The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Top Priority,
Use of facilities
Click on a name for other candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
1. How would you implement your top priority?
|
Answer from Ken R. White:
As one vote in 5 on the BOE, I would be concerned that spending is now budgeted to grow at over 6% per year while revenue only grows by 2% per year. We must cut spending growth or face bigger and more frequest school levies. On a second front, the Mariemont School Foundation is a charitable group allowed to support academic and facility goals. We need to seek their help for nontraditional funding.
Answer from Marie C. (Caroselli) Huenefeld:
Educating our children to reach their full potential is our
primary responsibility. To provide a quality education,
we must attract and retain outstanding teachers. Our
compensation package needs to be competitive and
the work environment desirable. It is essential that we
continue to evaluate and update our curriculum.
Effective testing insures that we are able to identify
individual student strengths and weaknesses. It is our
responsibility to provide appropriate resources to meet
needs of all of our students.
Answer from Rick Koehler:
The goal of passing our levy is being achieved by educating a grassroots group of citizens about our needs and school funding. My role as a board member is then to answer questions and assure the community of accurate information.
2. How can the School Board work with local government and the community on use of school facilities for after school programs and recreations?
|
Answer from Rick Koehler:
Our school board is extremely interested in working with neighboring communities for cooperative use of our facilities. We open our computer lab in the evenings and our indoor pool on off-school hours. We also make available our year round football/soccer/lacrosse field to many groups for a nominal charge, as well as a large meeting room to a local church. We try to `give back to the community' whenever possible.
Answer from Marie C. (Caroselli) Huenefeld:
The Mariemont School District has a long tradition of
making its facilities available to the community. PTO's
and recreation commissions have used school
facilities for many years. School libraries have been
opened to the community to provide access to district
computers. The MariElders, a senior citizens center
was located in district buildings for 12 years until they
found a home of their own. (We provide bus
transportation to senior citizens for their special
events.) School facilities are home to such events as
Town Meetings and Pancake Suppers.
Answer from Ken R. White:
I believe that school facilities should be available to the local government and community. The requirement for use should be that an organized group (recreation sports association or community group) be responsible for the events, medical release forms for participants and supervision of the events. After school events should be encouraged but not under the legal responsibility of the district.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. The answers will not exceed 75 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily.
|