Nearly 60 people showed up to Boulder Pointe on Sept. 29 for the Oxford School Board Candidate Forum hosted by Rod Charles.

The format for the evening included minute and a half opening statements by candidates and one minute each to answer questions provided by the audience.

Present at the forum were candidates Tom Donnelly, Jennifer Guthrie, Heather Shafer, Rick Vandecar and incumbent Dan D’Alessandro.

Candidates Kallie Roesner, Bruce Meyers, Katherine East, and Stacey Beane were unable to attend.

After brief introductions, Charles first asked candidates to share their views on common core education standards.

Jennifer Guthrie, who previously worked as a substitute teacher and paraprofessional at Oxford Schools, said she supports common core.

“I support having a standard. I think it’s very important to remember that our teachers really are the experts and I think the board needs to give consideration to how they’d answer that question… with common core it’s important to have a way to look at progress and look at how we’re doing,” she added.

Donnelly responded that he agrees with certain aspects of common core.

“I would agree that it has to be the teachers, the school professionals that know what’s best for our kids. I think as they select certain aspects of common core and try to give that a chance, it’s our job to evaluate that it’s meeting our objectives,” said Donnelly.

D’Alessandro, who serves as the board’s current president, stated that he agrees with certain parts of common core, such as holding students to a high level of standards.

“What I don’t like is I don’t like someone in Washington D.C. and the state telling the school district how they should be running. The local school district really should be the one selecting their particular curriculum that they choose,” D’Alessandro continued.

He then added, as a board member, it is his job to uphold national policy and that, if re-elected, he will stand by common core.

Vandecar shared D’Alessandro’s view that the state and federal government should not dictate standards to local schools but added that he would uphold national policy, as well.

“I agree that I might have to support common core and do the best I can to ensure that it’s implemented properly and that it works the best that it possibly can and that would be my job as a board member,” said Vandecar.

Shafer said that, while she agreed with common core in theory, she thought the education of children should be left to the teachers.

“I do not feel that having something standardized nationwide across our enormous nation is something that can be filtered down into particular programs. You have socioeconomic factors and many different things that will act as a factor. They’re going to change the different learning capabilities of each child. Each child is different and that’s what’s so great about teachers,” said Shafer.

She also added that, if elected, she would work to uphold the national program.

The candidates were then asked to share their views on the Oxford International Program, a program which established sister schools in China, England, Mexico and South Africa and allows short and long-term exchange student opportunities.

The program has been a source of controversy in the past.

Vandecar said he would like to see more integration between Oxford students and Chinese exchanged students at OHS.

“I’m not opposed to the program at all. But I don’t think the students are necessarily learning a lot. I think we have a lot of work to do to get our students to interact during and after class. It’s nice to have the revenue (from the program) but the students have to come first so we have to figure out a way to integrate those students better to make it better for both our students and them,” said Vandecar.

Shafer said she did not think the program is currently preparing Oxford students for a global economy, as it was meant to and that language barriers have made integration through the program difficult for students.

“International programs in general, in a normal standardized setting, I would be for. The program we have now I think needs some tweaking and I think we need to be putting our Oxford students first,” said Shafer.

During her time working with Oxford Schools, Guthrie said she had a chance to interact with the students from China, along with their teachers. “It’s a challenge and I think we have some work to do to make the program better. I don’t think it should be discontinued. I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for our district and for the students… We need to make sure that our students and the international students get the benefit of the program and we can do that,” Guthrie said.

She added that she did feel the volume of exchanged students coming into the district is too high and should be lowered.

Donnelly, who previously worked for a global metals company, said that he sees a great importance in teaching students how to integrate with other cultures.

“(Having done) work in India, China, Spain, Belgium… (I feel) it is essential that we do international work. You don’t have to travel overseas. All you have to do is travel to Troy, Birmingham, or work anywhere in the automotive world and you’re going to have engineers next to you that are of foreign culture,” said Donelly.

“We have to integrate… If there are weaknesses in the system, let’s fix them. The issue isn’t going away. We need to fix it so we are making sure students are socializing and learning so it becomes a cultural learning experience, not just academic.”

As a current board member, D’Alessandro stated that the board has been working to address the problems that had been mentioned by other candidates and that he fully supports Oxford’s International Program. He also added that the program has brought a large amount of revenue into the district, to the benefit of the students.

“We put $80,000 into playgrounds this year, directly out of the international program. We put 156,000 into the networking servers that we needed right out of that program. We put 250,000 into the budget that came directly out of those funds from tuition… we do have to tweak it, but I’m very confident that we’re going to make the changes that are necessary,” said D’Alessandro.

One of the closing questions was to provide insight on the changes each candidate wanted to see within the Oxford district.

D’Alessandro was the first to answer the question. “I want us to change our perception of ourselves. We compare ourselves to LO and Clarkston. We gotta be the best that we want to be. The only way to do that as a board member is to work harder and smarter and to work together and that’s something I’d like to see us change,” he said.

Vandecar said he would like to see the district become more metric-driven, especially in regards to the athletics department.

“I think that we should have metrics that have specific goals defined so that we can meet those goals… I understand we do a great job with the teachers, sometimes the coaches are not so sure about that. I think there need to be some very specific goals that coaches have in mind beyond wins and losses, but how they run the program,” he said.

Shafer said her biggest goal to improve the district’s special education program was inspired by her oldest son, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.

“Providing (special education students) with independent capabilities is different than just teaching someone that does not have a disability. Those special (education) teachers need a lot of support. They need to be paid more, they need more support. The paraprofessionals need to be paid more, as well,” said Shafer.

Guthrie agreed that paraprofessionals and teachers need to receive a pay raise to make it easier for them to stay dedicated to their positions within the district. She also added that she wants to see a greater level of teamwork, both within and outside the district.

“We need to continue to follow our superintendent’s strategy and stay a team, keeping our professionals in our schools working together. For the community, support that strategy and be familiar with it. We all need to be familiar with what’s happening in our school systems,” she said.

Donnelly noted there are no major changes he wants to make, but that he would like to help improve the overall environment within the district. “I want to use my gifts and talents as a collaborative leader to help the district excel… I’m not in this to change anything, I’m in this to help us improve and make us better,” he said.