Published: May 07, 2008 09:37 pm            

NIAGARA-WHEATFIELD: School board hopefuls take questions

Some candidates push for status quo, others push for new ideas

Hopefuls for the Niagara-Wheatfield school board made their public pleas Wednesday at the district’s annual “meet the candidates night.”

Newcomers Richard Crossley and Henry Foote joined a field including incumbents Donald Moyer Jr. and Michele Hoerner; and a pair of previous candidates: William Conrad and Russell Brumby.

While some spoke about continuing on the school board’s current track, others criticized what they called a lack of openness.

“I’d like to make the board meetings a little more open, a little more interactive,” Conrad said, “and provoke a little more interest — perhaps by being better publicized.”

The special 6 p.m. session was not advertised in advance in the district calendar and only about a dozen people other than school administration and staff appeared to be in attendance. The questions were predetermined — not proposed by the audience — and asked by Paul Sikora, director of human resources.

Brumby, like Conrad, pushed for more community input at the bi-weekly board sessions.

“Let’s open the door to new ideas for the betterment of the children,” Brumby said. “Opening the open board meetings. I want to see more people here.”

Hoerner and Moyer both talked of their experience on the board and cited identical top priority roles: assisting in the transition to a new superintendent, setting policies and adopting a yearly budget. Having a consistent board, both said, would help the superintendent switch go smoothly. Hoerner is serving her third term and Moyer is finishing his first full term.

On the hypothetical question of being pressured to approve a contract that the district could not afford, both again answered similarly.

“I would listen to all the reasons for and against,” Hoerner said, “and if I truly felt it was in the best interest of the district, I would vote no.”

“I’d want to know all the facts from the groups on both sides,” Moyer said, “and I’d like to maintain an open mind.”

Crossley said outside pressures would not be able to influence him.

“This is a business as much as it is a school board and we have an economic responsibility to everyone if the community,” he said, “and if it does not economically sound like it could be maintained, I don’t think we should be swayed to push it through.”

Foote, who said he was asked to run for the board several months ago, said he would consult he fellow board members.

“I guess I would come to my fellow board members first,” he said, “and being somewhat inexperienced in this area — I’ve never been approached by an outside organization that has done this to me — I would go the board for some advice and discussion on the matter.”

        

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