NEWFANE: School board candidates talk issues

By Joe Olenick<br><a href="mailto:olenickj@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Joe</a>
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

NEWFANE May 15, 2008 01:30 am

— The students’ well-being is most important to the candidates for the three open seats on the Newfane School Board, but relationships and financial responsibility also seemed to come up a lot at a “meet the candidates” forum sponsored by the Newfane Parents, Teachers and Students Association on Wednesday night.
Residents Patrick Kilcullen and Brian Hellner, and incumbent board members Carl Stieffenhofer and Cynthia Ames, are running for the three open Board of Education seats. Two of the seats are three-year terms and one will be a one-year term.
Questions about teacher contracts and budget cuts were just some of the issues discussed by candidates. Residents also asked how the candidates would try to improve the district’s educational ranking compared with other districts and what changes need to be made in Newfane schools.
Candidates were asked about teacher and union contracts and what they would do to keep up morale with negotiations going on. Ames said she attends as many district events as possible, therefore being a presence and showing support.
“Contracts start with relationships,” Kilcullen said. “Understanding needs and finding common ground.”
The cuts in the proposed budget were seen as necessary by the candidates, but had to be watched carefully. Ames said her concern was how the resulting class sizes would affect students, especially second grade.
“The majority of the cuts were made in the NECC, (Newfane Early Childhood Center), where enrollment was down and it was obvious we weren’t going to see an increase,” Stieffenhofer said. “We lived through last year and it didn’t improve, so the cuts had to be made.”
Kilcullen said the budget process was responsible, but what concerned him was combining multiple responsibilities in one position. Hellner said staffing needs have to be constantly monitored.
Newfane’s drop in educational rankings came up when candidates asked what they would do to try and improve it. Kilcullen said the district should look at its statistics and that there are so many factors that ranking had to be a constant monitoring process. There wasn’t just one area to point to.
“We need more early intervention, I would like to see more AIS (Academic Intervention Services) offered,” Hellner said. “The earlier we can get to these children, the better off they’ll be.”
Ames said a curriculum director was a step in the right direction, although rankings can be misleading, because they leave out intangibles. Stieffenhofer said the director position was a good idea and he favored curriculum alignment.
When asked what their feelings were about adding more accelerated programs for eighth-grade students, all four said they would be for doing more, as long as the district could afford it.
“I would like to see our students maybe take an accelerated science program,” Ames said. “I’m sure we could do it without costing more, and that would be the problem, costing more.”
Kilcullen said he favored keeping all students challenged, but keeping the cost in mind. Hellner agreed and said that he would like to see that all students in all grades shouldn’t be held back by lack of accelerated programs. Stieffenhofer said the cost is an issue, but the district has to be ready to step up to the plate for the students.
All four candidates said there weren’t any major changes they’d make in the district, but there were a few small things. Hellner said the district could be more efficient and he favored bidding out projects to save money. Ames said she favored ending micro-managing and just letting administration and teachers do their jobs. Stieffenhofer and Kilcullen agreed with Ames.
All four also agreed the most pressing issue with the school board is getting the members to work together.
Newfane residents will have the final say on who will fill the board seats, as well as the proposed 2008-09 school year budget, at a May 20 vote.
Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.