Candidates were asked to limit their responses to each of the following questions to 200 words or less.
Name: Frank Beer
Age:
Occupation:
Incumbent:
Do you have children or grandchildren who attend(ed) USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden schools?
-Why are you running for school board? I am running on these three pillars.
1. Parents First. I realize that children are most important, but in the parent/teacher/school partnership educating them it needs to be understood that the parent is the senior partner.
2. Wise Budgets. The recent 14% increase in property taxes from the school district was passed with little to no discussion by the board in public. It may very well have been needed, but what the additional funds are directed to should have been discussed by the board. As it was, the increase was approved without that accounting to the taxpayers so we will never know for sure.
3. Proper Mission. The focus needs to be on education of the core curriculum without undue distractions from non-core issues. While there will always be a "building good citizens" experience with kids in our schools, we do not want side issues distract from the academic education our kids deserve.
-Parental engagement and community involvement are crucial for the success of any school district. What strategies would you implement to increase collaboration between parents, citizens, and educators? Total transparency between the district and parents is key to this process. Making sure that parents are fully plugged into their children's education should be a priority. The Parent and Student Square communication system that has been implemented is a great step towards doing so. It is an electronic communication program between the school district staff and students/parents. Questions will arise when there's even an appearance of a lack of transparency. But having full transparency is paramount to an involved and invested community. Being in a university town always brings challenges to community involvement. But having a positive and upbeat approach to an all-in communication policy between the district/staff and parents/citizens can produce great results. This needs to be a priority, and I believe the tools are there to do so.
-If you had one thing you could change about the USD 383 school district, what would it be? I would like to see a discussion on removing cell phones from the classroom for both students and staff. I believe this may cause the largest single distraction that we face. I know that various schools and classrooms have been trying varying degrees of this, but I believe there should be a discussion about that being done system wide.
-What is your opinion of the USD 383 administration? Do you think you could work with the current administration moving forward? I believe that we have great administrative staff in place. I trust that they will work with the board well in every respect and that the board will work well with them.
-What is your opinion of the current school board? Do you think you could compromise with the incumbents who will remain on the board? I have no doubt that I will be able to work with whatever individuals make up the next school board. It is imperative that this be the case if we are to have a thriving district. I have publicly questioned the lack of public discussion regarding issues such as the budget. But this is easily fixed by engaging with administrative staff and my fellow board members during board meetings. I will not promise to always agree with my fellow board members on policy and spending decisions. But I know for a fact that we can be agreeable in having those robust discussions.
-What do you think the board’s role should be in the day-to-day operations of the district? If the board is doing it's job properly it should set the general policy and goals for the district and charge the administration with seeing that through. If situations arise where the board's wishes are not being met it should rely on a strong administration staff to rectify those situations.
-Have you received money or in-kind donations from individuals, businesses, groups or PACs outside of the school district? No I have not.