This November, Vanderburgh County residents have a chance to remake the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) Board of Trustees — or keep the three contested seats the same.
There is one At-Large seat on the board. An At-Large member can reside anywhere within the school district — unlike the other contested race in District 2.
Residents across Vanderburgh County will be able to vote for one of these at-large trustee candidates in November, and the other contested race for two seats in District 2. WNIN is covering that race in a separate upcoming story.
Incumbent At-Large Trustee Melissa Moore is defending her seat from four other candidates. She is a nearly 10-year Navy veteran, mother and grandmother.
She’s a pastor at Greater Hope Church in Evansville. Moore said she’s running again to be a voice and sounding board for the community, and continue her work, especially since she said it takes time to get acclimated to the role in general.
First priorities include, “… increasing of literacy scores, education, reading, being that voice for the educators, for the families, just being that go-to person, if you will, that people know that they can trust and depend on, because I've been proven to be a leader in those spaces.”
She’s running as a non-partisan candidate even though she’s a registered Democrat.
She said her position is about being an advocate for the students and staff — not a political party.
“Wanting to make sure that I show up for the students, for the families, and for the communities because the work continues to be done.”
The Vanderburgh County Republican Party has criticized the County Democrats for supporting Moore, even though she’s running as a non-partisan candidate.
Melissa Moore interview transcript
AI generated with light editing, redundant questions removed
Tim Jagielo
Tell me about yourself and tell me about your time on the board so far in your first term.
Melissa Moore
My name is Melissa Moore. I am running for re-election for EVSC School Board at-large seat. A little bit about myself — I am a native of this wonderful city, born. Raised in Evansville, graduated from the Benjamin Bosse High School. Go Bulldogs! I am a veteran of the United States Navy. I am a pastor. I am a life coach. I am a mother. I am a grandmother or a ‘nana,’ as my grandchildren call me, which I truly hold dear and dear to my heart.
But I will tell you, serving on this board has allowed me to advocate, to advocate for the students, to be a voice for the families, to make sure that our communities are there to support one another in probably one of the most needed spaces, and that is education. Making sure that I'm that voice and doing the work that I stated that I would do, and I've been trusted to do.
TJ
Why are you running again?
MM
So I'm running again because the work is not done. Of course, year number one, or I should say the first year, if you will, of a seat is always about getting yourself acclimated to policies and procedures and the laws and all of the good things that encompasses that. Though you would think that in four years or almost four years that you can learn everything, things change, and so now the work truly begins. Continue to be a voice. Continue to advocate. Continue to show up. Continue to ask those questions and to make sure that we are doing things with transparency, dignity, and respect.
TJ
If re-elected, what would your priorities be?
MM
So my priorities for my second term, of course, is continue to acclimate myself to policies, to procedures, of course, as we know, laws are changing, policies are changing from the state and comes down. But for this time, it would be to make sure that our kids are succeeding at a great rate, increasing of literacy scores, education, reading, being that voice for the educators, for the families, just being that go-to person, if you will, that people know that they can trust and depend on, because I've been proven to be a leader in those spaces.
TJ
There are several challenges for your seat. Why should somebody vote for you?
MM
So I want to say first and foremost that I respect everyone that has chosen to run, not only for school board but definitely for this seat because I know it's it's several of us, but for myself I would say because I've proven to do the work, I've proven to do the work to be a voice to advocate for the students, for the educators, for our families, for our communities, and again, as I stated, the work continues to be done.
And so I've started the work, and I definitely want to finish the work to prove myself, to be a proven vessel, if you will, that leadership does matter, accountability does matter, transparency does matter, and being at the table, asking the right questions matter as well.
TJ
Do you want to give examples of that leadership? Do you have anything that comes to mind?
MM
I would say for myself, I do know last year when there was a graduation at a particular school, the graduation was about 20 minutes long, and so I noticed there was a disparity from one school to another, if you will, and it was something that was a concern to me because I am a firm believer that everyone should have access to everything that is available, especially on a very celebratory night.
Not only for the students, but definitely for the families and for the community at large. And so the graduation was about 20 minutes long, and I was upset about it. I did send an email to the whole board, and at the time, our previous superintendent. And needless to say, moving forward this year, the graduation was absolutely amazing. It was longer than 20 minutes. We had all the ‘pomp and circumstance,’ if you will. We had a singer, we had speakers, and so the big thing that I wanted to do was make sure that that student body population at that particular school felt inclusive of all schools here at EVSC.
And so I would say that was one that truly touched my heart in a way because speaking up does matter, right? We get along great sometimes. We agree to disagree. Sometimes your views are different than my views, but the commonality in this particular sense is wanted to make sure that all students, especially when it comes to that important time of graduation, feels included and gets everything that everyone else does.
TJ
For the first time, candidates for Indiana School boards can run as partisan candidates. So why did you run nonpartisan?
MM
So I ran nonpartisan because school school is about the students. It's about the educators. It's about the staff. It's about everyone that's involved to make sure that our students are giving the availability of the education that they deserve and that they need. Wanting to make sure that I show up for the students, for the families, and for the communities because the work continues to be.
Steve Ary is the first partisan schoolboard candidate for the EVSC. He’s taking advantage of a new state law and running as a Republican.
Ary Has been a minister for 21 years. He’s fostering six children, and they’re all in the EVSC. He wants to help students in similar situations who may be having a tough time, struggling in certain areas. “Whether it's education or whether it's bullying, whether it's school safety issues.”
Ary’s first priority if elected is school safety — implementing best safety practices gleaned from the recent comprehensive district safety audit. He supports the use of metal detectors.
Regarding running as a Republican — he feels declaring a party informs voters of where he stands.
“By running as a Republican, I'm vowing to support party line as well as I'm vowing to support the morality and standards that are in that party line.” This includes being pro-life and pro-constitution.
Steve Ary interview transcript
AI generated with light editing
Tim Jagielo
Please tell me a little about yourself —
Steve Ary
So I'm a pastor. I've been in ministry for probably the last 21 years. I like to get involved in the community. I like to help out where help is needed, and this time around, I really just want to help out those that are in need in the Vanderburgh County school system. I know that children are suffering in our school systems with things such as bullying. I know that there's school safety issues, and I'm all for addressing the school safety issues. I want to get involved and help out in any way I can.
TJ
You kind of answered this a little bit, but why did you choose to run for school board?
SA
Well, I am a foster parent. I've got presently six foster kiddos in my home, and they're all in the EVSC school system. And I want to help them out as well as people in their same situations or similar situations, as they are in the EVSC school system, and they're struggling in certain areas, whether it's education or whether it's bullying, whether it's school safety issues. … I'm in full support of school safety being promoted in the EVSC with weapons detection systems in place, cooperation with the police department so that we can keep our kids safe because that's first and foremost on my list of priorities.
But as far as the children go, I want to be a voice for the children. I want to present transparency for the parents. I want to help the children to have a voice in the classroom. I believe that a lot of the bullying that takes place in the classrooms never even makes it home for the parents to find out, because a lot of the children are scared to tell on who is bullying them because they end up getting bullied further after they do tell. So I want to get involved, see what I can do to help out, be a part of the the help that is needed in our community by taking part in the EVSE school board.
TJ
You mentioned a priority of safety. If you are elected, what are your first policy priorities?
SA
I'm not going to go in with guns blazing, so to speak. I'm not trying to get in and dictate policy. I do want to get in there and cooperate with those who've already been putting in the time to get work done for our children, for our school system, for our teachers, and for our parents. So what I really want to do, as far as the first policy, is to really focus on this (safety) audit. And what the results of the audit was, what the results on the audit were, and to implement a school safety program and policy so that the children can be protected in our schools.
TJ
I guess we'll just talk about that for a second because in talking to Kyle Moers, Vanderburgh County Republican Party chair, for him the main answer seemed to be, correct me if I'm wrong, weapons detection systems. Which in the discussions, they said ‘yes and no.’ It is not a fix-all. It can actually cause more problems in some cases. So, do you want to elaborate on your position on weapons detection (systems?)
SA
I'm all for the weapons detections systems. Having those in place, certainly children will figure out a way to get around anything. They'll get creative in doing what they can to get away with what they want. It's not a solution to everything, but I believe it can bring some results. It can solve some problems in the process. And while it can't bring the solution to everything, it can help us to find the best solutions.
TJ
Another large policy implementation that happened this summer was the device policy, banning devices all day long, no contact with them at all, all day long. How do you feel about that?
SA
I'm 100-percent for the banning of those devices. I believe that those devices are a distraction in the classroom. I believe that those devices are also preventing the children from learning while they are there, and they probably let me just retract the probably okay, and they also add to the negative behaviors of the children in the classroom.
TJ
What would you do differently from the incumbent?
SA
The way I see it is, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. And so, if we look at the past and what's been taking place over the past several years, we can see that there are problems that never quite get resolved. And so, I believe that what I can bring to the school board, in cooperation with the school board, is solutions rather than just talk.
TJ
Because you're you're going against a one-term person, so has there been time to make big changes in one term?
SA
That's a good question. That's a good question.
TJ
Ok, so the big news this year with school boards across the state, is the ability to choose a party, nonpartisan or independent. You're the only one who selected a partisan race. Why did you choose a partisan race?
SA
I believe it's important for people to know where you stand, and often the party line will show you who a person is, what they stand on, what they stand for, and by running as a Republican, I'm vowing to support party line as well as I'm vowing to support the morality and standards that are in that party line. And so, as it comes to that morality and standards, I believe that there are certain things in my my walk as a Christian, my walk as a pastor, is that the Republican Party stands for things that are pro-life, you know, pro-constitution, and so those things are important to me, as well as giving our children a bright and safe future.
TJ
There are several challenges for this seat. Why should somebody vote for you?
SA
Again. You always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.
TJ
You did mention running as a Republican means you kind of have to have some party alignment. Do you want to expand on what those could be?
SA
Because I mean, I'm in the party already. I've been in the party. I ran for county chairman in the party. I stand for the morals and values of the party because those are Godly values and morals. And as I stand with God, I stand with those who represent Godly values and morals. I couldn't possibly stand with a party that agrees with abortion or supports it or funds it. What a horrible approach to trying to represent children, so to me it's as simple as life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. It is it is our constitutional rights. It's our bill of rights. I stand on the Constitution as I stand with the Republican Party.
Let's talk about social issues in the classroom. I think that we should remove the social issues from the classroom and focus on this profound thing that we should call ‘learning.’ I think it's important that we're focused on learning. I've got children that are coming into my home through the foster system that are being passed on from grade to grade, even into high school, and they can't read. And this is from the EVSC school system. We have to do better.
TJ
You said ‘social issues.’ What do you mean by that?
SA
Social issues such as the grassroots efforts throughout the nation, the arguments, the debates, the things you see on TV all day long, every day, these should not be brought into the classroom. These should not be puppeteering the teachers in the classroom. The teachers should have the freedom to teach their curriculum and not be governed by popular opinion.
TJ
You have any examples of what you're talking about?
SA
Topics such as socialism, topics such as the debate against Donald Trump or whatever president may be in office. These should not be touching the classroom, and they should not be hitting our children. I think that's about it, really.
At-large candidate Alan Goad is said he’s a ‘Christ follower’ and military veteran. He works as a maintenance tech supervisor for a property management company.
He’s running to bring “new blood” to the board of trustees, mentioning the members who have been on for decades. Though to be fair, he’d replace Melissa Moore who’s only been on for one term.
His main priorities are teacher pay and school safety. He’s specifically interested in the safety of students in special needs program classes.
He supports the comprehensive safety audit of the district, and the ban on smart devices in school. He feels members of the community need more of a voice at board meetings.
Alan Goad email Q and A
Mr. Goad was not available to meet for an interview
Tell me a little about yourself.
I am a proud Christ follower, I serve in the children's ministry at my church, I have a diploma in Christian Ministries, I served 14 years in the military and got out on a honorable discharge. I have served my country. I have served my state, now I'm ready to serve my community by running for school board at large.
Why are you running?
I believe it's time for a change and to rebuild and rebuild stronger, some of our school board members have been there for several years and it's time for some new blood. New ideals, I've talked to some families they got there inside and how they would like it to change also because they feel like their voices aren't being heard, and I am a good listener who cares about our children.
What are your main priorities?
My main priorities are school safety, making sure our kids get the best education they could possibly get, and taking care of our teachers who I feel aren't being taken care of good enough and who are overworked and underpaid, and also changes in the special needs program classes where some accusations of neglect and mistreatment.
Recent larger topics at the EVSC include the wireless device policy and the district security study. Where do you stand on these?
I believe the cell phone ban and gaming systems are a good idea because they can distract the kids from learning and focusing on their classes, their test, their assignments. I know that there should be some exceptions with kids with medical issues who use their phones and I believe with the doctor statement that could be taken care of, and District security studies I'm all for and agree with.
What might you do differently than the incumbent?
I talked to a few families some that has spoken at the school board meetings and have said that there's been times where the school board trustees weren't paying attention they weren't even listening and they were talking with each other while they were up there speaking and they're only given a couple minutes.
I think they need a little bit more time and I think the school board trustees need to pay attention because these families (slash) taxpayers pay a great deal into the school system not to be neglected or not heard they have a voice and I'm going to help them with their voice be known and stand by them standing with them and stand for them they need to be heard we're a team School Board is a team and the families the parents the teachers to school are our coaches they call the place we listen I'm going to be there Most Valuable Player.
Building Contractor Brian Murphy is also running for a seat. He’s standing in one of the condos his company is building in Evansville, mainly purchased by retirees.
Aside from serving in the US Marine Corps, building, and building instruction has been his career. He sees an untapped opportunity for career education in the EVSC.
“There's a large demographic of students who may not be aware of how many opportunities are available for them after high school and the road to prepare them for that is something that I think the Career and Technical Center can be expanded upon.”
He’s also interested in equalizing health coverage across the board for district employees.
Murphy said he’s ready to talk about school budgets, as Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 1 takes effect. EVSC will lose millions of dollars under the law.
“There's going to have to be some serious discussions about where that money is going to be made up.”
If elected his first priority would be listening to the needs of students and staff.
Brian Murphy interview transcript
AI generated with light editing
Tim Jagielo
Brian, tell me a little about yourself.
Brian Murphy
I have lived in Evansville since 2000. I moved here after I was discharged from the United States Marine Corps, honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 2000. Moved back here. Family business was here, active Murphy Homes have been pretty active in the home building industry here in that time. There was a couple years that I was gone to finish my undergraduate degree, and also spent a little bit of time teaching in career trades in the Dallas area for just trying to get a better understanding. Of how that's the career tech industry is working in that capacity for the trades.
TJ
Why are you running for school board?
BM
Great question. Running for school board — some people said that's a pretty thankless task, but you know, at the end of the day, I think student outcomes are something that I am very interested in, specifically as it relates to the career trades aspects. You know the Southwest Indiana Career and Technical Center is a great facility that I think has so many opportunities that we can expand upon. There's a large demographic of students who may not be aware of how many opportunities are available for them after high school and the road to prepare them for that is something that I think the Career and Technical Center can be expanded upon.
Again, a wonderful foundation of work that's already been laid there, but just so many more opportunities that can be done for the student outcomes in that regard.
I think something else that I'm interested in doing is trying to equalize healthcare options for all the EVSC employees. I know right now that maybe as a janitor or as a paraprofessional who works with some of those who are at most need, if they were to go and grab a healthcare benefits list, that's going to be different for somebody who's a janitor as opposed to somebody who's an administrator or a teacher.
So I think all of the efforts and work that a lot of all of the EVSC employees undertake are worth being able to treat it equally in that regard. Something else that is going to be a huge issue, not just this year but in the upcoming years, that Senate Enrolled Act Number One, which is going to severely limit and restrict how school corporations can fund and tax their community. So I know EBSC is currently, I think, off the top of my head, looking at roughly a $10 million shortfall within the next three years. That's no small feat to be able to make up. So there's going to have to be some serious discussions about where that money is going to be made up, and I'm sure referendums probably going to be the easiest response to come out of that.
So maybe the residents, the taxpayers of Vanderbilt County, would be willing to undertake that. But I'm sure a lot of due diligence and conversation in regard to that topic is going to be a discussion that's going to be have to be undertaken.
TJ
What are your main priorities as a EVSC board member? Is there anything else you want to add to that?
BM
You know, listening to the students. I think a lot of times we really just focus on what the parents want, what the teachers want, what administrators need, and try and facilitate all that. But having the opportunity to really listen to what the students may be telling us, and I think a lot of times that just kind of gets washed over. So being really receptive to that, and again making those student outcomes more accessible to all students, regardless of socioeconomic values, or the color of their skin, or maybe what they even believe in.
TJ
Where do you stand on the topics of the device policy at EVSC, and the district wide security study?
BM
So, device policy. I am all in favor of reducing the amount of screen time that not just students ask, but also teachers, right? Teachers (are) going to be held to the same account of having their phones out in class because you know, as a teacher, you're also modeling that behavior.
I really don't think that it goes far enough. When we start talking about devices, are we also including Chromebooks? Are we including the amount of screen times that kids have in school class in instructional periods that are focused on staring at his Chromebook or staring at a screen? A lot of that has been pretty much legislated into the pedagogical and methodological processes that these teachers have to use to be able to teach to the ILEARN and the IREAD testing that's required by state.
So, are we willing to have that discussion as well? To maybe have an honest discussion about getting laptops out of the classroom, especially for young kids. We've been doing this long enough that the research is coming back, that those numbers are not good for the development of young minds specifically, but also just the attention span. Right? If there is something that you hear repeatedly from teachers, it's just the ability to pay attention, right?
Like our attention span has become increasingly, increasingly diminished in this age of where we seemingly have every bit of information in our hands, and we seem to be none the wiser for it. So, definitely in favor of the no screens in classrooms, but I think we could probably take it a little bit step forward. You know, and talking about the IREAD, and ILEARN also — I don't know of any teacher that I have talked to, whether it's in Marion County, whether it's in Viggo County, whether it's in Warrick, or even specifically Vanderburgh, who are excited that they have to teach to a test. I think that discussion needs to be really taken seriously. When do we start pushing back? When does someone in a school board take that and run with it? Again, those tests have basically been ingrained into what gets taught, so they're interwoven and they are funded and being kept a part of that. So I think that's another piece that needs to be taken in consideration when we start talking about devices as they relate to use in schools.
TJ
How do you feel about the security comprehensive security study?
BM
You know, as a former United States Marine infantry scout sniper, you know, security is something that has been trained into me. So those are things that a lot of people may take for granted, but it's something that I am always aware of. Right, something they teach in the Marine Corps — situational awareness. So see something, do something. Right, be aware of your surroundings. Is the expense going to be justified? I'm sure that the results are probably going to undoubtedly say we need more security, and ‘here's the options and the things that we can implement.’ And I wouldn't be surprised if the company that did the study is more than willing to be able to provide those. I get that, right?
But it'll be interesting to see what those results are. I think it's great that we are doing a comprehensive study about security and safety of our students, and not just students, but also teachers. I mean, thank goodness that we've been fortunate here that we haven't experienced an event to really shake up the system in this way. And hopefully, this process of doing this study helps keep it that way.
TJ
Your running is an at-large candidate. It's a busy field right now. There's a lot of candidates for it. You're running technically against the incumbent Melissa Moore. I always ask this for people who are running to unseat someone: What might you do differently from the incumbent, and why should people vote for you instead of the other candidates?
BM
You know, God bless anybody who takes on an undertaking like the school board. I can't tell you how many times I've been told it is a thankless task, right? You are listening to the concerns of teachers. You are listening to the concerns of the unions that represent some of the other folks who work for the school corporation, specifically the students, right, and the teachers. So, you know, you're you're a lot of times you're just being that pin cushion that we're throwing arrows and needles at.
Doing anything different — I don't know if there's anything that we can do differently, but I think there's things that we can improve upon. Some of those discussion points that I talked about earlier, finding ways to be more efficient, right? Things that we can share costs on with other maybe neighboring school corporations, or even maybe partnering with Deaconess or Ascension, on ways to make healthcare more accessible to all the residents, and maybe not even to the people who work there, but also for the students that are involved with local clinic options.
You know, I think sometimes it's just having a fresh perspective as somebody who has been a business owner, who's someone who has been a general contractor and home builder, who has done real estate development, the amount of times who I see us undertake projects with EVSC, and I don't know that people on the board have a good understanding on how those things get built and all the intricacies that go along with those. So I think that would be a good perspective to have for someone to be on the board that has that knowledge set and brings that point of view to the school corporation.
Objectively, school board candidate Andy Guarino is the most experienced of any at-large candidate. Guarino is the only former school board member returning for a seat. He had two terms before taking the last term off.
He has decades of staff experience in various roles, including 17 years as a school principal with dual masters’ in education. He said he has subbed 115 days in the district in the past few years.
“I feel like that I know the corporation about as well as anybody could ever know it, and the people that are running and at large with me don't have that background experience.”
He said he wants to use that experience to keep enrollment strong.
“I want to try to make sure we don't lose any kids. We want to make sure that we offer the best product available so that they'll want to come to public schools and EVSC.”
Andy Guarino interview transcript
AI generated with light editing
Timothy Jagielo
You want to tell me a little bit about yourself?
Andy Guarino
Sure. I've got a bachelor's degree in a phys ed and health, and then I have two masters: one in adult education, and one in special education, plus 60 hours, and then I got an administrative license in secondary education. So I have worked as a principal for 17 years, assistant principal for 10 years, mental health administrator for five years, two years at the central office, two years in higher education, and I also, since I've been off the board the last four years, I've been subbing over 115 days over the last four years in administration and counseling.
So really, I've really never been away from EVSC. I've always always been around to do the best I could, help wherever I could. So my other interest: I'm on the board of Liberty Federal Credit Union, been on there for 10 years, served as president for two. I was on the EVSC Foundation Board for six. I was president of Evansville Retired Teachers. I'm still a member there. I was president one year and then past president for a year, and then I've been on there for about 13 years, And so I've had a lot of leadership roles, and so with my education and background and experience in EVSC, I think I could be a major contributor again.
TJ
Why are you running again?
AG
Just to be able to serve the kids. The reason I subbed a lot over those four years I was gone was to be around the energy that goes on in schools, the staff, the teachers, the students themselves. It's just a nice environment to be around, and I always felt like that, even when I retired, that I would be doing something like that. It just so happened I ended up coming onto the board almost right after I retired.
So I took the place of Sally Becker for a year, who left town, and then I won two terms, and then I left the board four years ago, so always wanted to get back because I always enjoyed it, thoroughly enjoyed it. The years I was on it was during the COVID years and all those times, so we had some tough times, but we made it through, and I was a contributor to that.
One of my biggest accomplishments during that period of time, I think, was we changed the salary schedule for all the teachers, and what I mean by that is, we upped the level that an experienced teacher could go as long as they wanted to, and there was a cap of $60,000, and we moved that so if they stayed more years with their experience, they would continue to go up the scale. We also started the beginning teachers at a higher rate of pay, and then there was a.
When after 15 years they would give you a bump in pay, they cut that out at the state level, and so those people that missed out on that bump, which was usually about $4,000 or $5,000, those people were reinstated those years that they had lost that money, and we were able to give them the raise that they deserved, and got bumped out of at that point. So I was real pleased with that decision. That was one of the best things I think we ever did at that time. It was the biggest pay raise EVSC had ever given teachers at one time.
TJ
What would be your first priorities if you rejoin the board?
AG
Well, I think the first thing is probably the cell phone policy. I think that's kind of being taken care of right now, as of (June 8), I guess. But it looks like they're going to allow the kids to bring the phone into the building, but they have to power off. They have to keep it in their locker, and the whole day.
In 2024, the law said you could have it during passing times, and in the cafeteria, and they cut that out in 25. Redid the law, made it stiffer. So I would try to as much as possible — IFT — which is a technology committee for it's a nationwide thing, said that it would be a folly to try to use another device like iPad or Chrome, Chrome sets. So at that point, I'm not sure that they're real interested in us doing that. But I think EVSC at this point is kind of looking into that. So there would be another option for a child to be able to get a hold of their parent, vice versa, within the law, and without causing any problems. So if it doesn't fit, then you know we'll follow the law. There's no question about it. So right now, we're going back to power down, put it in your locker, and then that's it for the day. Pick it up at the end of the day. So I hope that works.
TJ
So that'd be your first priority —
AG
Yes.
TJ
Okay. There are several challengers for the seat. Why should somebody vote for you?
AG
Well, I think my years' experience on the board already. I was on there for nine years, and all the experience I've had in EVSC, you know, all the experiences I had as an administrator and downtown administrator, and I've pretty much covered all areas. I feel like that I know the corporation about as well as anybody could ever know it, and the people that are running and at large with me don't have that background experience, so I feel like that's a major step up, you know, in the long run, because I understand where we've been, why we got there, and where we would like to go.
TJ
There were there was an opportunity this year to run as a partisan — run as a Democrat, independent, or nonpartisan. You also elected to run as ‘non-partisan.’ Why did you choose to run nonpartisan?
AG
Well, mainly it was because it's always been nonpartisan, and you want to try to keep politics out of any decisions with schools and children, and so I think for me the best option was non-partisan. You could have ran, could have run as a Republican or Democrat, and that's okay. But it also could influence somebody's vote if somebody in that party would ask them to do something. It kind of puts them in a bad situation. So you don't want to be lobbied and make a decision based on politics. You want to make the decision based on the best information you have at the time you have it, and use it the best way to help staff, children, and parents. So that's why I stayed nonpartisan.
Timothy Jagielo 09:32
One of the other recent big issues was the security and safety, the comprehensive survey. What are your thoughts on that? Where do you stand on that study?
AG
I thought it was a good study, and I'll tell you why. They, it's better that we overstudy something and then do the right thing to make sure that no one is ever ever injured in our schools, and so. Whatever we can do to make ourselves better with security, I think is a major plus. You don't want to go lenient, and you want to make sure that it's correct. Hiring the firm in the long run didn't cost that much. I think it was a couple $100,000, but the reality is, they can come in as an outsider and look at things that maybe we're not seeing as a security staff, and we've got like eight or nine police officers that are EVSC employees actually, and so sometimes when you're close to the wood, you can't see forest from the trees, as they say. So somebody from outside telling you we you really need to look at this, this, and this. So I think it's important that we did that. The board did what they did.
TJ
What might you do differently for than the incumbent?
AG
To be honest with you, she's a very good person. I ran because I would like to get back on the board. I didn't run necessarily to run against her. She's a fine lady, and I've known her for a long time, so to do anything differently, I think the main thing that I would do is use my past experience to be able to make decisions, whatever they may be, that comes up over the next four years, and we've got a lot of lot of other things that are happening around the world that could end up affecting local schools and particularly public schools.
I want to try to make sure we don't lose any kids. We want to make sure that we offer the best product available so that they'll want to come to public schools and EVSC rather than maybe other other schools that can give them vouchers, et cetera, charter schools. So you know we're up against good competition, and they're all good, to be honest with you. But EVSC I think would compete at the highest level with practically any public school in the state, and that's just my feeling. But I really do believe that, so I want to try to do everything I can to keep us at the top.
Support independent journalism today. You rely on WNIN to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Give to grow our local reporting today. Donate