Jeffco college board election: 5 candidates search two open seats

5 candidates are operating for 2 open seats on the Jeffco college board, the place they might assist form coverage in a various college district dealing with declining enrollment, important educational gaps, and long-term price range issues. 

Since 2015, when voters recalled a conservative board, members backed by the lecturers union have led the district. With simply two open seats on the five-member board, that received’t change this 12 months — however whatever the end result, the board will see new views and approaches. Incumbents Stephanie Schooley and Susan Miller usually are not operating for re-election.

Jeffco Public Colleges, Colorado’s second largest college district, stretches from the Denver border to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and serves a mixture of city, suburban, and rural communities. 

Whereas the county largely votes Democratic in state and legislative races — a pointy distinction from 20 years in the past — Jefferson County stays politically numerous and has seen heated college board conferences over masks, quarantines, and the way lecturers deal with points associated to race and gender id. There have additionally been wrenching selections to shut faculties and questions of value overruns in latest building initiatives.

In District 3, at the moment represented by Schooley, engineer Michelle Applegate is operating in opposition to school president Thomas Wicke. 

In District 4, at the moment represented by Miller, engineer Amara Hildebrand, educator Erin Kenworthy, and advocate Joel Newton are looking for the seat.

Applegate and Kenworthy have the endorsement of the Jefferson County Educators Affiliation, the lecturers union, and fueled by contributions from political committees related to the union, have raised probably the most cash to this point, with $18,600 and $21,800 in contributions respectively, in accordance with marketing campaign finance filings. 

Wicke — who mentioned he’s proud to not have the endorsement of the lecturers union — is shut behind with virtually $16,000 in contributions as of the latest submitting.

Along with the lecturers union, Jeffco may see outdoors spending from different impartial challenge committees. Typically generally known as outdoors cash or darkish cash as a result of they don’t need to disclose their donors, these teams are legally barred from coordinating with candidates however typically ship mailers or make calls and texts in help or opposition.

On Wednesday, Marge Klein, who typically helps conservative candidates, registered an impartial expenditure committee known as Higher Jeffco Colleges, in accordance with Secretary of State information.

Chalkbeat spoke with every of the 5 candidates. All of them talked about the necessity to have interaction higher with the group, guarantee all voices are heard, and construct belief between the group and the district. There have been notable variations among the many candidates as properly.

The election is Nov. 7.

Right here’s a better have a look at who’s operating:

District 3 contains parts of Wheat Ridge and Arvada and northern Lakewood and stretches northwest from the Denver border to the Gilpin County line.

Michelle Applegate is an engineer who has labored extensively in public coverage and the mom of three kids, two of whom attend Jeffco Public Colleges and a three-year-old who will when he’s sufficiently old. She described herself as a lifelong believer in public schooling who will deliver a considerate strategy to management. She’s served as PTA president at two elementary faculties. As a dad or mum, she’s skilled her baby’s college being thought-about for closure (Stober Elementary was in the end spared in 2017) and one other baby’s college working laborious this 12 months to accommodate kids from a closed college.

“To me, this is likely one of the most vital methods I can serve my group,” she mentioned of serving on the college board. “I’m invested on this district, I’ve been for a few years, and I will probably be for as a few years extra.”

Applegate mentioned her priorities can be making certain thriving faculties all through the district, ensuring security is a part of the coed expertise, and enhancing group belief by price range transparency. 

She mentioned she would work to enhance the hiring and retention of high-quality educators and ensure faculties have the sources they want. Serving to the district navigate price range challenges and guarantee there may be cash for instructor pay and classroom wants is a part of that, she mentioned.

After the Columbine bloodbath, Jeffco Public Colleges invested closely within the bodily security of faculty buildings and has typically been supportive of faculty useful resource officers. Applegate mentioned the district wants to consider security extra broadly and discover a stability that features the proper relationship with SROs and help for pupil psychological well being. 

Michelle Applegate is married to Bob Applegate, who ran unsuccessfully for varsity board in 2019. Whereas Bob Applegate was endorsed by the now-inactive schooling reform group Jeffco College students First, Michelle Applegate is endorsed by the lecturers union.

Thomas Wicke is the Aurora campus president for for-profit Concordia Profession School, which trains college students for well being care careers. He’s additionally the dad or mum of two graduates of Jeffco Public Colleges and a highschool freshman. His spouse teaches at Drake Center Faculty, and he mentioned he sees how lecturers deliver their work house — actually and emotionally — and the way they aren’t all the time supported by directors. 

Wicke mentioned he’s been watching previous board conferences and believes board members might be extra engaged in essential points.

“I’ve discovered that the college board, although extremely vital, doesn’t management the whole lot,” he mentioned. “On the similar time, they appear to be spending a ton of time speaking about how the furnishings must be organized on the Titanic deck. I’ve to imagine we are able to change into a extra concerned and accountability-holding board.”

Wicke mentioned his priorities can be enhancing educational achievement and addressing main fiscal challenges dealing with the district. He’s involved that lower than half of scholars meet educational expectations on state exams and mentioned it’s time for brand new management after union-backed candidates have managed the board for many of the final decade. On the similar time, he mentioned he doesn’t blame lecturers and has gathered a lecturers advisory board to provide him enter.

Wicke mentioned his school is held to excessive requirements by its accrediting physique — required to make sure most graduates earn their skilled licenses and safe jobs of their area — and he needs to see Jeffco faculties held to equally excessive requirements based mostly on pupil outcomes.

He mentioned dad and mom want extra perception into what’s being taught in faculties — ”to not point out the stuff you would possibly lump into woke ideologies, which is a secondary level” — and that dad or mum mistrust of how lecturers deal with politically delicate subjects is contributing to decrease enrollment, as dad and mom with the means to take action enroll elsewhere.

District 4 contains Edgewater and central and southern Lakewood from roughly thirty second Avenue and Sheridan stretching southwest to Bear Creek Reservoir.

Amara Hildebrand mentioned she’s operating as a result of she worries that public college not prepares most kids for achievement in school or within the workforce.

“Children are actually not thriving,” she mentioned. “Public college was a springboard for my success and I need each child to have the ability to have that, to take their schooling and thrive in life.”

Hildebrand is an engineer and the mom of a sixth and a ninth grader. Hildebrand eliminated her kids from public college throughout digital studying and enrolled them in Catholic college. Her daughter is again in public college now, whereas her son stays in non-public college.

Hildebrand mentioned she’s involved about low educational achievement and the fiscal well being of the district. She described herself as fiscally-minded and mentioned she enjoys working with budgets. She believes Jeffco has sufficient cash to higher help lecturers and studying if much less cash have been higher managed. As a faculty board member, she mentioned she would go to faculties and discuss to principals to be taught what they should be profitable.

Now 4½ years sober, Hildebrand has skilled her personal struggles with dependancy and psychological well being, and he or she needs to focus extra consideration on pupil psychological well being. She blames on-line communication for degrading each civil discourse and psychological well being and even contributing to violence.

On the similar time, Hildebrand mentioned she doesn’t see a necessity for extra counselors in faculties. As an alternative, she thinks giving children a larger sense of goal with group service initiatives and hands-on studying, elevating educational achievement, and lowering the time kids spend on-line will enhance their total well-being.

Erin Kenworthy is a former public college instructor turned non secular educator, and the dad or mum of two Jeffco college students, a primary grader and a sixth grader. Kenworthy has served on college and district accountability committees, teams made up of appointed group members who present oversight of public faculties. 

As a dad or mum, Kenworthy mentioned she has discovered Jeffco faculties to be “extremely supportive,” and he or she needs all college students and households to have that have.

Whereas she’s now been out of the classroom longer than she was in it, Kenworthy mentioned she nonetheless has a powerful understanding of the gaps between principle and actuality that classroom lecturers should handle and the heavy burden lecturers are carrying. 

Kenworthy mentioned the present superintendent has achieved a very good job shifting extra sources to the classroom and he or she needs to help and develop on these efforts. Kenworthy mentioned she’s keen about group engagement and listening to from dad and mom who historically have been marginalized. She needs to make it simpler for folks to take part within the accountability course of. 

And as a former social research instructor, she needs to see extra alternatives for college kids to specific themselves and have company of their studying.

“If there may be something we may deal with transferring ahead, we have to middle voices which have typically been stored on the margins or denied a seat on the desk,” she mentioned.

Joel Newton is the daddy of two Jeffco college students and a longtime schooling advocate. His expertise founding and operating the Edgewater Collective for the final 10 years formed his resolution to run. The group works with households from Title I faculties with excessive charges of poverty within the jap a part of the district close to the Denver border. Newton noticed college students at these faculties posting decrease educational scores — and getting access to far fewer sources, similar to afterschool programming and superior coursework. 

The district’s total demographics — whiter and extra middle-class than neighboring Denver — obscure some important gaps that have an effect on college students of shade and people from low-income households, Newton mentioned. Newton needs to push the district to do extra to shut these gaps.

“For the longest time, I believed the way in which to maneuver the needle was to advocate from the skin,” he mentioned. “The extra I watch college board conferences, I believe there must be somebody on the board desk who brings the attitude of Title I households, particularly as college budgets are declining.”

Newton emphasised he doesn’t blame lecturers — these are systemic issues that should be solved on the district degree, he mentioned. Newton sought the lecturers union endorsement however didn’t get it. Whereas that was a disappointment, Newton mentioned, he hopes the dearth of endorsement provides him extra potential to speak to folks throughout the political spectrum and discover consensus.

As he has traveled across the district as a candidate, Newton mentioned he’s heard many LGBTQ college students and college students of shade don’t really feel protected or heard in school. He needs to deliver extra dad and mom into conversations about schooling and work to seek out consensus and construct belief. His prime precedence in that work, although, will probably be making certain college students really feel protected in school — in any other case they’ll’t be taught, he mentioned.

Bureau Chief Erica Meltzer covers schooling coverage and politics and oversees Chalkbeat Colorado’s schooling protection. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.