The message to four incumbents running for re-election in the Harrisburg school board primary is clear: seven challengers are coming for your seats.
The townhall style debate held at Choice Community Christian Church Saturday drew a smaller crowd than Thursday’s debate held in Midtown at HMAC, but that didn’t change the tone of the gathering. About two dozen Harrisburg residents wrote their questions down for the challengers to answer.
And, the questions keep coming.
All seven candidates answered five questions Thursday, and six questions were asked Saturday, during an estimated 90-minute period. POWER, an interfaith organization committed to building communities of opportunity that work for all, hosted both HMAC and Choice Community Christian Church debates.
Yvette Davis, deputy director, shared the same nine-minute presentation with attendees that was shown Thursday at HMAC. It was a summary of how Pennsylvania’s newly implemented fair funding formula has a “flawed narrative.”
If 100 percent of the state funding were implemented, instead of the current 11 percent, it would create equitable funding, not equal funding, Davis emphasized. Harrisburg School District could see an additional $39 million if lawmakers pass House Bill 961, she explained.
She said her organization is backing the bill, which would revamp the formula and release those funds. All seven candidates said they would support the bill.
One of the questions posed to the seven Saturday night: what would you do with that money? Each of them explained they’d vote for that money to go directly to those who most need it, meaning teachers and students would see it in some form. Candidates cited, for example, better facilities, classroom supplies, innovative technology, and teacher retention.
POWER will supply answers to questions candidates were unable to answer due to time constraints, debate moderator Brandon Flood said. It will either be on POWER’s website, or its social media pages, the newly appointed state secretary of the Board of Pardons said.
Each of the seven candidates have consistently said they are running because the children of Harrisburg deserve a world-class, challenging, and reliable education, but there is no proof that that type of education is happening now.
The primary ballot will allow registered voters to select five candidates. Flood reminded everyone in the audience that Monday, April 22 is the last day to register to vote in the May 21 primary.
School board challengers Jayne Buchwach, Gerald Welch, Doug Thompson-Leader, Jim Thompson, Cory X. Williams, Steve Williams and Lewis Butts, Jr., have attended three community events, including the two debates. Neither Ralph Rodriguez, also a challenger, nor incumbents Lionel Gonzalez, Lola Lawson, Patricia Whitehead-Myers and Ellis Roy have attended any of the three recent community events.
All 12 candidates were invited to the debates.
The questions presented to prospective board members, included:
- What contributions are you currently making to this community that you want to incorporate as a school board director should you be elected?
- What will you do if elected to change the lack of community engagement and parent involvement?
- What will you do to ensure cultural diversity, and racial competency?
- What are your plans to institute some type of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum into district schools?
- And, what is your assessment of current Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney:
Gerald Welch: If Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney were evaluated like most professionals, she would be fired, he said. He emphasized that he would have a working relationship with her, but based on current educational and financial metrics, “she’s gotta go,” he said.
Jayne Buchwach: She said she’s worried about the district’s “continual failure," and that Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney has a “coldness.” She said it’s about time that Knight-Burney give the public what it really wants to know in her school board reports, which is where the district stands academically, and financially.
Cory X Williams: “I think she’s a very nice woman,” Williams said. However, he added, her contract would definitely have to be reviewed. “I want to come on the board and break up all the cronyism.” If elected, he would want to cut all administrative pay until the district finds out what’s going on with money and why it’s not being spent on the children. He said he thinks district residents, and leaders, have been “too nice."
Lewis Butts, Jr.: “We all know that she’s caused problems,” Butts said. He said if he were elected, he’d work with her. While he said he think’s she’s a failure right now, with his help, he said, he could possibly help the school district to succeed.
Steven Williams: The only occupation, Williams joked, he thought that could repeatedly be wrong and make mistakes was the weatherman, and still be employed. The district thinks the board works for them, when in fact the district works for us, he said. If elected, he said, he’d avoid infighting and work collaboratively to accomplish meaningful tasks.
Jim Thompson: Until the district establishes an evaluation form that the district adheres to in a timely fashion, she shouldn’t be treated as a serious superintendent. Knight-Burney’s list of accomplishments isn’t sterling, noting problems she’s had with teachers and the union, he said.
Doug Thompson-Leader: The district isn’t evaluating Superintendent Knight-Burney accurately, Thompson-Leader said. He said there are five school board members who are allowing the district to get away with not evaluating the superintendent based on state school code standards. He said if elected he would look at policies, and follow the right process to make sure the district’s top leader is performing her duties.
