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Town Talk

League of Women Voters held CHCCS candidate forum Thursday

League Of Women Voters held a forum for school board candidates
Buy Photos League Of Women Voters held a forum for school board candidates

Seven of the eight candidates running for election to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education convened at the Chapel Hill Public Library for a forum hosted by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters. The only incumbent present was Annetta Streater, with David Saussy absent from the meeting. 

The candidates received questions from the audience along with pre-written questions from the League of Women Voters.

The major focus of the forum was the current achievement gap within the school system. 

"Some of the kids feel like they're invisible when they don't meet certain standards," said candidate Theresa Watson. 

The candidates all agreed that the gap in achievement along socio-economic and racial lines is something that needs to be addressed by the school board moving forward.

The candidates addressed other issues including how the school board plans to recruit, keep and train high quality teachers.

"Teacher salary is not fully in our control, so we need to look for other ways to retain teachers," candidate Pat Heinrich said. He suggested creating a culture that teachers don't want to leave is a good place to start. 

Many of the candidates agreed teacher pay is a big issue in recruiting and retaining good teachers. 

"Teachers need more money," Watson said. "Somewhere, we need to find more money to pay teachers so they will not have to opt out and go to Texas."  

A question from the audience asked candidates to address school makeup days after students were required to attend school on a Saturday last year, interfering with some religious practices. 

Candidate Rani Dasi said she would like to see more intentional use of snow makeup days. 

"My kids went to school that day, and they begged to stay home because all they did was watch movies," Dasi said. 

A more humorous question came from a student in the audience: "The school food is gross. So gross. Does anyone have a plan to get higher quality food?" 

Many candidates proposed more sampling of the food by the Board before choosing a provider.

Candidate Gregg Gerdau put forward the idea that the students should have a say in school lunches too. 

"My kids have different tastes than I do," Gerdau said. "The students should give feedback as well." 

Noteable:  

Election day to vote for members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education is Nov. 3.

Quoteable: 

"The minute a child enters the school system, you have to believe that they can excel." — Joal Hall Broun, candidate for the Board of Education

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