January 9, 2015 at 5:05 p.m.
Anderson announces bid for school board seat
Anderson announces bid for school board seat
With Anderson throwing his hat in the ring - and with the deadline to file paperwork having passed - the full lineup for the three open school board seats is now set.
All three incumbents - board president Ron Counter and board members David Holperin and Jim Winkler - will be running for re-election, and former public defender Ann Munninghoff Eshelman announced her candidacy in a press release earlier this week (Former public defender to run for school board, Dec. 6).
The inclusion of Anderson makes it a five-person race for three seats.
Anderson, a retired lawyer and Lutheran minister who has also served as a substitute teacher and tutor, said he decided to run for the board because he feels it's time to give back to his community, and the best way to do that is to help ensure district students get the best possible education.
"I've always been interested in giving back to the community and now that I'm retired, I feel like I have the time to do that," he said.
"I think education these days is one of the most important ways to prepare our kids for life and is one of the most important things we can give them."
Anderson believes he has the right makeup to assist in achieving the goal of providing a quality education to every student.
"I think I have some personal characteristics that are useful for this kind of situation," he said.
"I'm willing to speak up and offer my views and I think I'm really good at understanding and analyzing issues and facts and figures. I can be a calming presence when people get excited about things. I'm good at listening to various viewpoints and working with people to find common ground."
As he looks for that common ground, Anderson said he will work to ensure everyone in the community knows what's happening in the district.
"I'll be someone that the community can go to to get answers about what's going on in the schools," he said.
"I don't claim to have all the answers, but I'll find out anything I don't know and share that with everyone."
Anderson said he knows the district is in a tought spot given its financial situation. He said he understands the need for changes at the state level and added that he's happy to see the district is supported by the community.
"It's a challenging area right now because of the funding problems, which I see is mostly a matter of getting the formulas straightened out with the state," he said.
"But also, I've been impressed in the local support for the schools and I think it's important to be able to show people that they're getting their money's worth, too."
Testing and educational standards are another area Anderson said he would focus on, if elected.
"I'm not sure where I am on Common Core, but I think educational standards are important," he said.
"We need some kind of meaningful standards, but I'm not clear at the moment on how that should be worked out, but I especially think it's important not to get into excessive testing that wastes a lot of the kids' time when they should be learning something."
No primary will be needed in this race. The election will be held April 7.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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