by Fred Hernandez
That this event was considered of paramount importance to most of the community was clearly evident in the sell out audience that came to hear the six candidates vying for a seat on the Custer County School District board. It was close to eighty friends and neighbors in a “standing-room-only” attendance on Thursday evening, October 19th, at Tony’s Mountain Pizza when Chairwoman Ann Barthrop called the meeting to order a little after the six o’clock hour, immediately after the standard Pledge of Allegiance and group singing America
Dr. Ann Willson did her familiar invocation quoting, from the book “Prayers and Presidents”. This time she quoted President Warren G. Harding from his speech during American Education Week Proclamation on November 20, 1922.
“Without a vision the people perish ( from Pr. 29:18). Without education, there can be little vision. Of education it is said that ‘It is twice blest; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes’. It will be greatly worth the effort if, as an incident to the observance of Education Week, we can impress this thought upon the young manhood and womanhood of the nation and redirect their interest and patriotic zeal to the idea of making a proper contribution to educational work. The strength and security of the nation will always rest in the intelligent body of its people. Civic organizations and religious bodies may render special service by their cooperation; and particularly it is recommended that parents enlist themselves in behalf of closer understanding between school and home.”
Sage words indeed and a most appropriate quotation for the evening’s program.

Chairwoman Ann then briefly announced that the BOCC had arranged for speakers to do a presentation at Lange Hall on Proposition HH on Friday, October 20th.
In the interest of space and time, the over two hours meeting has
been edited to feature the salient points made by individual candidates and to capture the essence of their core beliefs. The order in which the candidates were called was picked randomly.

First up was Daniel Gasper, currently Shop Manager at Custer County Road and Bridge who apologized for not being a public speaker but shared his passion for the importance of maintaining a high standard for the school’s performance.

The next was Ms. Erin McCarthy, daughter of candidate Joseph McCarthy who regrettably but unavoidably had to go out of town. Erin is the mother of four children two of whom go to the local school. She read a letter penned by her father who expressed his sadness at some of the problems besetting the school and what steps needed to be taken going forward in order to address them in a positive manner. (The letter is on page 3 of this week’s issue.)
Third candidate was Regina “Reggie” Foster who gave a brief background of her experiences, in particular communications and team building, which she would apply if elected to the board.
The next candidate to introduce himself was Jeremy Hockett who cited his experience and training while he was in the U.S. Navy for over a decade where he learned to be an instructor and thus able to offer that training and experience.
Dr. Linda Brown, the write-in candidate, has a doctorate degree, a masters degree and has been a teacher, home school teacher, school founder and has given presentations in Oxford and Barcelona. She is a national trainer at the Northwest Evaluation Association which provides training for trainers and traveled throughout the country teaching trainers. This organization provides data on specific tests for each state which is an important tool that shows where there may be “holes” in the curriculum and thus making it possible to adjust the curriculum in a timely manner for the benefit of the students.
The sixth candidate Jennifer Kriegh is an active parent and currently a volunteer at the school. She spoke eloquently about the need for a school board member to be a good listener to the teachers, the students and, equally important, the parents. Moreover, she goes on, board members have to be accessible at all times and totally transparent most especially when it comes to the budget.
Chairwoman Barthrop then went to the questions starting with; How many board of education meetings have you attended and what motivated you to run? Both candidates Foster and Kriegh said they could count on one hand the board meetings they missed indicating that they attended the majority of meetings and they are motivated to run for the sake of their children’s good education which to them is of great importance. The next question was, “What are the three educational priorities that in a perfect world you would try to achieve and how will you achieve these?”
Candidate Gasper for his part sees how the school is changing due to politics and he wants to keep politics out of the school, retain the rural values of this community and improve communications and transparency. Candidate Foster stated that the school has wonderful teachers but they lack the tools to do the best job. She went on to say that teachers need to be heard when they express their needs and there is an urgent need to address the problem of teacher retention. Jeremy Hockett in his turn asked why prayer is not allowed in school when other agendas are tolerated? He spoke of the aging community and the need to make it attractive for younger residents with children to move into the county.
What was most evident through-out the give and take between candidates and Chairwoman Ann, who served as moderator, were
the following: the candidates were all in agreement that transparency is seriously lacking and needs to be improved. Another issue that needs immediate improvement is communications between the board and teachers, staff members and parents. There is also the issue of the lack of accountability which all the candidates agree needs to be addressed as a priority.
After a brief break, the audience was invited to address the candidates who were sitting side by side on the dais. Most noteworthy was the question raised by resident Mr. Len Arrigo who stated that he had heard a lot of rhetoric but nothing about the truly important concerns that the public have such as: parental rights, boys in girls sports, transgenderism, legalization of marijuana. Once again all the candidates were in almost perfect sync. Everyone agreed that parents have the ultimate right to teach their children according to their values and the values which the community holds dear. All candidates oppose [catering to] transgenderism and agree that as a general rule boys should not be allowed to play in girls sports.
From the more than two hour discourse one could conclude that this crop of candidates for the next school board are passionately committed to improve the overall performance of the school in general and of every child in particular. Everyone of the candidates individually brings their unique talents and qualifications to the contest. It will be challenging for the voting public to make the decision to choose the best combination of three members for the new board. We wish all candidates the best in their campaign.