Five candidates are in the running for four seats on the Tanque Verde Unified School District board.
Three incumbents want another term. They are Susan Fry, Jeffrey Neff and Carlos Ruiz. The two newcomers are Jeremy Schalk, vice president of a local machine engineering company who is involved in career and technical education programs, and Vieri Tenuta, an information technology security consultant who works with the district’s foundation arm.
Here’s what they said about some key education issues. Their responses have been edited for clarity and length.
Testing
Fry: I think we need balance. I think that some testing is useful as a means to an end, ensuring that we’re using the testing to see where we are and what work we need to do to get where we want to be with our students. I don’t think we want to be testing just for the sake of testing. It takes away from classroom instruction time.
Neff: We realize that testing needs to be done because we need to know what the students know and don’t know. But it should be done as little as possible so that we don’t intrude on time for instruction. The best way is to talk to members of the state board of education.
Ruiz: If we can show our students are meeting standards using benchmark testing at the appropriate grades, I would probably be inclined to support that kind of approach versus one-size-fits-all approach.
Schalk: Unfortunately, you have to test. I wish they could figure out a way to test less. I do feel like a lot of time is spent on testing so I wish we could consolidate it.
Tenuta: In general, I believe that establishing a baseline for children’s education requires some kind of testing. Obviously we have to understand where students are struggling and excelling. That way, we can focus our resources to where they are most needed.
Teacher retention
Fry: We currently do a good job or retaining teachers unlike other districts we don’t lose them. Over the last year serving on the board, I have pushed hard for ongoing wage increases for teachers. We put additional dollars into the classroom. I think that’s one of the biggest pieces to retaining teacher. And also, continuing to have a culture where teachers feel valued.
Neff: We have a very good working environment for teachers. But because we are a small school district, we don’t have extra money to raise teacher salaries to what they should be. We put most of our Prop. 123 money into giving 4 percent raises. We’re going to continue to dedicate more money to teacher salary increases.
Ruiz: I would continue to try to keep our teachers’ salaries competitive with other districts and also lobby to support renewal of 301 funds. Anything we can do to put more money into teacher salaries is top priority.
Schalk: The district must offer something unique to teachers. We’re a small, cozy neighborhood district. We have to highlight some of the benefits that are intangible to folks to help them realize that not all benefits are monetary. We have to do what we can to make it better for the teachers.
Tenuta: The community and school board understanding what the teachers need is an initial step to retention. If the teachers aren’t happy, they are not going to stay. And if we are focused on efficiency in our district, we can potentially increase pay for teachers, which could help.
Academic achievement
Fry: I think we’re already a high-achieving district. We’re working on adding more rigor to the classrooms. We’re moving toward using a model that facilitates 21st century learning. We’re looking at what we’re teaching in all of our classrooms and ultimately doing some modifications on the curriculum based on what we find.
Neff: We’re a very high-achieving district right now. We graduate 97 percent of our students from high school. What we really need to do is continue to support our very dedicated faculty and staff, and parents and students.
Ruiz: We’re trying to increase the rigor across all grades in every class and also look at ways that we can provide accelerated and gifted classes for some of the highly motivated students. I support programs that challenge all students.
Schalk: I think career and technical education programs are a good way to boost achievement. Kids who are involved in CTE tend to be more engaged in school.
Tenuta: I believe our curriculum right now is sufficient to retain the school ratings that we have. However, the goal is always to be excellent. To be excellent, I think that focusing on understanding how the children learn and whether or not the curriculum is enabling them to be excellent is a conversation we need to have.
