Oskaloosa School Board Candidate – Charlie Comfort

Oskaloosa School Board Candidate Charlie Comfort

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa School Board is holding elections on September 13th, 2011 for its board. They will be filling Director Districts 1, 3, 4 and 6. Only one race is being challenged, that being the one for Director District 4 between the incumbent Donald Patterson and Charlie Comfort.

Charlie Comfort is seeking his first term in office with the Oskaloosa School Board for Director District 4. Charlie took time out of his busy schedule to visit with me about his candidacy for the board. We covered questions and recent concerns, expressed by our readers, about the Oskaloosa School System.

You can join him on his Facebook page HERE – Charlie Comfort For Oskaloosa School Board

My first question is: “What motivates you to be on the school board?”

“I have been considering the idea of running for local office for quite some time now. I have had conversations with various teachers, parents, former board members, and citizens. I am motivated to be on the School Board because I truly feel that I can make a difference and an impact. As a student, I saw firsthand what works and what doesn’t work. I bring a lot of direct experience within the school system to the board and I believe that I can utilize that experience to help improve the educational opportunities our students currently have. I want our students to have to be able to get the best education they can possibly get. Ultimately, I am motivated because I want these kids to be able to get a great education because they are the future.”

“What do you believe your role as a School Board Member is?”

“I believe that I would have two major roles as a board member. The first one would be that of being a policy maker. The School Board is in charge of setting different local policies. I believe my role in that would be to be informed on how a new policy, or an amended policy, would affect Students and Staff once implemented. I think my role in that would also be to take comments and questions from citizens, staff, and students on different policies and whether or not they seem to be working and being able to take those comments and questions to different board members and the Superintendent and being able to decide if a certain policy is something that needs to be looked at. The second role I believe that I have is to be able to listen to the constituents concerns. A Board Member needs to be able to listen to someone’s concerns and be able to have an answer to them. I will have an open mind on anything when I talk to the voters. If I feel one way about something, and several of my constituents feel the opposite way, I will certainly be reconsidering my opinion before I vote. It is important that a School Board Member has an open mind about everything. If you go in there with your mind set on something, and you don’t care what your constituents have to say, you are voting a certain way and that’s that, then you are blatantly ignoring the people who put you in that role to begin with.”

“How would you address parents that are displeased with fees such as a $25 parking fee and a towel fee, when it’s reported that often there is no towel to use?”

“It is my opinion that we need to take a look at these fees again. I think that with an added Laptop fee at the high school, we need to take a look at how much we are charging families. I certainly am not going to go all anti school fees, however, I think that we may be overcharging for some services that many believe should be free. I think the towel fee is the first one. If in fact there are no towels available, then why are families being forced to pay that fee. Would that warrant a refund on that fee? Would it be easier for students to bring their own towel rather than charge them $10 to use one? I think those questions need to be addressed right away. I also think that parents need to be told at registration what their fee is going towards. A simple hand out showing what their $10 towel fee or $25 parking fee is used for could help reduce some of the skepticism parents may have. I believe that if parents know where there money is going it may reduce some of the questions on fees. It seems today, that you can no longer get a free public education and I believe that it needs to be a priority of the board to look at these fees for the next school year.”

“Do you believe that the school calendar needs looked at? Do you believe items like early outs on Wednesday’s and Spring Break need to be reviewed?”

“I do believe that we need to take a look at the school calendar, specifically the number of early outs. I do know that there is a calendar committee composed of staff, administration, and most importantly parents. That committee comes up with several different calendar options and submits their proposals to the board. I understand and respect that system and don’t really have anything against it. I am concerned about the number of times we are having early releases. I know a majority of those are for Professional Development. I understand from other board meetings that Professional Development is proven to help students. I don’t understand though why we need to have two early releases each month for it. I remember when I was in Middle School and most of High School only getting out once a month for professional development. I also remember last year having several weeks in a row where we didn’t have a full week whether it was because of professional development days, staff work days, holidays, or a combination of the sort. I know firsthand that early releases are very hectic and can diminish student learning in those days. For me, the teachers always were rushed to get through everything that needed to get accomplished that day because we only had roughly 40 minute classes. As a board member, I want to have a discussion on early releases because, while they can be helpful in the long term, I think having so many of them are hurtful in the short term.”

The new laptop program: “Do you believe that the costs of $100 and $200, respectively, for repairs are fair for low income families?”

“For families on free or reduced lunch, those fees are going to be too much for them. For families that may be already struggling financially, if a computer is accidentally damaged by a student at school, they are going to have a very tough fee to pay. I don’t understand why families in a tough situation would need to have an additional burden placed on them. This goes back to your question on the school fees but I believe this fee needs to be looked at before next year. There are many people questioning this fee, myself in particular, and I think that we need some answers as to why low income families are going to have to pay a large fee like that.”

Is it true that a student that is assaulted in school by another student can not defend themselves with also being punished. This could have other impacts to parents and students, such as repairs costs for the ’1 and 1′ laptop.

“In my opinion, if a person is attacked, I feel they have every right to defend themselves. I am very concerned about this and I do need to check into this issue as that is something that needs to be looked at. I do want to make it clear that I don’t want to promote fighting at all. What I do want to make clear is that I don’t want students being told that they can’t defend themselves. In the real world, if you are attacked and fight back in self-defense, you won’t be punished. As for the laptop part of your question, if a student breaks another student’s laptop, I don’t believe that the parent of the student with the broken laptop should be held accountable. I think that should fall onto the parent of the student who broke the laptop.”

Parents have expressed that their concerns are not being listened to. “What steps would you suggest the parents take, and school board members take in order to foster better communication?”

“In my opinion, the parent is doing about all they can do. I think it falls onto the shoulders of the board members to be able and willing to listen to parents. School Board members are elected by their constituents and so board members need to be there to listen to them. I will always have an open door for parents to call me or e-mail me. Now that being said, I do understand that there is a chain of command and I think it is important for that to be respected. Certainly if there is a student teacher problem, the first person to contact would be the Principal, and if necessary, the Superintendent. I do think though that Board Members need to be willing to talk with parents and students and be able to take their comments and questions into consideration and also to be able to present parents and students with a solution to their concerns.”

“What plans and ideas do you bring to the table to help Oskaloosa Schools continue to improve and grow in the next 4 years?”

“I really want to see a continued expansion of technological opportunities for students. I am glad to see the district is taking an initiative in bring the 1 to 1 program here and I am kind of upset that I graduated the year before this was implemented. I think with some improvements, that program will be a great learning tool for students and will help prepare them for their futures. I would like to see the district be even more progressive when it comes to technology. I would also like to see the district to have continued support for our new stadium. I think that stadium will be a big drawing point for Oskaloosa. I am very happy that the board has chosen to allow our students to play there. The new stadium will not have a financial burden on the district and it is likely safer than our old stadium. With that stadium, I believe William Penn University will be able to host large events there that will be able to draw people to the community and as a result, have more people stimulate the local economy.”

Now I open it for the candidate to talk about what they want, their goals and desires for the Oskaloosa school system.

“I am running because I want our students to get the best education possible here. It is important that we equip and empower our students for their futures. They are the future and we need to prepare them for it. As a board member, I will have an open door for student, parent, and staff input. I want students to be comfortable with coming to a board member about anything because the decision we make, affect them in their education. I want staff to also feel the same way because again, the decisions we make, affect them too. I am proud to be a graduate of the Oskaloosa School System and I will work to help improve the educational opportunities that are out there.”