TUSD students turn tables, put 5 school board candidates to the test

Students from Tucson’s largest school districts turned the tables Thursday night, putting five school board candidates to the test.

Approximately 150 people turned out at Mansfeld Middle Magnet School in the Tucson Unified School District to not only find out where the candidates stand on issues, but also to learn what is weighing on students’ minds as they posed questions to the two incumbents, Adelita Grijalva and Michael Hicks, as well as three new candidates, Adam Ragan, Douglas Robson and Leila Counts.

The five candidates vying for two open seats responded to students’ questions ranging from supporting low-income schools to preparing students for college.

ON EQUITABLE SCHOOLS

Fernando Vasquez, a senior from Pueblo High School, asked what could be done for TUSD’s low-income schools.

“Lower-income schools have to provide more resources to support the community, such as English-language programs. Would you support equitable funding for schools like Pueblo?” Vasquez asked Hicks.

Hicks responded there already is funding but acknowledged that support must be provided for underprivileged youth to give them the opportunity to succeed.

ON DIVERSE STUDENTS

Cristoval Reyes, a senior at Rincon High School, brought up diverse classroom environments.

“As the world changes, Tucson is welcoming people with different cultural and social backgrounds and schools are becoming more diverse. How do you plan on generating a safe and adequate environment after their transition,” Reyes asked Robson.

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“It’s a very complex question really, and it appears to have some assumptions in it already that we’re not a safe environment at this time,” Robson said. “The goal of TUSD is to have a safe environment and there are safety officers that we have, but I’m afraid I don’t have any knowledge at this point to answer your question.”

Reyes, however, said he feels the school system isn’t very inclusive and something needed to be done about that.

ON CULTURALLY RELEVANT COURSES

Kiana Martinez, a senior at Pueblo High School, was concerned about diversity in TUSD’s curriculum.

“Our culturally relevant classes lack multiple resources, including books from a person of color’s perspective. What is your opinion on culturally relevant curriculum?” she asked Ragan.

“CRC’s are fantastic and vital programs that enrich our students’ education experience,” he said. “That’s a fancy way of saying that these are the programs our students need and want, that you guys crave and provide relevant, content-based material.

“But the problem is that books often come from the perspective of the class objective.”

Following the debate, Martinez had made up her mind.

“In my opinion Adelita Grijalva and Adam Ragan would be the best choices to help our students,” she said.

Deanna O’Heir, a Rincon senior said, “I liked most of the candidates and they’re all pretty good. I think they’ll do a great job.”