4 vie for 2 Vancouver schools seats

Mark Stoker Position 2

Kathy Gillespie Position 3

Chris Peppers Position 2

Nelson Holmberg Position 3

Voters in the Vancouver Public Schools district will select two board members from among four candidates, each with a wealth of school and community experience.

In the race for Position 2 on the five-member panel, incumbent Mark Stoker is challenged by first-time candidate Chris Peppers.

Stoker was appointed to the board two years ago, after losing a 2005 race with current board colleague Edri Geiger.

Kathy Gillespie and Nelson Holmberg are jockeying to fill the Position 3 seat held the past 20 years by Ed Rankin, who is retiring.

The contests come as Vancouver schools face mounting budget pressure amid flat enrollment, straining the resources needed to maintain their overall history of solid academic levels.

Peppers has three daughters who have graduated from Vancouver schools, while a fourth attends Columbia River High School. His wife, Katy, teaches at Jason Lee Middle School.

Vancouver is a solid school district with a fine strategic vision, but has flaws that need repair, Peppers said. "We're 90 percent of the way; there are some things we can do better."

The district must improve its communication and "engagement" with the community and its teachers, he said. He praised district plans to implement "professional learning communities" for school faculty, designed to build peer leadership and best-methods practices. But he said skepticism could hamper efforts.

"I really feel the teachers are left out of the mix," Peppers said. "From the business standpoint, they're the front line. You want that staff to feel empowered. And, in talking to people, they don't feel that way. That's disappointing to hear.

"We need to take them seriously, to listen to them when they're running into challenges," he said. "We could end up with a model school district. That's the biggest thing, that word 'engagement.'"

Peppers won endorsement from the Vancouver Education Association, the district's teachers union. VEA members were unhappy with the board's adoption of a 2009-10 budget plan that cut about 40 teaching positions while increasing the district's unreserved fund balance by about $1 million.

"There are some things that raise questions in my mind, how the bottom line can go up (the total VPS budget rose about $2.2 million, or 1 percent) and the number of teachers goes down," Peppers said. "The reserves went up — okay, but is this the year to really do that?"

Stoker was appointed to the board in 2007, after losing a race for the Position 4 seat in 2005.

Having already served as a volunteer to help shape the school district's "Design II" strategic plan, he believes now is no time for a board shake-up, especially as tough budget decisions continue to emerge.

"I have the interest, the leadership, and the experience it takes to be an effective school board member," said Stoker, a Fort Vancouver High School graduate whose three children have attended Vancouver schools. "My opponent does not," he said.

He said Peppers filed just before the election deadline, and was sure to win VEA support given his wife's teaching position.

Stoker said the district must better engage students and improve achievement measures. "We've still got work to do, and we're going to work hard to get there," he said.

The board has given Superintendent Steve Webb a directive to foster "better relationships" between administration and school teachers, Stoker said. But he discounts the notion of any disconnect between the district and its teachers or community.

"I think there's good communication at that level, the (district administration) and teachers. I think we have a great relationship with our community," he said.

While his opponent said the 4 p.m. Tuesday board meeting times are near impossible for working parents to attend, Stoker said there are few real "hot-button" issues that would call for a change. When appropriate, the board has convened special forums and sessions, such as a "budget solutions" workshop in early 2009 that drew hundreds of participants, he said.

Gillespie comes to her first try for public office with eight years of "ground-level" experience in Vancouver schools, including nearly daily tutoring, mentoring and other volunteer work.

As PTA leader for Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School, she engineered playground improvements, founded a community team to partner with the Oregon Food Bank and helped to create an annual grant award for teachers and school staff. Her focus now centers on the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, where her son and daughter attend.

Gillespie said it's time for the school board to be more accountable for quality reforms, tying specific academic goals and learning approaches to measurable performance results. And, while she would gladly lead a fight for increased state funding of K-12 education, she said local budget excuses don't fly.

"I'm very interested in the board being more professional — accountable to outcomes, and not just decisions," Gillespie said. She said board goals set during annual retreats should be openly measured.

"We need to improve what we've got, regardless of the level of money. We can't accept any excuses to not perform well," she said. "I don't swallow it when the board sits there and bemoans the lack of funds."

She and Holmberg are in agreement on more issues than not.

Both believe teachers are underpaid. Both are glad the time-consuming Washington Assessment of Student Learning is gone, but they favor a standardized test requirement for high school graduates. Both believe the Vancouver district has special qualities that are in jeopardy.

One difference: Holmberg opposes merit pay for teachers, while Gillespie said, "I think we should look at it." She cited a survey of Washington state school board members that showed 70 percent in favor of looking into a merit pay plan.

Holmberg, in his first race for public office, brings with him an expansive list of local group involvement and civic and political contacts.

The head of the voluntary-participation Port of Vancouver employees association, he also is an elected precinct committee officer for the Republican Party.

Holmberg said his many ties give him "a more broad-based group to reach out to," both in hearing from and rallying the community on school issues.

He faults the Vancouver school board and district leaders for failure to operate as openly as possible, while he does support many district efforts.

"The board can be more effective by being more transparent," Holmberg said. For similar reasons, he gives second-year Superintendent Steve Webb a "B" job grade, so far.

Holmberg said the district must look beyond the narrow focus of college preparation for students to help those bound to pursue other paths.

"I'm more interested in the whole group, spread across the spectrum," he said. Like Gillespie, he sees positives in Vancouver's declared strategic plan, and in new "Core 24" high school curriculum set by the state.

But improvement rests largely on Washington state fulfilling the "basic education" funding standard set by the state's constitution, Holmberg said. That measure of support hinges on a lawsuit brought by several school districts, including Vancouver, he noted.

Without change, both internally and from Olympia, he worries that historically strong Vancouver school programs "may be slipping," he said.

A Hudson's Bay High School alumnus, Holmberg has had two daughters graduate from the Vancouver district.

Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.