The candidates for Athens City Schools Board of Education all agree on at least one thing: by and large, state policy enacted in Columbus hinders learning in Athens classrooms.
But at a League of Women Voters debate Tuesday night at the Athens Public Library, 30 Home St., the candidates did disagree about how this policy will fit into the school district’s course of action during the next four years.
Putting state funding toward the reconfiguration of the district’s building layout will be one of the biggest challenges the board will face in the near future, said candidate Alan Swank, who also serves as the regional vice president for Balfour, a company that sells school yearbooks.
Swank said he wouldn’t even rule out the possibility of consolidation, though it would be a worst-case scenario.
“We’re going to have to prioritize how we spend that money,” Swank said.
Athens City School Board of Education members earn about $1,500 annually.
Incumbent Christian Gerig said he’s excelled at keeping this kind of financial peril at bay during his four years on the board.
With so much controversy surrounding school funding and common core standards, Gerig said he’d try to maintain the status quo, should he be elected for another term.
“I will try to provide a fiscally conservative approach to our finances,” Gerig said.
The other incumbent, Bruce Nottke, agreed with Gerig’s stance on maintaining a sense of regularity in local classrooms.
Nottke said he’s actually optimistic about the district’s current performance.
“(Graduating seniors) will tell you that they were ready for college,” Nottke said.
But challenger Kimberly Goldsberry, president of the Parent Teacher Organization at East Elementary School, said she’s in favor of a more “open-minded” approach to balancing the budget while at the same time remembering academic needs of students.
Specifically, Goldsberry said the district will have to purchase more textbooks to accommodate changing standards.
“We’ve got core curriculums instituted in 46 states,” Goldsberry said. “That’s giving us challenges.”
Propping up academic performance should be a concern for all residents citywide, Swank said, especially when potential professors at Ohio University consider taking jobs here.
“One of the things they consider is where their kids will attend school,” Swank said. “If we lose one great scientist or one great teacher, then that’s a problem.”
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@SamuelHHoward
