At-Large St. Mary’s County Board of Education candidates (l to r) Cathy Allen, Chris Krush and Deforest “Dee’ Rathbone

Lexington Park, MD — St. Mary’s County voters will have one school board race on the primary election ballot this year. At least three candidates are necessary for a race to be on the primary ballot. The top two vote-getters then face each other in the November general election.

Three candidates are facing each other for the St. Mary’s County Board of Education At-Large seat. All three touted their experience as reason to vote for them when they faced each other at an April 6 candidates’ forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of St. Mary’s County at the Lexington Park Library.

Cathy Allen, 60 of Hollywood is an incumbent and highlights her experience as a four-term school board member. She said her background as a critical care nurse helped her develop the ability for critical thinking on difficult subjects. And she says having taught nursing students gives in her insight into what’s required in the classroom.

Chris Krush, 72 of Mechanicsville is a retired teacher with 33 years of experience. “Would a hospital have a board of directors without a doctor on the board,” he asks. He says the school board needs someone with a “knowledge of how the school system functions day-to-day.”

Deforest “Dee’ Rathbone (who did not supply his age) brings a whole other set of experiences to the table as a retired federal government engineer, member of a credit union board of directors and teacher in a Plumbers Union apprenticeship training program. He is especially interested in drug usage among students and brings experience as one of the original members of Nancy Reagan’s Drug Prevention Parents.

The three candidates fielded a number of questions submitted by the forum audience. One asked the candidates their biggest concerns about the school system.

Allen responded: “Take care of our employees in a responsible and respectful way.” She said that concern was followed by maintaining a sustainable budget. “It’s not reasonable to tax citizens so they can’t afford to live here,” she said. But at the same time she said the community needed to support the school system.”

Krush said. “I don’t have any great concerns about the school system.” He said his three children were all products of the school system and have done very well for themselves and now his three grandchildren are also doing well in school. “I want to make sure my grandchildren get the same education that my children did,” he added.

Rathbone emphasized his main agenda item – “the prevalence of mind altering substances promoted and delivered over the Internet.” Rathbone supports universal random SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention with Referral to Treatment). He said that should be done before a child gets in trouble to identify potential problems.

Regarding term limits, Allen said she could understand both sides of the argument but she believes it should be up to the voters to make their own decisions. Rathbone said he didn’t see it as a problem. Krush on the other hand favors a two-term limit.

In response to a question about Common Core, Allen noted that the standards were developed at the state level and locally were written by the school system’s teachers. Krush said the country was diverse and thus the standards must be different from state to state. Rathbone observed that criticism of Common Core came from concerns about education being dictated from Washington.

Regarding what the system can do to ensure diversity of teachers, Krush said he was more interested in getting the best teachers instead of some artificial quota. Rathbone said the problem wasn’t as real as during the era of segregation.

Allen responded that the school system is recruiting from Historically Black Colleges and others places where diversity can be tapped.

During closing statements, Krush noted that he is not a real expert on the budget but would quickly become one. He said he had seen a lot of “screwy ideas” about how best to educate children, but his viewpoint from having taught in the schools would be a good check on what works and what doesn’t’

Rathbone got a chuckle from the audience when he said Allen was the incumbent and would probably win. He added, “The school system is a good system but it has some bugs to work out.” He said he would like the opportunity to make it even better.

Allen said, “I hope this evening showed I am compassionate about education.” She offered her accumulated experience for another four years on the board.

The two candidates in the Board of Education Commissioner District 2 Race, Jim Davis and Justin Fiore will face each other in November. Incumbent school board member Mary Washington is the only candidate in the Commissioner District 4 race.

The primary election is Tuesday, April 26. Early voting begins Thursday, April 14 and ends Thursday April 21. Voting is every day during that time period from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. This year there is a new early voting location: Hollywood Firehouse Carnival Building at 24801 Three Notch Road.

Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com