Candidate Responses – Election 2015

A week ago I sent a rather long questionnaire to all of the candidates for school board.  Candidates were asked to have their responses to me by 9 PM on Tuesday the 14th.  Below are the responses I’ve received, except one, which was eaten by my computer and will be posted as soon as I can resolve my technical challenges. That response was sent by Gil Trenum, who is running unopposed to represent Brentsville District residents.

To the candidates who responded, thank you.  The questionnaire was long and probably took a long time to answer.  I appreciate the time and thought each of you put into answering our questions.

To anyone reading this, I hope the questions help you get to know the candidates and their thoughts on the issues we questioned.

The PWC Ed Reform Team

Candidates for Chairperson

tracy-conroy

Tim Singstock

Candidates for Occoquan District Representative

KarenBoyd

Candidates for Potomac District Representative

Betty Covington

Candidates for Coles District Representative

WillieDeutsch

Bill Reeder

Candidates for Neabsco District

Joseph George

2011 Prince William County School Board Candidate Questionnaire

2011 Prince William County School Board Candidate Questionnaire

You can find the full questionnaire without any responses at this link===> PWC SB Candidate Quest 2011

Purpose of the Questionnaire

Prince William County elects an entirely new school board every 4 years. Once a board is elected it will not change for a number of years, which makes selecting a candidate who understands the issues that are important to their constituents that much more important.

Web sites and candidate statements only provide a limited, one-sided view of an individual candidate’s opinion on issues they think are important. Debates provide opportunities to contrast each candidate’s viewpoint on selected issues, but sometimes the limited response format doesn’t offer the depth some issues deserve. So we put together a questionnaire about issues we think are likely to come up in the next few years so that we can all better understand where the candidates stand on those issues and select the person we believe will best represent us.

We hope candidates will respond to the questionnaire as it will provide them with an opportunity to address critical issues in as much, or little, detail as they believe is necessary.

Administering the Questionnaire

The Candidate Questionnaire will be sent to school board candidates by email on September 30, 2011. Candidates are asked to complete the questionnaire and return their responses by October 7, 2011. We will verify the authenticity of responses we receive and post them unedited on our web site. Any clarifications or corrections candidates wish to include in their responses after the deadline will also be verified and posted on our web site.

The questionnaire begins with an opening statement and introduction from each candidate and then proceeds to questions for all candidates. Those questions are sorted into broad categories, which are:
• District Administration
• Budget and Transparency
• Relations with Teachers
• Redistricting and School Construction
• Curriculum and Instruction

Additional questions for candidates for School Board Chair are in a separate category.

Candidates are encouraged to provide their answers with as much or little detail as they believe is warranted. To keep things simple and clear, we ask that candidates provide their responses in blue.

Who Are We?

We are a group of parents and citizens with a vested interest in ensuring that our schools truly do offer the “World Class Education” Prince William County advertises because our children attend Prince William County Public Schools. We believe that Prince William County Schools offer our children a great education, but that there is room for improvement and issues that deserve attention. We hope that this questionnaire will be useful to both citizens and candidates in that it will clarify candidates’ positions on critical issues without campaign slogans.

Gil Trenum Running for School Board from Brentsville District

Gil Trenum has officially announced that he will be seeking re-election to the Prince William County School Board to represent Brentsville District residents.

Gil has proven to be a tireless fighter for Brentsville residents.  He fought to have the new elementary school on Linton Hall Road (Piney Branch) and Patriot High School open one year earlier than originally scheduled.  He fought to get 300 MS seats added to the Nokesville school, seats which would not otherwise have been added in the district until 2018.  He lobbied the district to change our grading scale so that Prince William County students would be assigned grades on the same scale followed across the state.  He successfully lobbied the Governor and General Assembly to give Cambridge students the same standing at Virginia Colleges and Universities as IB and AP students.  He’s pushed PWCS to lead the state in developing and implementing a comprehensive concussion management policy.

More than that,  Gil listens to citizen concerns about our schools and does whatever he can to help.  He stood with parents concerned about the direction math instruction has taken in our county and actively lobbied the School Board to give parents a choice in what their children are taught.  He’s been willing to hold district officials accountable when they misrepresent information and challenge false assumptions.  He’s a parent of students in Brentsville district schools and an advocate and friend of the citizens of Brentsville District.

We fully support Gil and wish him success in his bid.  If you live in Brentsville District you ought to give Gil your support because he supports you!