School Board Candidates Mostly Diss Common Core; Mostly Agree With District’s Skit Decision

Candidates for the Natrona County School District board of trustees want high standards for students, but not necessarily the English and math standards known as Common Core, they said at a forum Monday.

"You can't have effective education without (standards)," Toni Billings said at the forum at the Natrona County Public Library. "The idea that it should be identical and be completely unforgiving of various areas, to me, is a problem."

Incumbent David Applegate said the confusion about Common Core begins with a common misunderstanding.

"It's not a federal set of standards, it was developed by a group of different associations that don't have a federal connection," Applegate said. "Unfortunately the feds then supported it and tied grants to it, and I don't think that helps us at all."

The English and math standards themselves are rigorous, he said. The state board of education, not the federal government, adopts standards and the local school districts craft the curriculum, he said.

Debbie McCullar, an English teacher, agrees with the needs for high standards, but Common Core wasn't developed by subject matter. She reviewed Common Core when she served on the executive committee of the National Council of Teachers of English, but the committee's recommendations to improve the program were not adopted, she said.

Dr. Clark Jensen invoked the 10th Amendment, saying the all powers and authorities not specifically given to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved to the states and to the people. "Education constitutionally rests with the states and the people, and should, but it doesn't right now."

Billings, McCullar, Applegate and Jensen are four of the five candidates running for four-year terms in the Nov. 4 general election. The fifth candidate, Mark Slaten, did not attend.

McCullar has been an English teacher for more than 35 years, estimated she's taught 5,000 students, and oversaw student visits to Taiwan for six years.

Jensen is an optometrist and has had nine children graduate from Natrona County Schools. He was an organizer of the unsuccessful bond issue placed before the voters in May.

Billings was a teacher for 22 years, loved the children, but began to feel a change in the way she was appreciated for her work toward the end of her career.

Applegate, an engineer, was elected four years ago and is the current chairman of the board of trustees

He was involved in the aftermath of a controversial skit -- replete with ribald jokes about themselves and other staff, sexuality, and a serial killer -- presented during a at Natrona County High School on Aug.25. After complaints, the district launched an investigation, placed principal Dean Kelly on administrative leave, announced the discipline of unnamed staff members. Kelly resigned from his post on Sept. 17, saying he would receive another position in the district.

All the candidates said the skit was inappropriate.

Superintendent Steve Hopkins brought the matter before the trustees and weighed matters including the severity of the event, statutory requirements, and work agreements with staff, he said. And he made the right decision, Applegate said.

McCullar agreed with Applegate's assessment.

Jensen said teachers should be role models, and believed Hopkins made the right decision.

Billings, however, said the due process was appropriate, but teachers or principals engaging in unethical behavior should not be rewarded with a promotion or another job.

"I do feel like there are times when there is no option other than, if the severity of the situation is such, that I feel the person should be terminated and should not be protected," she said.