Twin Rivers board candidates answer questions

Members of the community had the opportunity Tuesday night to hear from the four Twin Rivers R-X School Board candidates vying for the two open seats in the April 2 election.

The Twin Rivers Community Teachers Association sponsored a “Meet the Candidates Night” at the Broseley Senior Community Center featuring incumbents Jeff Arnold, Dennis Whitlow and challengers Bruce Goodrich and Lee Wright.

The four candidates were allowed an introduction, closing remark and all answered the same questions.

Arnold is the current Twin Rivers R-X Board of Education president. He works for the Butler County Highway Department and has two children currently enrolled in the district.

Originally, Arnold said his decision to run in 2016 came from no representatives from the Fisk end of the district, particularly the lake area, being on the board. He also felt the school was vulnerable and had safety issues, so he helped start the Student Resource Officer program with the Butler County Sheriff’s Department.

Whitlow worked for the Twin Rivers School District for 30 years as a teacher and administrator. He has served on the board for eight years and currently has grandchildren attending Twin Rivers.

Whitlow said he loves the district and felt since they paid his salary for 30 years he can now contribute and give something back by serving on the board.

Goodrich is a Twin Rivers graduate with a deep family history in the district. He currently has two children attending Twin Rivers and after a lifetime of involvement with the district, he would like to be involved in a different way by serving on the board.

Wright was born and raised in Qulin, but has no children attending Twin Rivers at this time or family working for the district. His desire to serve on the school board comes from his devotion to his community and the people who live in it, which includes the entire Twin Rivers School District.

Wright believes he has valuable insight to be helpful to the district and is a firm believer if you have opinions, you have to be willing to do your part.

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The first question the four candidates were asked was to give their thoughts on the statement, “Every action of the board must take into account the interest of all students they serve. No child is more important than others.”

Goodrich believes the state has laid out good guidelines on how to handle the education of children so no one is left behind. The most important factor in a student’s education is the teacher, he said.

“Teachers need the resources, training and support to be effective in the classroom,” Goodrich said.

He went on to add it’s important to have open dialogue with administration, principals and teachers to supply the district with the resources and give teachers the chance to give students the education they deserve.

“All students have the right to an education,” Whitlow said.

As a board member, Whitlow said there are times where they need to think if they are there for one student or the other 950. Whitlow expressed the number of students with an Individualized Education Plan at this time was a benefit because not all students learn the same and all deserve a good education.

Wright took the statement two different ways, he said. First, as it was read and also as other students are no more important than one child.

“You don’t want to make decisions based on a group when you could rework your decision based on that one child left out,” he said. “And you don’t want to make a decision on one child when a large group could suffer. It has to beneficial for everyone to some degree and a compromise can always be found.”

As a board member, Arnold said most times the board deals with groups of students rather than one-on-one.

“The quiz bowl needs to be treated the same as the baseball team, the baseball team needs to be treated the same as the basketball team and each student need to be treated the same way,” he said.

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If elected, the board candidates were asked how they would handle if someone came straight to them without following the chain of command.

Whitlow said he would ask first if the chain of command was followed by first speaking with the teacher, then principal and finally superintendent. If the superintendent sees need, he then will bring issues to the board.

Whitlow added he would listen to the concern, but would explain he could not take any action and is not a board member until the board is in session.

Wright said he deals with this type of scenario on a weekly basis as a member of the local drainage board. He would encourage the individual to present their concerns to the board directly and a decision can then be made.

“Really, issues are the responsibility of the principals and superintendent,” he said. “The board should serve as a support to them when needed.”

Arnold said he comes across this scenario quite a bit when attending ball games.

“I will listen to what they have to say, but I ask if they have spoken to the teacher,” he said. “If not, I give them the chain of command.”

While Arnold believes it’s not a bad thing to listen to what people have to say, he added sometimes they just need to talk and get something off their chest.

The board is not in place to run the school, Goodrich said.

“The board is here to help, offer advice and a perspective outside of your own thoughts,” he said.

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The candidates were then asked their thoughts about keeping employee salaries and benefits competitive with area schools.

Wright said he was 100 percent for paying employees what they deserve and earn.

“If the district can afford higher pay without cutting other important places in the budget, I’m all in,” he said.

Businesses have to stay competitive and a school district is no different, Wright added.

While there are factors that go into the decision, Wright said he is interested in learning more and seeing if he can bring any new perspectives to reward teachers for their hard work.

While Twin Rivers is one of the smaller district in the area, Arnold said he thinks they are “doing fair to stay competitive with teacher salaries and the best they can with benefits.”

Arnold added in the three years he has served on the board, some sort of raise or stipend has been given as well as allowing teachers to bring in their years of service.

“If elected, I hope to continue to head in that direction,” he said.

Goodrich said while he’s not sure Twin Rivers can ever be equal to a district like Poplar Bluff or Dexter, he agreed the district did need to be competitive.

“Teachers deserve what they get and they deserve more,” he said.

Whitlow also echoed that the district needed to be competitive, but the board has to work within the budget or there will be no one at the school because the district will be gone.

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The candidates were also asked if they were for or against hiring staff to help with intervention and overcrowding.

Arnold said he was for adding staff when the administration felt it was needed and has done so in the past couple of years.

“We can always use more staff if we can afford it,” he said.

Goodrich believes the decision would be left to administration if they saw the need. He also added if staff was needed and not hired that could put stress on someone else.

Whitlow said he would be for hiring, but he would have to be shown it was a necessity.

He also said he would be more inclined to add staff at the younger grade levels rather than older classes.

“It could be a scheduling issue and not overcrowding,” Whitlow said.

Wright also said he would not be against hiring more where help is needed, but thinks it’s important to take into account what the school’s needs are in order to reach goals.

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Being residents of the district, the candidates were asked to give a time where the school district did not meet their expectations and a time it did.

Goodrich, Whitlow and Arnold did not have an experience where the school district did not meet their expectations, but Wright told of a situation from several years ago.

In the situation, Wright said he did not feel dissatisfied with the district on what was not being received, but it was more of an instance where a student felt so desperate to belong.

All four candidates praised the district and the school system that has allowed them, and even their family, to be successful.

Each candidate saw a different issue as the primary challenge facing the district over the next five years.

While test scores are heading in the right direction, Whitlow said he wants to see that continue. He also added the issue of the aging buildings and roofing problems to stay on top of over the next several years.

Wright said after talking to several administrators and teachers, they expressed their main concern being how to give students a better education. While always looking for ways to improve core education, Wright said reading comprehension was at the top of his list. Building improvements also came in on Wright’s list, but would like to see the district hire a grant writer in the future to help with affordable structures in the district.

Arnold said funding is always an issue for the district and the ever rising cost of updating technology. He also added the district will need to keep spending money on the aging campuses and try to do the best with what it has.

With school being the only extra curricular activity many students have, Goodrich would like to see the campuses open for more activities. While he realizes this takes more time and work, he believes it can be achieved by the community coming together and being an inspiration for students.

“We need to be proactive for these students,” he said.