With three weeks to go until the Nov. 3 School Board election, a pillow-soft, criticism-free, campaign by all three candidates has started to toughen.
Scott McVarish has charged followers of Prof. Kelly Kent with acting “hysterically,” and he has suggested Prof. Kent is interested in “micromanaging” the assistant superintendent of the School District in charge of education services, Dr. Kati Krumpe.
“I am really, really, really bent on being positive at all costs,” Dr. Kent said. “I am not going to direct anything at my opponents.
“I don’t really feel the obligation to respond to things that I consider to be without merit.
“But I will say one of the most important roles of a Board members is to play a role in curriculum and instruction,” Dr. Kent said.
“I feel strongly about that because it directly impacts the students.”
Further, she added, “it would be negligent for a Board member to not want to play a role in instruction that has such an important, direct impact on the students. That is one of the main purposes of being a Board member.”
With regard to the assistant superintendent cited, Dr. Kent said that “Kati Krumpe is a wizard at what she does. I have the utmost respect for her. I told her in person that I am very impressed with the progressive approaches she is taking to education. I really look forward to working with her on those progressive, innovative approaches.”
Dr. Kent closed out her responses by later issuing the following prepared statement:
“I would vote for a Board member who is willing and able to oversee and govern all aspects of education. Serving the needs of our students, our future, demands excellence in instruction, spending, scheduling, bargaining, supervising, collaborating and importantly community-building.
“It is also the task of the Board to have a long-term vision, to make decisions based on projections that will accommodate the community’s changing needs. As the long view should be taken by the Board, all, not some, aspects of the educational arena are integral to that.”
