Board hopefuls debate at Stevenson High

It didn't take long for a public forum featuring the seven candidates running for the Stevenson High School District 125 board to turn ugly Tuesday night.

Just a few seconds into her introductory remarks in a Stevenson High auditorium, challenger Kathy Powell took shots at the team of incumbents seeking re-election, accusing them of running a smear campaign against her and her political allies.

A time limit prevented Powell from continuing, but the negativity continued with the next speaker, Kim Brady, who's running with Powell and fellow challenger Charles Cardella. Brady said statements being made by his opponents and their supporters are “complete lies.”

The other five candidates took the high road in their introductory statements and talked about their personal histories and their reasons for running for election.

In addition to Powell, Brady and Cardella, four other candidates are running for four seats on the board: incumbents Terry Moons, Bruce Lubin and Merv Roberts, and newcomer David Weisberg. Weisberg is running with the incumbents ahead of the April 5 election.

After the initial negative talk, the rest of the well-attended forum was mostly positive. In questions developed by the school's Political Action Club, the candidates were asked about their favorite high school memories, their stances on rewarding teachers with merit-based pay, school rankings and other issues.

A few questions touched on some of the controversies that have sprung up in the race, particularly a proposal by the challengers to create a formal parental committee that would advise the board on classroom curriculum.

As she's done before, Moons said parents who have an issue with something being taught should speak with the teacher or administrators about their concerns. Lubin — the board's current president — took a similar stance.

“I don't believe parents should be involved in choosing curriculum for their students,” he said, adding that teachers have been trained to make such decisions.

Cardella, however, said parents should have a say on curriculum choices. In addition to supporting a parent committee, he recommended the school hold town hall meetings at which parents can voice concerns about curriculum.

And yet, Cardella finished his answer by saying, “Teachers should choose curriculum. Period.”

A follow-up question asked the candidates about controversial curriculum selections. Cardella and other community members have publicly criticized some of the books on Stevenson's reading lists.

Weisberg said he doesn't have any problems with the materials being taught at Stevenson, while Roberts said he believes “controversial material often stretches our thinking.”