Candidates for the 2012 St. Mary’s County Board of Education Primary Election met at Leonardtown High school on Tuesday night for a public forum. The St. Mary’s County chapter of the NAACP and the Center of the Study of Democracy from St. Mary’s College of Maryland sponsored the event with Wayne Scriber from the NAACP and Dr. Michael Cain from the Center of the Study of Democracy as the moderators. Candidates present from the At Large section were Marilyn Crosby, Trisha Post, and James Tomasic. From District 2, Cathy Allen, Jim Davis, and David Kelsey were present.

 

The main issues that were raised by questions from the audience were what the candidates saw as the most important concern for the Board of Education, the STEM programs offered to students, the low graduation rate of African American males, how to convince commissioners that the schools need more education funding despite the fact that there have been an improvement in the schools, teacher salaries, and diversity of mentors and teachers in the schools.

 

The At Large candidates were all in agreement on what they saw as the main issue for the board: funding. They did give slightly different reasons for this. Tomasic wants to see the money go straight into the classrooms because that is where the learning happens. Post sees funding as necessary to promote growth in the school system to combat the stagnancy she sees rising and becoming a future issue. Crosby’s focus was on pensions coming back to the board. In addition to funding, she also stressed that class size was another big issue. To her, “There is a direct correlation between class sizes and student achievement.”

 

Another issue that they were in agreement on was the benefit of the STEM programs. All three candidates agreed that these programs are beneficial to the students. They recognized that the programs fostered learning and did so in a comfortable environment. While Post and Crosby had nothing critical to say about the programs, Tomasic believes that while the program is beneficial, it lacks continuity. He pointed out that in the past few years there have been three or four changes of directors. He backs up this point by informing the audience that he has a first-hand look at this because his son is in the STEM program.

 

When asked to share their views on the issue of low graduation rates among African American males, the candidates also were in agreement. Both Tomasic and Post agreed that they have to be reached at an early ag