Tuesday, July 31, 2007

School board race taking shape

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

[Anderson    Dion    Edstrom    Kelsey    Kysylyczyn    Martin    May    Olson    Ring]

[Click on candidate's name to go to their answers and Back button to return]

The Review recently sent out a questionnaire to the candidates for three seats in this fall’s Roseville School Board election. Board veterans Linda McLoon and Cecilia Warner did not file to retain their seats; incumbent Tom Ring is running again. The responses of the candidates who replied by the deadline are below.

• Todd Anderson is currently a Sales and Marketing Associate for AEI Exchange Services, Inc. in downtown St. Paul.
He and his wife Holly have two children, Marin, 4, and Cleary, who will be two Aug. 9.

Anderson wrote he filed for the board for two reasons.

“One is that my daughter will be entering Brimhall Elementary in the fall of 2008, and I want to be on the board when we are discussing her future and the future of all of her friends.”

He added he’s also concerned about the “leadership and experience void” that will occur when McLoon and Warner, who did not file for re-election, leave the board.

“Because of my past and present experience within the school district, I’ll be able to hit the ground running,” Anderson wrote.

He also noted he’s keep a close eye on the district.

“I ran for school board four years ago, and though I was unsuccessful, I have certainly kept up with the district. I’ve been to numerous school board meetings the past four years, volunteered for our levy referendum campaign last year, and presently serve on a school board advisory committee,” Anderson wrote.

As for the skills he’d bring to the board, Anderson wrote, “I’ll bring good leadership skills to the table, plus an ability to work with others to solve problems. I can also disagree with someone over an issue or problem, and at the same time not jump down their throat. I’ll bring a strong work ethic and sense of responsibility, which is important.”

He also listed supporting programs that help students achieve, increasing parental and community involvement, helping the district maintain strong fiscal management and working closely with area legislators as goals he’d pursue of elected.

• Shari Dion has a degree in child psychology and is currently a full-time homemaker. She and her husband Mark have two children Ben, 13, and Ann, 10, who are enrolled in Roseville schools.

Dion explained her passion for quality education for all children is one of the factors that led her to file for the school board race.

During her time in the community, Dion wrote she’s kept up with district issues.

“We moved to Roseville 17 years ago primarily because of its reputation for high quality education. I have kept up with what has been happening in our district during the past few years by volunteering every week in our schools, participating in meetings, forums and listening sessions, doing lots of related reading and researching, and following happenings at the legislative level,” she wrote.

She also sees challenges for the district.

“The challenges that District 623 experiences are not unusual for school districts this size during these times of tighter budgets, unfunded mandates, gaps in achievement, and imposed testing,” she wrote.

As far as the skills she’d bring to the board, Dion wrote, “I will look deep, think big, ask tough questions and listen to new ideas and different perspectives. I am mission driven and solution oriented.”

As far as goals, she wrote, “As we prepare each student for his or her future in our changing world, we must also be preparing our schools for the future. I will engage our staff and citizens in meaningful ways as we address the problems and possibilities of both today and tomorrow.”

• Lisa Edstrom currently owns a consulting practice, Portfolio Health Management, which “focuses on planning and development, performance measurement and policy for community health organizations and senior health services.”
She has three children, Lauren Uhl, 17, Riley Uhl, 16, and Jake Uhl, 11, who have attended Roseville schools since kindergarten.

Edstrom wrote she put herself on the ballot because she believes schools need all the support parents, teachers, administrators and community members can provide. She also noted the district is becoming more diverse and will need policies to embrace that diversity.

Edstrom also noted she’s followed the district for a number of years.

“For the most part the Roseville School District does an excellent job educating our children and attracting students and faculty. I know from talking with teachers and students that the job is getting more challenging each year. More support across sectors is needed to ensure that all students attending Roseville Schools are physically and emotionally healthy, feel safe at school and at home, and are engaged in learning, where ever they may be in that journey.”

Edstrom wrote she thinks her personal and professional skills will be an asset to the board.

“Personally, my experiences as a parent, youth soccer coach, confirmation guide, swimming instructor and youth camping administrator have given me an appreciation for a variety of children and their diverse learning styles.

Prrofessionally I come with a strong appreciation and understanding of the systemic nature of developing strategies, measuring performance and quality and forming policy that supports best practice and diverse populations.” She also has a number of goals she’s like to pursue if elected.

“My goal is to make sure that the school board consistently pursues a safe and healthy learning environment that engages students, teachers, parents and communities in learning.”

She also noted she’d like to see the district form partnerships that help students, things like mentors, reading buddies and math buddies.

• Former Roseville Mayor John Kysylyczyn currently owns a political consulting business and is a full-time stay-at-home parent to two children, Sara, 4, and Michael, 1. He’s married to Teri.

Kysylyczyn noted he entered the race to highlight two specific issues, first the board’s “conscious decision to take money away from children’s educations in order to fund needless elections in the odd-year election cycle. The board has the option of moving election to the even-year, where the state pays most of the costs, but chooses not to.”

He added, “Second, we wish to highlight the school board’s conscious decision to hold elections at times where turnout is expected to be almost non-existent. Because they choose to hold board and levy referendum elections in the off-year cycle, this means that they will be the only item on the ballot in parts of the school district which represents the overwhelming majority of the students. This low turnout creates an undemocratic system.”

Kysylyczyn has lived in the school district for 21 years and is a 1990 graduate of Roseville Area High School.

He also reiterated his stance that if elected, he will not serve. His business and parenting duties are extremely time-consuming, he explained.

“I paid the filing fee only to highlight these specific issues,” Kysylyczyn wrote in his questionnaire. “It is my intention to endorse candidates who share my same concerns about how this school board takes money from our childrens’ education in order to pay for what are essentially needless extra special elections that few participate in.”

• Bruce Martin is currently a biochemist with an appointment as a research faculty member at the University of Minnesota.

He is married with two children.

Martin has been very involved in the district for many years.

“I have been active on various committees of the school district for the past five years, including the District Curriculum Advisory Committee, the Scholarship Committee, the Community Education Advisory Council, and the Friendship Connection Advisory Council. I have served on study teams reviewing the elementary math curriculum and the language arts curriculum, and I was a member of the task force at Roseville Area Middle School that recommended adoption of a broader Pre-AP curriculum. At Roseville Area High School, I am a member of the committee working to improve school climate,” he wrote.

He thinks he has numerous skills to bring to the board.

“Although I do have strongly held beliefs, I do regard myself able to consider both sides of issues. This includes understanding what expectations can be made on parents, teachers, and other district staff regarding the functions of the schools,” he wrote.

• Georgiana May is an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota. She and her husband, Robert Haight, have two children, Marjorie, 20, who attended and Max, 14, who attends, Roseville schools.

May chose to mount a campaign for several reasons.

“Specifically, I would work to help maintain and improve the educational system that has served our children, ourselves, and our community well. I have lived in several different areas of the country, and know that a good public education system is essential to the social and economic health of a community,” May wrote.

Before deciding to run, May followed the district closely.

“Many changes in our school district reflect changes in the larger community, state and nation. The increased diversity of our citizens and along with that, diversity in the teachers, administrators and students at our schools is a positive change that allows all of us a much broader education and perspective,” she wrote.

May also thinks she has valuable skills to bring to the board.

“I am a creative problem solver, know that there is often more than one way to think about and resolve an issue, and I can help develop workable plans within budget constraints. I am a teacher and understand the tremendous effort it takes to teach well and to help students with diverse backgrounds and abilities to learn,” May wrote.

As far as goals if elected, May pointed to excellence in education and safety in schools.

• In his questionnaire, candidate Bryan Olson wrote only, “Among my goals if elected to the District 623 School Board would be to advocate for moving the elections to the even year, and that all meetings, including the curiously named ‘study sessions’, be televised.”

• Board incumbent Tom Ring is an Assistant Ramsey County Attorney assigned to the Civil Division where he works on civil rights and employment litigation issues. He and his wife, Gisel Crowe-Ring, have two children, Treasa, 16, and Joe, 10, who both attend Roseville schools.

Of his decision to seek another term, Ring wrote, “I feel I am not done being a contributing member of the board where my personal and leadership interests focus on policy-level, strategic oversight; best practices; and having the district serve the common good.”

Through the years, Ring has been pleased with the district’s strong academic reputation and it’s ability to drawn in the community to create a “community of learners.”

Ring wrote issues with the state’s budget have been a source of disappointment. He noted state funding has not kept up with inflation for several straight years.

As far as future goals are concerned, Ring wrote he wants student achievement to remain “the overriding goal.”

He added, “Another goal, as always, is prudent financial management and oversight to be good stewards of the community’s resources that are entrusted to the board.”

Ring also noted following through on various recommendations of the Educational Policy Advisory Committee is another goal.

 • Candidates Joseph Machyowski, E.M. (Barney) Bahemann Sr., Jeanne Kelsey and Benjamin Kline did not respond to the Review’s questionnaire.

<i>George Fairbanks can be reached at gfairbanks@lillienews.com or at 651-748-7813.</i>