PORT ANGELES — Two of three candidates running for a Port Angeles School District Board position participated in a forum hosted by the Port Angeles Business Association.
Incumbent Sarah Methner and challenger Kim Butler shared similar positions on the goals of public education, but they offered different strategies for achieving them on Tuesday at Jazzy Joshua’s.
The third candidate for Position 1, Ruth Replogle, was unable to attend the event. Ned Hammar announced on June 1 that he was withdrawing from the race, although his name will still appear on the Aug. 5 primary ballots that will be mailed July 16.
Methner is the longest-serving member of the current five-member board, having first been elected in the 2009 general election. She moved to Port Angeles 26 years ago, and all four of her children attended district schools.
Methner pointed to the establishment of all-day kindergarten, the partnership with North Olympic Healthcare Network to deliver primary medical care and behavior health services to schools with its mobile health clinic and a voter-approved capital levy and bond that will result in three new schools by 2029 among the achievements during her tenure.
“I believe in public education,” Methner said. “It teaches students what our society needs them to know.”
Butler moved to Port Angeles three years ago from Denver, Colo., after retiring as nutritional director at Denver Public Schools.
Butler said her focus is to build foundational skills in elementary school and actively engage with parents to improve district attendance numbers and raise test scores, particularly in math.
“Because parents are the primary stakeholders in their children’s lives, the school district needs significant parent involvement,” Butler said. “They need to be in the driver’s seat in getting the students to class and ready to learn, to help with homework. The district is the backup to the parent.”
Among Butler’s suggestions for improving academic performance and boosting test scores were more homework, especially in elementary schools, implementing different curricula and establishing summer boot camps.
“Let’s move some teacher schedules to the summer and mentor and teach high-risk students,” Butler said.
Methner said the district recently changed its math curriculum and it is having a measurable impact.
Teacher contracts outline work days and the work year, she added.
The past school year has been a difficult one financially for the district, Methner said, with deep across-the-board cuts that were hard on teachers and staff. However, its fund balance is back to where it needs to be ,and the district won’t have to borrow money, which at one point it considered.
She said she wants to get the message out just how critical revenue from DNR timber sales are to the district. Pauses on timber harvests have a significant impact on school funding.
“Trees are a renewable resource,” Methner said. “It’s a real problem.”
Butler said she is unfamiliar with the state’s trust land timber program, but the district needs to seek out alternative funding sources.
“The money is out there in endowments and grants — from Microsoft and Boeing,” Butler said. “I know the community is strapped.”
________
Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
