Batavia school candidates talk money, classrooms

Five people want to have a say in how Batavia Unit District 101 educates children.

And because board member Jason Stoops is not seeking re-election, at least one of the four people elected April 4 will be a new voice.

Incumbents Sue Locke, Jon Gaspar and Tina Bleakley are seeking their second full 4-year terms on the board. Also running are Bob Baty-Barr and Bill McGrail.

One of the first jobs they will face is figuring out how to fill a $1.2 million deficit in fiscal year 2017-18.

"I'm for putting anything on the table," except increasing class sizes, Gaspar said. Class size "does make such a difference, especially at the lower levels," he said.

Locke agreed. "I don't care if it is the electricity (bill), if it is the (class) scheduling, if it is the administration, cutting an administrator ... wherever you can find some savings," Locke said.

Baty-Barr said he would be loath to cut extracurriculars "because they make the whole child."

And Bleakley noted that no matter what the board does, "we are going to upset someone. We are going to upset the staff, we are going to upset the community, someone is going to be upset."

The Batavia Education Association, which represents teachers, asked candidates if they supported asking residents, via referendum, to pay more taxes for operating costs.

McGrail said he couldn't say "yes" or "no," because there are too many unknown factors, such as if the state will freeze local property taxes. Gaspar, Baty-Barr and Bleakley agreed.

"If the cards are lined up against us where there is no new money coming in, I wouldn't be against it (a referendum). But it is probably not the best idea to go to this town and ask them for more money," McGrail said.

"I'm not in favor. I don't think the town would support it," Locke said. Even asking would likely generate a lot of ill-will toward the district, she said.

And that ill-will likely would be expressed on social media. Baty-Barr and McGrail regularly post on Facebook pages such as "We Love Batavia." Locke and Bleakley do so less often, and Gaspar doesn't use social media.

Programs

Baty-Barr is particularly interested in focusing on the mental health of schoolchildren and increasing emphasis on social and emotional needs.

"We have to be here for the kids first," he said. He worries the emphasis on the results of state-mandated standardized testing turns educators into "teacherbots," teaching only what is measured on the tests.

Gaspar said he thinks students are taking too many standardized tests.

"Your teachers are your best evaluators for assessment," he said. "I think freedom needs to go back to the classroom teachers."

One of the hottest requests from parents has been for the district to have full-day kindergarten for all students.

The district had it from 2001 to 2010, when part of the cost was paid for by the state. When that funding ended, Batavia dropped full-day kindergarten, offering instead half-day "enrichment" programs that charged tuition.

All the candidates favor having full-day kindergarten for every student. "It makes no sense to me to go to full-day preschool, then half-day kindergarten," Gaspar said.

But they also all said the district can't afford it.

"The board has talked and tried to come up with something. ... Quite a bit of thought and emotion and research was put in to it," Bleakley said.

"I'm for it (full-day kindergarten), but I understand the cost," McGrail said.