(Editor’s note: The forum was lengthy and featured valuable input from each candidate. To give our readers comprehensive coverage of the event without short-changing them, we divided our reporting of this event into a two-part series. This is part two. Additionally, the story from the weekend misidentified McKenzie Kelly as McKenzie Plummer. She will appear as the former on the ballot.)

 

SALISBURY — Candidates for the Rowan Salisbury Schools Board of Education participated in a forum last week at the Rowan Public Library headquarters in Salisbury. Jonathan Barbee, Bryan Wymbs and Dr. Rebecca Childs, who are running for the Salisbury seat, participated along with Dr. Lynn Marsh, who is running for the Southeast seat. Marsh’s opponent, McKenzie Kelly, was not there. 

In an article that appeared in the Salisbury Post’s weekend edition, the candidates discussed various topics such as vouchers, per-pupil spending and the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s designation as the state’s only renewal district. 

Today’s article covers early childhood development, state accountability standards, the role of technology in the classroom and a referendum on the ballot that would make RSS elections partisan. 

 

How would you like to see Rowan Salisbury Schools partner with the community or government to enhance early childhood development programs in Rowan County?

Wymbs pointed to a stat he called frightening, that only 22 percent of kindergarten students enter school at a kindergarten-ready level. 

“By the end of kindergarten, we want everybody to be ready for first grade,” Wymbs said. “How does a kindergarten teacher do that? It’s an impossible task. I think education from birth to five is so critical.”

Wymbs indicated an interest in community partnerships with groups like ApSeed and Smart Start Rowan. 

“There are a lot of programs and services wrapped around (early childhood development) at Smart Start,” Wymbs said. “I think that needs to be communicated in a more comprehensive way. That is where education starts. It does not start at kindergarten. It starts at birth. 

“If we can wrap those services around young families and get 85 percent of those kids kindergarten-ready in five years, that will be amazing.”

Barbee also turned outward with his answer. 

“We have a lot more nonprofit organizations that would love to try and be involved,” Barbee said. “When you have a board that is willing to go and be involved in the community, have those conversations and develop a plan to execute, it’s a very important thing.

“We need to have a multi-step process for it. Mostly, it’s about having the continuity to keep up the meetings and make sure that happens.”

Childs said for her, it comes down to reading and encouraging children to pick up a book. 

“I think it is wonderful that this event is taking place in a library,” Childs said. “When I was growing up, we would come to this library, and it was one of those experiences that was just, dare I say, magical but very special. 

“I think we, as a community, have to embrace and promote the power of reading and encourage our families and provide them the resources necessary to promote reading, whether that is in English or Spanish or any other language to encourage families to promote reading from the youngest age possible.”

Marsh quickly acknowledged the importance of early education. 

“I really feel like the first of a child’s life is where they gain the most knowledge,” Marsh said. “I believe and have helped do this before as a principal, from birth, taking books into the hospital and meeting with the parents … we have identified some resources in the community that they can go to and look to for help. 

“They are already feeling like they are part of this community by being approached at such a young age.”

Marsh added that the community needs more preschools.  

“That is what I see,” she said. “They are coming into kindergarten, and they don’t have some of the skills because they have not socially interacted with other children. We need to make sure we are providing more preschool like we are going to have at Overton.”

 

How do you feel about the report cards our schools get, and do you have ideas for improving proficiency scores? Are there other metrics of accountability that should be considered when judging the success of public schools? 

Childs turned to her experiences in education to answer this question. 

“Testing, in general, is just one pixel of the full picture,” Childs said. “I think, unfortunately, a lot of funding tends to be tied to that one metric because, in some ways, it’s just easier. But easier is not always better or in the best interests of the student. 

“I think there should be other metrics for us to receive data and use that data to reform how we enhance the student experience.”

She also said that she does not think that standardized testing helps students in the moment and that other parts of schooling, like the actual climate inside a building, should be measured, too. 

Barbee said that he believes the school system is on the right track, adding that some perspectives might not have moved as fast as many would have liked. He went on to suggest inter-school collaborations between higher-performing and underperforming campuses.  

“For me, what if we could have some of the schools that score an A, B or C collaborate with schools that scored around the D?” Barbee said. 

Wymbs said he rejects the idea of giving a school a failing grade.

“How can we rate a school and give it an F?” he said. “What does that say to the kids, parents, that that school is failing? I think that is tragic.”

Wymbs said that, in his estimation, growth is a far more important metric to strive for.

“We have to move towards a growth model and get away from proficiency,” Wymbs said. “How can you expect a teacher with 22 percent of students coming in ready for kindergarten to get them proficient by the end of the year?

“I would like a model where you are measuring growth and progress as opposed to proficiency.”

Marsh expressed similar discontent with the state’s accountability method. 

“I am not an advocate of slapping a letter grade on the school,” Marsh said. “For one thing, the school counts 80 percent for what you score on that standardized test and only 20 percent for growth. What you want a child to do is grow a year for a year’s instruction.”

 

What do you feel about the current role of technology in the classroom?

“When it was rolled out, originally, it was that the laptops were coming in to reduce the cost of textbooks,” Barbee said. “There are a number of resources that we can use, and I have been in favor of those laptops, especially in higher education.”

However, Barbee said that one-size-fits-all tech usage won’t work. 

“I believe that younger individuals need physical contact, being able to see and read and being able to interact with people in their age bracket,” Barbee said. “As we get older, those students are totally fine where they are, but I am against using cell phones in the classroom.”

Childs said it has shocked her to learn how much time some students spend on devices versus direct instruction, but acknowledged that some of that is a product of resource limitations elsewhere.  

“Teachers have a lot they are trying to do, and they don’t have teacher’s assistants to help them,” Childs said. “In some ways, technology can help keep the process going, but unfortunately for students who need direct instruction, they are not really learning. 

“They might tap, tap, tap, tap, and they are done with the quiz, but the actual processes of thinking are not happening as they should. We need to get back to the original intent, which was technology integration, where we use it as a tool and a resource but not where it is a  substitute for instruction.”

Marsh echoed that sentiment. 

“There is nothing that can replace a teacher in the classroom teaching their students,” Marsh said. “I feel like technology has a place in the school but I consider it to be a resource. What we are doing now in the school system, I am so impressed that we are going back and focusing on our reading and sounds etc.

“Computers should be used for blended learning, to do research, but nothing replaces the individual contact between teacher and student.”

Wymbs used his turn to address issues he sees with expanded tech access in classrooms. 

“One thing I would add is that cellphones in the classroom, I think, are an issue,” Wymbs said.

Aside from developing bad habits and causing anxiety among young people, Wymbs said they can be a distraction.  The anxious generation is an impactful book. 

“I think we can all agree that a 14-year-old should not be having their iPhone on the desk during class when they are learning English, or having their headphones in and watching a documentary on Youtube,” Wymbs said. “I talked to a teacher today and they said it’s really hard to get kids to focus for more than 10 minutes. It’s scary and dangerous and gets in the way of learning.”

 

Are you in favor of or against amending school board races to be partisan in future elections?

Each candidate objected to the idea of school board races being partisan. 

“The school board is not a political entity, and I feel like it should be nonpartisan,” Marsh said. “We are here to represent, take care of our children, teach them and value them and develop them into citizens. Do I care if your mother or father is a Democrat or a Republican if you call me with a problem? No, that is not what we are here for. It’s not a political avenue for us. We represent all the children, all the parents, and all the community. We want what is best for our kids.”

Childs said she believes that education needs to be the focus of the board of education. 

“Politics should stay as far away from it as possible,” Childs said. “I think that not only would that create potential divisions among board members, it could deter some highly qualified people running for office. 

“I think we need to keep it as open as possible and shoot for the stars to get the best board members possible.”

Barbee sees no reason why this change should be made now. 

“This is a no-brainer for me. I am against making it partisan,” Barbee said. “It was nonpartisan four years ago. It should have been nonpartisan two years ago, and it should be nonpartisan now.”

Wymbs said that he does not want political disunity at federal and state levels to impact the education students in Rowan-Salisbury Schools receive. 

“We have enough partisanship in this country,” Wymbs said. “To make local school boards partisan is nuts to me. Please vote no on that referendum.”