(l to r) John Alonzo Gaskin, Rita Weaver, Karin Bailey and Brooke Matthews
Lexington Park, MD — The St. Mary’s County Public Schools’ budget woes this year were the 800-pound gorilla in the room at the forum Thursday at the Lexington Park Library that featured the four candidates for two vacant school board seats in the November 4th general election.
The forum featured opening and closing statements and questions for John Alonzo Gaskin and Rita Weaver, running for the Board of Education’s 1st Commissioner District and incumbent Brooke Matthews and challenger Karin Bailey, running for the 3rd District seat. The school board races are non-partisan.
In response to a question from the audience for all candidates about whether the school board’s audit management and opinion letters should be released to the public, Matthews said, “Absolutely. We had a great audit this year.”
Weaver, however, said, “We may have to dig a little deeper,” noting that only 50 percent of the budget items were reviewed. “That leaves 50 percent unanswered,” she said. Weaver noted the $6 million deficit has turned into an $800,000 surplus. “We must find where the problem lies,” she said.
Gaskin said he had no problem releasing the letters, but as far as doing additional audits, he didn’t want to be in the position of “doing the same thing over and over again,” and wasting money.
Bailey also agreed that the letters should be released.
Gaskin in his opening statement said the school system did have budget issues and called for more transparency in the process. Observing that St. Mary’s school system is the seventh best in the best state in the nation, he said things can improve with community involvement. “We have to take a stand in the community,” he insisted.
Weaver emphasized her background which includes teaching nursing candidates at the College of Southern Maryland. Noting she has been attending school board meetings for a year and a half, she also insisted there was the need for more transparency. She said the budget and making sure taxpayers’ dollars are spent wisely would be a priority for her.
Bailey said she got involved when a park and ride lot was proposed next to her children’s’ school, White Marsh Elementary. She said that got her interested in the workings of the school board.
Matthews said of his second-grader daughter, “She’s the reason I am up here,” noting he isn’t comfortable being a politician. “We have growing pains,” Matthews said of the growing school system, and observing that the county is 24th of 24 jurisdictions in per pupil funding (including county, state and federal funding).
During the period of questions from the audience, Bailey said she supported more financial education in the classrooms. Bailey was a professional auditor for 13 years.
Gaskin was asked about what his strategies would be to support teachers and school staff. He responded, “We need to resolve the issues surrounding the budget.” He said once that’s resolved, “I would work for employees to get the raises they negotiated for.”
Weaver was asked how to help students who receive free-and-reduced lunches to improve their achievement. She responded that the achievement gap doesn’t just impact students who get free-and- reduced meals. She said the statistics don’t bear that out. She said the achievement gap can be reduced by “focusing on the individual needs” of the students.
Gaskin responded to the achievement gap for African-American students by saying there needed to be a greater effort at recruiting black teachers and administrators, as role models for the students. “There is no easy answer,’ He said. “Very few African-American men are going into education because of the stigma.”
Gaskin added, “You never know who that person is who will affect a child.”
When asked about the strengths and challenges for the school system, Gaskin quickly responded: the teachers and staff. “The system runs on these people.” He said the challenge was keeping creative people in the system.
Also, Gaskin said more people in the community needed to be “in the schools,” including grandparents, aunts and cousins, “showing that someone really cares for them.”
Weaver touted the very highly-educated populace in St. Mary’s. She said the challenges were transparency and the budget.
Bailey also agreed that the teachers were the system’s greatest strength. And she added the students to that list, observing their passion in their volunteerism. Bailey said a challenge was getting the school board and county commissioners to work together.
Matthews said the strength of the school system was everyone who supports it. He admitted that the budget was the greatest challenge as well as choosing the “right superintendent” to replace Dr. Martirano.
In closing statements Matthews said, “Every day I wake up, I worry about the kids.” In asking for support, he said, “I have four more years in me.”
Bailey said bridges that close the gaps that divide the community need to be strengthened. And she added, “We need to use taxpayers’ dollars wisely.”
“We need to make sure every student has the same opportunities,” Bailey concluded.
Weaver said she would be an advocate for education as a board member. “The current board has lost sight of what it is supposed to do,” she alleged. Her focus, she said, would be to create the best education system possible.
Gaskin concluded by saying, “We have one opportunity to do it right. We need everyone on board.” He added, “Everything we do has to be for the children.”
Early voting in the state begins Thursday and lasts for a week. The polling place in St. Mary’s County is in Room 14 of the governmental center in Leonardtown.
The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of St. Mary’s County, the NAACP and the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College. Pat Dunlap, league president, moderated the forum. She said this could possibly be the last year for league forums unless more young people get involved with the non-partisan League of Women Voters, which is for men and women.
The forum on Thursday also featured the county commissioner candidates.
The league also will be holding a forum on Tuesday, October 28 for the delegate and senate candidates. That also will be at the Lexington Park Library from 6 to 8 p.m.