{"id":1316110,"date":"2019-10-25T18:15:44","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T00:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=990131"},"modified":"2019-10-25T18:15:44","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T00:15:44","slug":"school-board-candidates-share-thoughts-on-listening-to-teachers-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/school-board-candidates-share-thoughts-on-listening-to-teachers-parents\/","title":{"rendered":"School board candidates share thoughts on listening to teachers, parents"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
School board candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot, from left, Natalie Torres, Maureen Stepp, Amy Connerton, Jasmin Ramirez and Shane Larson, at the Oct. 23 Roaring Fork Community Education Association forum.<\/strong>
John Stroud\/Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Truly hearing what parents and teachers are thinking is more than just gathering information, candidates for the Roaring Fork Schools Board of Education emphasized at a forum in Carbondale on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m all about evidence-based practices,\u201d said Amy Connerton, one of the three candidates vying for the board\u2019s District D seat in the Nov. 5 election along with incumbent Shane Larson and fellow challenger Jasmin Ramirez. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to take whatever evidence we have and applying some of our findings,\u201d she said at one of two candidate forums earlier this week, this one in Carbondale.<\/p>\n

With staff, \u201cIt\u2019s important to really listen to that feedback,\u201d Connerton said.<\/p>\n

And, with parents, it\u2019s crucial to allow flexibility in how that feedback is given, she said.<\/p>\n

The forum was co-sponsored by the school district and the Roaring Fork Community Education Association, which serves as the local teachers union. <\/p>\n

It was one of two forums inviting the school board candidates this week, in followup to one hosted by the Glenwood Springs Chamber on Monday.<\/p>\n

Each of the candidates on the ballot that\u2019s current in voters hands \u2014 including District B candidate Natalie Torres and District C candidate Maureen Stepp \u2014 was asked the board should learn what parents and staff are thinking, and put that knowledge to use.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurveys are great, but where you find real conversations is being out there as a board member, introducing yourself and listening,\u201d Larson, the only incumbent in the election, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a board member, I don\u2019t feel that I\u2019m here to represent my opinion, but to represent the people who reach out to me and say, \u2018this is a concern or a problem.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The other candidate in the District D race, Ramirez, said her conversations out in the community with parents, families and teachers, is what prompted her to run for the school board.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is great to have surveys, but they\u2019re not always to the point of what\u2019s really happening in the experience of our teachers,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cWe need to try to build a relationship with our teachers, so they feel that they can come and have conversations with us \u2026 and know that we care, and that they know that they\u2019re valued.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stepp and Torres are the only candidates on the ballot for their respective seats. Two declared write-in candidates \u2014 Molly Peterson for District C, and Matt Cova for District B \u2014 opted out of participating in the two forums.<\/p>\n

Responding to the staff and parent input question, Stepp said she was impressed with the response rate in a recent teacher survey, as well as the feedback.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like the district is on a good path, especially with the strategic plan that was put in place five years ago,\u201d Stepp said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, every year, the board needs to go out and do that listening tour \u2026 and act on what we hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torres offered that it\u2019s not only important to listen and share problems and concerns with the rest of the board and the administrative team, \u201cbut also the stuff that is going well \u2026 the celebrations.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Candidates also each responded to a question about their approach to collaborative problem-solving and what they believe are the top two priorities for a board member. And, each was given a random question on a particular topic. <\/p>\n

The RFCEA forum was recorded on the Roaring Fork School District\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>, and is still available for viewing.<\/p>\n

jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

School board candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot, from left, Natalie Torres, Maureen Stepp, Amy Connerton, Jasmin Ramirez and Shane Larson, at the Oct. 23 Roaring Fork Community Education Association forum.John Stroud\/Post Independent Truly hearing what parents and teachers are thinking is more than just gathering information, candidates for the Roaring Fork Schools Board of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 16:13:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}