Goshen, Concord school board candidates answer questions at forum

GOSHEN — School board and county council candidates answered questions on funding, teacher retention, absenteeism and a rightwing activist group that was at the center of controversy during the last board race.

Ten candidates spoke at the Goshen forum organized by the League of Women Voters of Elkhart County. Another forum will follow in Middlebury at 6 p.m. Monday at the public library.

Speakers on Thursday included Goshen School Board candidates Jimmy Srun and Brandon Miller, District 2, and Keith Goodman, Linda Hartman and Lisa Lederach, District 4. One candidate will be seated in each district.

Two of the three candidates for a pair of District 2 seats on the Concord Community Schools Board also spoke, Tim Koontz and Tim Yoder. The third candidate is Stacy McDowell.

Three of the five candidates for three at-large seats on the Elkhart County Council spoke, Republican Tom Stump and Democrats Kevin Peters and Ralph Spelbring. The other candidates are Republicans Adam Bujalski and Steven Clark.

Unexcused absences

In answer to questions posed by moderator Deborah Domine, the candidates agreed on the value of diversity and the importance of the free and reduced lunch program. They also offered their thoughts on combating chronic student absenteeism.

"Clearly every study shows, if cheeks are in the seats, they're going to be learning," Goodman said. "With things such as the innovation academy, these other things are giving kids a reason to go ahead and come to school, make sure that they go ahead and attend."

Hartman said it's the responsibility of parents to make sure their kids attend. When that fails, it's up to teachers and administrators to develop a relationship with them, she said.

"It's going to take every classroom teacher, it's going to take every parent, it's going to take every grandparent, it's going to take the whole school as a community to make that happen," she said. "Because during the time of COVID, people got lazy. They want to sit and watch church on TV, they want to sit and watch school on their TV."

Miller also pointed to the need to get back on track after the pandemic forced kids to learn from home four years ago.

"It starts with, you've got to make those connections, and it's also parents too, parents have to have that buy-in. We live in this new reality, this post-COVID reality, that kids had that screen time and it's hard for them to get back into school," he said. "It's something that starts at the micro level, and I don't think a big program's going to help that. It's small steps, small steps to connect with those kids."

Srum said it takes building a deeper connection with students and engage with them.

"This is where leadership comes along. As leaders, our main goal is to serve the people that we're leading," he said. "And to do that as we build that connection, that community, on a deeper level. You've got to ask, 'Hey, what's going on, are you having issues at home? Are your parents struggling?'"

Lederach said in her experience as an educator, building relationships is key. But she said as a school board member she would look at how district policies could affect absenteeism.

"I would agree that the way to do this is through relationships and getting kids to want to come to school. And building situations where, when a parent doesn't want to take their kid to school in the morning, the kiddo says, 'But mom, I have to go to to school because my teacher and my friends will miss me,'" she said. "But as a board member, I think that working with policy, working on this through board policy, would be how we would get at it."

Yoder said he believes every teacher in the county is building relationships, which will go a long way. But there's a lot to say for school policy as well.

"I know that Concord is working on that diligently with policy and process. The valedictorian of this last year missed two or three days of school in sequence, and the parents live in the neighborhood and I was out walking our dog, and they said, 'We got a note from the principal saying we have to come in and meet,'" he said. "Concord is taking it very serious. I would love to say that we need more parents to be involved and help, but some kids are not as fortunate to have two parents at home."

Koontz agreed with the importance of building relationships so kids want to go to school, but said it helps to hold parents accountable.

"It starts with relationships, it starts with parents. That is ultimately the overall answer to the problem. As a board, I think our community does a pretty good job," he said. "I have three kids in the district. When a student is absent, if the absence isn't reported by 10 a.m. or so, you get a phone call, an email and a text saying your student is absent."

Purple for Parents

Domine asked school board candidates their opinion on the group Purple for Parents, which she said caused some chaos in the 2022 school board race. The group bills itself as "a Christian parent advocacy group," according to Domine.

The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Nappanee-based group among hate and antigovernment organizations in Indiana, alongside white supremacist and rightwing militia groups.

A postcard sent to Goshen voters ahead of the election highlighted three candidates who had earned the endorsement of Purple for Parents, including Hartman. The postcard described the organization as opposing diversity, equity and inclusion and having aims such as banning books and controlling teachers.

Complaints were lodged by the candidates who were named, and criminal charges related to campaign finance laws were eventually brought against the candidates and campaign officials who were behind the mailer.

Srun and Lederach said Thursday that they aren't very familiar with Purple for Parents. Srun said he could only base his opinion on the description that Domine gave.

"As a Christian myself, just by that statement, I don't see a problem with that," he said. "But I don't know a whole lot about that group."

Lederach said she believes compromise with the group is possible.

"I do know that you can always find some common ground when you are talking to people and listening. But you can also have your beliefs that say, no, I can't go along with this, but help me understand why you feel that way," she said. "As a school board member, you really are representing the entire community."

Miller said seeing a lot of misinformation about schools online is one of the things that prompted him to run for the board.

"I live education, I'm there every day, and some of what I hear doesn't mirror what I see," he said. "I typically don't agree with a lot of values of that organization. They can have their opinion, that's fine, but that typically doesn't align with how I see education and how I believe."

Hartman said she was very familiar with Purple for Parents and that her values align with some of theirs.

"They want the parent to be the primary stakeholder, and I agree with that. They agree that our academic scores need improvement, and I believe that," she said. "I don't believe they're a horrible organization at all. I think there's a lot of misinformation, and I think there was a lot of discussion in the community with a lot of people that never researched even who they were."

Goodman said that, personally, he disagrees with some of the group's ideas but believes it's important for school board members to listen and be open to other ideas.

"I think what we had two years ago was a response to uneducated fear, which created kind of a mess in the election process, and we're still feeling the reverberations of that from two years ago. And there's more yet to come on that," he said. "Many of those board members probably will not be here in the next election cycle, but as being a board member, one of the most important things you can do is do your research. Know who they are, what they represent. But also, too, you have to be listening. Because I think they were demonized quite a bit."

Koontz also said that as a Christian and parent, he supports the mission that Domine attributed to Purple for Parents. But he understands not every kid has parents who are so involved, and that the school has a role.

"I'm a Christian, I believe parents should be advocates for their kids. Having said that, we have so many kids in our community that don't have that," he said. "When we're missing that, as a district we have to do what we can to help support those kids. Whether that's meals, whether that's relationships, mentoring relationships. And it's not forcing values on kids or anything else, it's just loving a student for who they are and where they are and making them feel valued."

Yoder said he supports any group that wants to help kids.

"I just encourage that, if you're going to have an issue or you want to talk about it, just sit town, talk about it, let's go through it. Maybe not post it out – make sure that you're posting out accurate information," he said. "Just work together. We're all here for the same thing."