Q&A with four Kent School Board candidates on Aug. 1 primary ballot

Four Kent School Board candidates are on the Aug. 1 primary ballot as three of them challenge incumbent Leslie Hamada.

The two candidates with the most votes will advance to the Nov. 7 general election.

This story is courtesy of Allison Riley, who compiled a Q&A with the four candidates for the KSD Discussion Group’s Facebook page. Hamada, Lizz Morgan, Stephanie Lawson and Donald Cook each responded.

Leslie Hamada

• Why are you running for school board? Please describe your understanding of the role of the school board as well as your qualifications to be on the board.

I am running for reelection on the same platform I started with sound fiscal oversight transparency communication and work toward the words we value as a district excellence and equity to become a reality.

The role of the board director is to follow all Washington state laws—-which I took an oath to in 2019. Work to set policies that reflect our district’s values. Hire and fire and oversee the district’s superintendent, and bring the voice of my constituents to the superintendent to hear and follow-up on as he or she or whatever gender they identify with is in charge of operations, procedures, and staff. In addition, I took on the added responsibility of getting my WSSDA Leadership certificate in 2022 in the various classes and readings that I had to participate around the state.

Qualifications:

College educated. Thirty-two years of successful career in communications and marketing, including working public affairs for a television station, writing for a major newspaper, and territorial management of a large national company where I had oversight over many employees and huge budgets. In addition, I have held leadership positions in PTAs in three different districts and in 2022 received the Outstanding Service Award from the Kent Area Council 9.7 PTSA and the Kent Meridian High School Most Supporting Advocate and Volunteer in 2021-2022. I have served over the years on many committees in the Kent School District and worked with the administration in many projects.

• What does the board need to do in order to regain trust and confidence within the community?

Continue to put into action the value words Equity Excellence and Communication. Keep working hard to increase the learning skills and well-being of students and staff.

• What is the first thing you plan to do if you’re elected to restore credibility and trust in the board with the teachers and the public?

Continue to work at this position as a job which I have for almost 4 years. Continue to push for interest-based bargaining however, that takes more than one party to heal and work toward it as your staff is extremely important as they are in the field everyday with our students carrying out all the policies, procedures, and professional learning techniques. Continue to fight for more dollars from the state to help our special education students and re-do their educational model so it reflects what schools “today” actually need for all the tasks they are asked to do which has dramatically increased through the years. Continue my involvement in the equity council and the native American tribes and my role as legislative representative to fight for our kids.

• A primary responsibility of the school board is to establish and oversee the budget. In your own words, what does it mean to “oversee a budget” and what is your understanding of school district funding?

Have an understanding of costs going out and dollars coming into our district.

Prioritize where our community wants to have the dollars spent. The primary amount of the budget is about 80% staff costs so maintaining that at the highest level we can afford and stay within our means “overtime” is the crux. In all levels that shows our staff we value them. In the last recent contract negotiations, our board as a whole gave priorities and that was to keep competitive with our surrounding districts. We did that. Watching the costs of contracts and building costs and if necessary, overruns. Forecasting what is ahead for the future.

• Please identify the top 5 needs for the district.

Seeing continual progress in each school’s School Improvement plans

Keeping our schools safe

Establishing a welcoming environment where “all” students feel included

Providing the resources needed for special education to succeed

Developing a long-range plan for capital improvements that is sustainable

• Over the next year, how do you want the board to work to address and meet those needs?

Monitor and evaluate the superintendent’s evaluation closely (in 2022-2023 we took a lot deeper dive into making this work as a board).

Making sure the budget is there for safety needs as has been in the past.

Professional training in equity and bias is available for staff and monitoring it.

Personally, as I did in 2023 fight for legislative dollars for our kids as I testified in person and online and followed all those bills carefully. In addition, I worked with my partners of WSSDA to bring this as a priority.

We need more capital funding and we need to do a better job of getting it out to the community the need and allowing more input to get those funds.

• What are some of the best practices you’ve seen in other districts, and how will you work to bring things like that to life in KSD?

Some of the best practices I have seen were in Vancouver School District area where they worked for years to put together huge district wide and state financed CTE Center where students actually received a cosmetology license out of high school. They got on hands experience working toward nursing requirements and even beginning pilots training on assimilators.

Projects like this require huge support beyond any one school board member. But getting more partnerships with our community partners could be a slow start and we already are doing that. I, personally am out networking with the Chamber, Rotary, and Kiwanis and other organizations looking for opportunities for businesses to be involved in Kent Schools.

• Who do you consider stakeholders in decision making?

That is a pretty broad statement, decision making in what?

Staff of course and those are governed by contracts.

Community as these are public schools: parents, teachers, administrators, voters, business, government leaders

Students- our customers that we are there to serve

• As a Board Director, how will you involve those stakeholders in the decision-making process?

Listen and communicate as I have done ongoingly. Answer emails, phone calls, and be available in person or via TEAMS or Zoom. Go out into the community where they are at.

• Please describe the extent to which you have direct experience with any of the following: attending or viewing KSD School Board meetings (in-person or watching online) and/or giving public comment (in-person or via the online public comment submission form). If you are a current Board Director, what was your involvement prior to being a Board Director?

Attended in person or on Zoom Board Meetings for 4 years as Board director.

Prior experience: Executive officer for PTA in 3 different districts for many years. Current members of several PTAs in KSD. Mentored in Communities of School in Kent-7 years. Served on many KSD committees over the years. Served on School Improvement Team Kent Meridian High School. Partnered with the City of Kent and KSD to run an amateur boxing program which my husband and I founded and were never paid to run for 7 years.

Implemented a partnership with Kent Meridian High School and my church KUMC to help supply needs in their HUB. The program has run for over 5 years and continues. Helped keep I-Grad in the KSD with many others.

• A primary responsibility of the board is to review, revise, and adopt policies. Do you feel the school board should follow all policies?

Yes

• What experience, knowledge, or training do you have around special education law? In what ways do you believe the school board can support or improve the delivery of appropriate special education services to students?

This is an area I have just been learning more about. Yes, I have a general knowledge and have been reading data. I want to be more involved as of the last 6 months understanding our particular avenue of delivery of those services in Kent. I was able to see some curriculum at Pine Tree Elementary Program which we purchased 2 years ago and heard from the staff that the parents liked it and the staff liked it and our students took to it well. I saw how age dividing seemed to be appropriate in that building yet, the new model the district is coming up with is different. I will be visiting those programs in the fall of 2023 to see how that is working. I have learned that our educators would like to build relationships with their educational leaders more instead of the computer ticket method, and that is not the direction our administration has chosen to go so I will again be visiting these sites to see if the changes work or are not working well for our educators and students. I have been online to some state meetings on Dyslexia and just learning how all that works.

• How will you address the needs of all students?

My job is to focus on again Washington State laws and mandates in education. Make sure our policies are updated and working for this community. Looking at every program and budget and situation with an equity lens.

• What is the best way to address differences of opinion on the board and between the board and school district administration?

A variety of data, perspectives, and opinions leads to the best product. It is healthy and good. However, after everything has been examined and discussed decisions have to be made and board does that by your vote. It is important that each person is respected when that has been done regardless of the outcome. The focus needs to be our students not the personalities of board directors or staff.

The board director’s role is clearly defined and the Superintendent roles are defined. Keeping to them clear in what takes place is paramount to running a good school district.

• Imagine a hypothetical situation where you were presented with information regarding a resolution, the board acted on the resolution, and then later it was determined that the initial presentation was incorrect or misleading. How would you react, and what actions, if any, would you take?

I cannot speak about a hypothetical situation as the answer could vary widely. However, again, I personally follow the laws that I swore an oath to uphold. I care deeply about my community and how I conduct my everyday life regardless of what hat I wear. From years of being in a stressful situation in my personal life and professional life I keep myself in check and always act professionally. I am an advocate by nature but in that advocacy, I have always focused on issues not individuals or attacking their character or lives. Our kids are watching us and we are the role models. Board directors are human and can make mistakes and yes, we need to be accountable for them. Change can take time and it can get hard on the journey but our kids are worth the fight. As a board director or as a grandmother, mother, citizen I will remain involved to make my community and the children in our schools lives better.

Lizz Morgan

• Why are you running for school board? Please describe your understanding of the role of the school board as well as your qualifications to be on the board.

During the strike in the fall of 2022, and even before, I have felt that the current board is consistently letting the students, teachers and staff, and the parents and community down. I realized that I could just sit back and continue to complain, but that would do nothing to make any changes. Instead, I decided I needed to get out of my comfort zone, and try to effect a positive change for my child, and my community.

School board members are the chosen spokespersons for the community to help the schools within a district perform better. It is imperative that the members listen to the voices of the community that voted them into office. Members need to be open to discussion, team players working together to solve problems, create the budget, set the mission and vision of education for the district as well as adopting policies that best serve the district and community.

The role of the school board is also to oversee the superintendent. To hire when required, ensure that the contract is being fulfilled, and to hold him or her accountable to the community that voted those board members in.

I feel that as a member of the KSD community I am qualified to run for a board member position due to my experience working with the public and students of all ages, first as a page at the Covington Library for several years, then later as a classroom volunteer. Community service has been an important aspect of my life, and I can see no greater community service than working to improve our district. I am president of my neighborhood HOA, and have experience networking between the neighborhood community and the management company that oversees the day to day. I was also the Advancement Chair during my son’s time as a Cub Scout. I think the most important qualification is being a part of the community, being open to listening to the different voices of the community and working as a whole to make the best decisions possible for the students, teachers, and staff.

• What does the board need to do in order to regain trust and confidence within the community? What is the first thing you plan to do if you’re elected to restore credibility and trust in the board with the teachers and the public?

Trust is something that is hard to regain after it’s lost. As a parent, I experience this when my son makes an error in judgement, and it takes time to repair. Unfortunately, we can’t ground the school board, or make them write an apology letter! I think the first step to regain trust and confidence within the community is change. Get new people on the board, like myself, who have the interests of the students, teachers, staff, and community, at the forefront of their agenda. Personally, I feel that the community has lost its voice with the current board, so opening up communication, feeling that my voice was heard, would be HUGE for me as a stakeholder, in regaining and rebuilding trust. It’s been said over and over, but there is a complete lack of transparency between the board and the community and that needs to end! If I am elected, I will be rebuilding communication and accountability. It all comes down to open communication, active listening, taking action based on those conversations, and being open and honest about why decisions are made.

For a personal budget, you take your net income, track your expenses, to determine how much discretionary funds you have, make goals, such as paying off debt, saving for a new vehicle or vacation, adjust your spending to reach those goals, and assess your budget regularly. It is similar for a business or association, but, naturally, on a larger scale. School district funding in Washington comes from four different places; Federal government, State government, local tax payer, and additional fees. In addition, there are different rules and regulations on how certain funds may and must be used.

• Please identify the top 5 needs for the district. Over the next year, how do you want the board to work to address and meet those needs?

1. Transparency and communication to the community is essential to engage family and community support to keep the needs of our students as our central focus.

-Being open and listening to voices in our community with an open mind, and bringing the ideas and concerns to the board table

2. Investing in our educators is paramount to success in education. Work is needed towards hiring and retaining not just educators, but all staff that makes a school run smoothly, from Paraeducators, nurses, food service, clerical, custodial, etc.

-Working towards interest based bargaining, because supporting the teachers and staff is crucial to being able to hire and keep amazing staff. Budgeting for increases in salary that meet the demands and needs of living in today’s world, and providing the necessary benefits that will prevent staff burnout.

3. Preparing and supporting students for future achievement by providing enriching learning experiences for all ages, levels and abilities as well as preserving and expanding programs such as music, art, theater and sports.

-Working with different groups to review, recommend, select, and adopt a curriculum that will support learning. Ensuring that all the diverseness of our community is reflected in the curriculum, and that our students have the opportunity to learn from each other as well. Support larger music, arts and sports programs, and make certain to provide proper funding and resources so these programs and opportunities are available to all students regardless of socio-economic status.

4. Ensuring that our schools are a place of safety, with increased access to social, emotional, and mental health support for all students and staff, as well as physical safety within the schools.

-Making it a priority within the budget to provide these services, and working with staff to find solutions to these issues.

5. Cooperation among administration, school board and unions, in their respective roles, to focus on the needs of the district and a budget that supports the schools’ needs.

-Working toward better communication, transparency and team work as a whole. Again, working toward interest based bargaining, as that is based on each group coming together working towards the best interests of all and building goodwill, instead of an Us versus Them situation.

• What are some of the best practices you’ve seen in other districts, and how will you work to bring things like that to life in KSD?

Free lunch programs, community supported calendars, smaller classroom sizes, better pay for teachers and staff, staff that is well supported.

Making improvements is a collaborative effort, and with support and communication from the community, I will voice and champion efforts to bring better practices to KSD. I will research and present ideas to the Board to make improvements to better serve the district and community.

• Who do you consider stakeholders in decision making? As a Board Director, how will you involve those stakeholders in the decision making process?

Stakeholders are students, teachers/staff, parents, businesses, and everyone living within the Kent/Covington area. As a board director I will invite open communication via email, phone, one-on-one meetings, group meetings, whatever the community feels is needed for our voices to be heard.

I have watched many of the recent year’s board meetings online. I have not had any in person experience, or any experience giving public comment.

• A primary responsibility of the board is to review, revise, and adopt policies. Do you feel the school board should follow all policies?

The board should absolutely follow all policies; however, the policies need to be for the good of the district and community. If a policy is no longer properly serving, it needs to be reviewed and revised.

Special education services are there to provide students with disabilities equal opportunities and the chance to learn in the ways most conducive to them so they can thrive to the best of their abilities. My son has an IEP to help with language arts. We have been very pleased with the support he has been getting for the last four years. Seeing the progress he has made both in person and on paper has been incredible and his confidence has grown in leaps and bounds. Making sure that the schools have all the resources necessary to build and grow the special education services is vital to greater success of our students.

The best way I can think of the school board supporting and improving special education services is by making sure that special education funding is going to the special education services. If it remains unclear, then it might be time to have an independent auditor come in.

• How will you address the needs of all students?

Be active in the schools and extracurricular activities, talking and listening to students and staff. Listen to feedback from the community, and ask questions.

• What is the best way to address differences of opinion on the board and between the board and school district administration?

With open communication, and listening to comprehend, not respond.

Based on the new information, I would insist that the matter be looked into again, and a possible new resolution made.

Stephanie Lawson

• Why are you running for school board? Please describe your understanding of the role of the school board as well as your qualifications to be on the board.

I am running because I see a need for a parent that understands what kids need now. I have volunteered with kids for close to 17 years now and I hear from the kids themselves. I also hear from the parents. I am worried about the future of our students. I had to advocate hard for my sons and I learned that most parents do not know what they can ask for when they need help for their student.

My understanding of this role

Help govern the responsibilities of the district. Overseeing operations and policies of the district. Set Policies, Hiring and Evaluating Leadership, Budget Oversight, Community Engagement, Accountability, Advocacy, and long term planning.

Start over. Be transparent. Let the community speak. Create more of a community so people can be heard. I have emailed the current board and never received a response. The last couple of board members have not been great at making community a priority.

The first thing I want to do is have an open forum to hear people and understand their concerns. I am not sure how that will work exactly. But I really want to sit down and hear students, parents, teachers, and para educators. I want to know what they need from us. They voted us in so I am here for them.

Each student gets dollars from federal, state, local taxes and grants. All based on their education need if they need inclusive education or not.

Overseeing the budget is a significant role as a board member. We will decided how funds are allocated and ensure that resources are appropriately distributed amount schools and programs.

• Please identify the top 5 needs for the district. Over the next year, how do you want the board to work to address and meet those needs?

Give the community its voice back.

Look at budget for the district executives to determine if this is a are still needed.

Look at our needs of the teachers so they have support needed.

Inclusive education why are we not able to support students in the district?

Why are we losing so many students?

We have to work together and start with giving the voice back to community.

• What are some of the best practices you’ve seen in other districts, and how will you work to bring things like that to life in KSD?

Collaborative learning and professional development -encourage a culture of collaboration among teachers and staff. Provide ongoing opportunities for PD to keep educators up to date on best practices, new teaching methods, and tech integrations.

Data Driven Decision making – Using the data to make decisions for our curriculum, instruction, and student support. Regularly evaluate the data to show what’s working and what needs change.

Sustainable budget Develop a sustainable budget.

There is more but let’s start here.

• Who do you consider stakeholders in decision making? As a Board Director, how will you involve those stakeholders in the decision-making process?

Stakeholders are the whole community. I will ask questions and respond to questions.

I have emailed the board so many times in the last 11 years. I have advocated asking for help for my students and other students, Public comment in person, Public comment on line, Watched on line. Mostly about student rights and needs. Then about programs and support for teachers and students.

• The primary responsibility of the board is to review, revise, and adopt policies. Do you feel the school board should follow all policies?

Yes.

I have advocated for the special education needs of our students. Free and appropriate public education rights have been a big part of why I went to the board. I think the board has a responsibility to make sure the right programs are in place. We need to make sure our students’ needs are being met with the data provided.

• How will you address the needs of all students?

That is a very big question. I will do my best to listen and hear what is needed. I have advocated for students for a long time and see the needs of students being pushed aside for the purpose of budget. I want to change that.

• What is the best way to address differences of opinion on the board and between the board and school district administration?

Communicate and find the data to give us the best information. Then take it to the community to get feedback. Teachers or students or families or all.

Make it public as soon as possible. Look for a solution of the problem that is more fitting for the situation. A mistake behind closed doors is not a healthy way to run a public agency.

Donald Cook

• Why are you running for school board? Please describe your understanding of the role of the school board as well as your qualifications to be on the board.

I am a disabled veteran of the United States Air Force currently working as a project manager at Comcast. I have a bachelor’s degree in Network Administration and Security from Green River College that I received in 2019. I am a board member of my daughters’ school PTA (they both attend Kent Schools along with my wife who teaches in the district).

I am running for this position because I believe I can bring open and honest communication within the school board, to district administrators and staff, and to the community at large. I will work to make this district the absolute best it can be. My children are 5th generation KSD students with my great grandmother having graduated from Kent High School in 1939, my mother and grandmother graduated from Kent Meridian High School and I graduated from Kentlake High School in 1999.

After watching the district the past decade or so become more and more detached from the community, I want to change that. I believe if we work together we can make this district a place where parents want to bring their students and teachers want to work.

My understanding of the role of school board director is that we provide the checks and balances by way of employee reviews for the superintendent as well as setting policy for the district as a whole.

The board needs to be far more transparent with the choices they make and their reasoning for doing so. Once that is provided the board will need to continually provide that transparency with all decisions made. The first thing I plan on doing is to work with the current Board members and superintendent to change the policies to reflect the goal of being a district that is open and honest with its choices and how they were made. I believe this one action will start the district and board on the journey towards trust and credibility.

Overseeing a budget in my understanding would be to provide guidance on how funding should be spent and to keep the district on track regarding our community’s values and aspirations. My understanding of school district funding is such that the district is, first and foremost, providing an equitable learning environment for all students who are placed in their charge. Once we have resolved the many issues in the district’s equitable learning environment to include, but certainly not limited to, special education, English language learners, and the safety and well-being of all our students, we can then start to look at the non-essential items the district proposes we spend our tax dollars on.

• Please identify the top 5 needs for the district. Over the next year, how do you want the board to work to address and meet those needs?

1. Open communication with the community.

2. Hiring and retaining of special education teachers and para-educators.

3. Mental health support for both students and staff.

4. Providing adequate learning environments that meet the safety and well-being requirements of our students and staff to include but not limited to HVAC system upgrades (with air purification secondary to the heating and cooling needs being provided for) and upgraded security in every building to provide a safe learning environment for both.

5. Modifying the bond measure to include only those things that are a necessity for the district to meet its obligations in regards to all of the above issues. Once those needs have been met we should have multiple open forums to discern what is important to our community so we can appropriately ask for additional funding for those programs.

• What are some of the best practices you’ve seen in other districts, and how will you work to bring things like that to life in KSD?

The Auburn School District has been on a long term plan of replacing all buildings in need of extensive repairs instead of constantly providing band aids for whatever new issue arises. Many of our nearby districts also provide for free lunch (and preferably breakfast) to all students, removing the stigma of being a student receiving that assistance.

I am also impressed with interest based bargaining that other districts use to make sure the bargaining done with our many labor unions is done in a way that provides the best outcomes for both the district and the labor unions together instead of starting to bargain at the last minute to create a false need of urgency while increasing the likelihood of strikes.

• Who do you consider stakeholders in decision making? As a Board Director, how will you involve those stakeholders in the decision making process?

The stakeholders are the students, constituents, and staff in that order. In providing a more open and honest communication strategy with these groups, we will alleviate much of the animosity we are currently battling within the district. I believe the board can be far more communicative on the issues that are brought to them and hope to encourage these changes. Although we will never be able to make everyone happy all the time with the choices made, having a better understanding of how that decision was made will go a long way towards creating a trusting and supportive environment with our community.

I have often watched many of the board meetings virtually and more recently I have made the effort to be in-person at these meetings so I am able to speak to the issues brought up by the board, community and staff. I have requested input from this group as well as the public at large so I am kept informed of what is important to the community at large.

• A primary responsibility of the board is to review, revise, and adopt policies. Do you feel the school board should follow all policies?

The board should absolutely follow all policies and if they find the policies are no longer appropriate, they should be communicating this information to the public and seek the community’s input as to how we should change those policies. There should never be a time where the board is just ignoring existing policies prior to changing them to reflect the current needs of the students, community, and staff.

I am aware of the district’s need to provide a quality education to all students regardless of their background or abilities. Being a member of the disabled community myself (I am a disabled combat veteran of the United States Air Force), I believe I have a unique understanding of the needs of our disabled populace. I believe the board sets the tone for how the district interprets their duties in regards to our special education community and as such has a leading role in the choices the district makes.

• How will you address the needs of all students?

I believe we should always be looking both forward to where we want the district to be regarding students needs but also looking back to see if the policies and procedures previously put in place accomplished the intended goal and if not, why not. If we do both of those things we will have outcomes that better match our objectives and will be better able to adjust our policies and procedures when necessary.

• What is the best way to address differences of opinion on the board and between the board and school district administration?

The best way to address differences of opinion is with constant communication within the board as well as with the district. When there is a discrepancy between the board’s and administration’s opinions the administration needs to defer to the guidance provided by the board. The purpose of the board is to provide that guidance and often it seems they are not provided the proper respect for the positions they hold. As the elected officials overseeing the district they are the voice of our citizen’s and should be treated with the utmost respect by all district employees, especially by the superintendent as her/his actions set the tone for the rest of the administration.

My reaction and the actions I would take in such a situation would wholly depend on why the information was incorrect or misleading.

If the person providing the information chose to mislead with the intention of pushing a particular agenda, that would require disciplinary action up to and including termination for cause.

If the information was incorrect due to another reason (i.e. the information was incorrect due to an honest mistake or was out of the control of the person(s) presenting it) then we would need to adjust our policies and procedures to address the discrepancy and provide another more appropriate option for gathering the required information (possibly using a different option altogether if we believe the initial presenter is incapable of rectifying the situation).

Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.