SEQUIM — Only one of three candidates for the Sequim School District was present for a candidate forum on Sunday, where the lone candidate fielded questions on the implementation of Common Core standards.
Candidate Heather Short was present. Candidates William Payne and Charles Meyer sent representatives.
Candidate representatives did not take part in the question-and-answer portion of the forum, but read introductory statement and final statements.
About 50 audience members attended the forum — one in a series of candidate forums hosted Sunday by the League of Women Voters at the Shipley Center, 921 E. Hammond St.
Two of the three candidates to fill the seat of departing board member Walter Johnson will be selected in the Aug. 4 primary and move on to the November general election.
Short is a veterinarian, owner of the Sequim Animal Hospital, and the mother of two children enrolled in the district, including a newly enrolled kindergarten student.
In her introduction, she said she has suggested that School Board meetings be held in the various school buildings, where parents would be more comfortable and less intimidated by the official meeting room in the district offices.
She said she hopes to help the district design a bond measure voters would accept to fund updates and expansions needed at district buildings.
Voters rejected propsoed bond measures in April 2104 and in February this year.
In answer to a question, Short said that Common Core standards have been implemented across the nation and that the only option for a local school board is to select its choice of curriculum that meets the requirements.
Payne — father of four children in the district, former Clallam County prosecuting attorney and current private practice attorney — said that he was uniquely qualified for the school board in an introduction read by Stephanie Hyatt.
In the statement, Payne said he wants to find an online option for non-traditional education options, complete the all-day kindergarten funding and implementation, and work toward the full funding of the State Supreme Court’s McCleary decision, which requires the state to fund kindergarten through the 12th grade education to the court’s satisfaction by 2018.
Meyer is a retired U.S. Air Force officer whose children are each college graduates, said a statement read by Ed Tulloch.
In the statement, Meyer said the School Board must address district challenges within its limited resources.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladaily
news.com.
