The Vancouver school district’s school board will welcome a new face in January, as two candidates who emphasize supporting low-income and homeless students face off to replace a longtime incumbent.
Wendy Smith, a social studies teacher at Heritage High School, and Heather Christiansen, director of global legal services for Wilsonville-based FLIR Systems, are running for Vancouver Public Schools school board position 3. Two-term school board representative Kathy Gillespie decided not to run for re-election this year. The Democrat is instead running against Republicans John Ley and Larry Hoff to replace departing Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, in the 18th Legislative District.
Smith and Christiansen are political newcomers who, in a survey submitted to them by The Columbian, addressed the struggles low-income students face to perform at the same level as their higher-income peers among the most critical issues facing the district. Answers have been slightly edited for length and clarity.
Smith praised Vancouver Public Schools’ Family and Community Resource centers, saying the system has helped “meet the basic needs of students and their families by providing food, clothing, and other resources.”
She called for the district to make improvements to the way it supports immigrant and English-language-learning students, as well as special education students.
“It is too easy for these students to slip through the cracks, and poverty and homelessness will exacerbate those challenges,” she said.
Smith raised concerns about the “apparent lack of inclusion” in the district’s magnet programs, saying they do not reflect the diversity of the rest of the district. Last year, 76.8 percent of VSAA’s students were white and 18.4 percent received free or reduced-price meals — a marker of poverty — while district wide, 58.2 percent of students are white and 48.3 percent receive discounted meals.
“I love that our district embraces innovation and provides choice for our families, but innovation and choice need to serve all our students, with equal access to the same opportunities and excellent education.”
Christiansen, who has volunteered in classrooms for three years, also listed the “achievement gaps between student groups of impoverished and affluent” among her priorities.
“When parents are busy working (two or three) jobs, it makes it hard for them to keep tabs on their child’s academic performance. Also, there are a lot of students that transfer one or two times per year because their parents have to go to where the work is.”
Christiansen said that if elected, she would visit schools to learn about their specific needs in supporting low-income students.
“The VPS school board has to play a pivotal role in allocating resources to fund programs such as FCRC so that students are optimally ready to learn and succeed in school,” she said.
Smith has been endorsed by the Vancouver Education Association, Southwest Washington Central Labor Council and other local unions. Christiansen lists no endorsements on her website or Facebook page.
Also on the ballot in Vancouver is the race between incumbent Mark Stoker and Anthony Licerio.
Stoker, an attorney, has been on the school board for about a decade and praised the district for its current direction. He took first place in the August primary with 79.92 percent of the vote.
Licerio, a service agent, has called for improved support of minority students throughout his campaign. He received 13.18 percent of the vote in August.
All four candidates in the two campaigns are mini filers with the Public Disclosure Commission, so they do not file campaign contributions or expenditure reports.
