could take advantage of this. Yes, they do an adequate job. Do they go out of their way? No. They should have the school board meetings at different schools throughout the district. I think there is more they can do. Some people don’t come because they don’t feel like they'll be listened to. The Citizens Advisory Com- mittee can play an important roll, but they haven't been heard from in more than a year. The board has taken a hard disciplinary line with unaccept-. able conduct. They have demon- strated it won't be tolerated and - are very consistent in that regard. a NT oT SE | So AER TT TR RA CROLEY Frank Natitus 20-25range. I think that’s fair. I would consider it, but I would have to look at all of the informa- tion first. I have no way of answering that question. Not enough informa- tion on the budget, there are a lot of general areas. 1don’t think it's a question I can answer without additional information. Class size, monitoring of teach- ers as far as what kind of books and studies they're using with the kids. No, that’s one of the things I'm not all that happy with. In certain circumstances they have not done as well as could be. Fiscally. They have managed . the district pretty well and the administration, (specifically) Gerry Wyecallis did a good job of keeping the taxes low. Brian Redmond Ideally less than 20. Budget permitting, yes, I would have to look at the budget in detail. I would look closely at extracurricular activi- ties, though I would be hesitant. Reduce number of study halls; there are too many right now. On most issues, yes. Obvi- ously, there is still some concern over the budget. I would want to say some things about curricu- lum and less interruption in the classrooms themselves. They handled the last negotia- tions with the teachers fairly well. I hope they will be able to handle impending negotiations as well as the last time. Ta IBLE ATRL ny Steve Wengen 22. Sure, as long as it’s within the budget terms. I'm not equipped to answer this question because I have no thor- ough knowledge of the budget. Make sure kids have best and latest technology, best teachers and proper programs. We need a good mix of quality teachers with quality facilities and equipment. The administration is in good shape. The board has sent mixed messages. The decision making process regarding the elementary school is a good example. They don’t always communicate real- ity to the public. I'm glad to see they negotiated the teachers’ contract. The board +, is now secure in not having tg,” deal with teacher labor problents 2 ’ for the next five years. : - [} / Ted Wright No more than 25. Yes. I can’t answer that. When you look at the budget the categories are very broad. I can't tell from the budget what's legitimate and what's not. I wouldn't cut or add until I was privy to the informa- tion. You have to allow the adminis- tration and teachers to become better able to discipline problem children. A lot of problems come from an inability to properly dis- cipline. Once they are able to instill discipline, performance will improve. No. That's one of the greatest reasons I decided to run. They don't communicate with them- selves let alone with the public. I've been at meetings where if someone made a motion that it was Monday night they wouldn't get a nine to nothing vote. Managed finances now. We are one of the lowest tax districts, if not the lowest. We have a nice surplus. They also have success- fully negotiated contracts, that’s their strong point. [ 8 TE RE AT rR mT IR mC wr a LE ae Se SE A a eT OD RA WA AMT 2 as aa a io I SR i Eh a a a Re aie FEE RRR WT SE a dE TRON WER ARNE RETR Be Rl a eR El a = ©
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