Along with a $58.641 million budget and two bond issues, Jamesville-DeWitt School District voters will have to choose from seven candidates vying for three spots on the Board of Education.
Six of those seven candidates offered their cases during Monday night’s annual meeting and budget hearing, a prelude to the budget vote by absentee ballot that will be counted next Tuesday night.
Of the candidates, only one, Christine Woodcock Dettor, is an incumbent. If elected, she would be the longest tenure on the school board, and said that her perspective gained from that work, especially on the board’s finance committee, would be valuable in the years ahead.
“For good or bad, you bring your professional and personal experience to the table,” said Woodcock Dettor, a long-time attorney. Working on the board requires some courage because, in her words, “it’s brave to disagree in a public setting.”
One previous board member, Michelle Kielbasinski, is seeking a return to the school board. A 21-year resident of the district with five children that have gone through J-D schools, she said her numerous interactions with teachers and students at all of the school buildings makes her uniquely qualified.
“Having someone on the board with access to all the constituencies is important,” said Kielbasinski.
The candidates include Kerry Coleman-Herrick, a 2001 J-D graduate and mother of two who said her main focus is protecting students.
“Our children need leaders who will stand up for them,” said Coleman-Herrick. “We need innovators at the table, and I understand the scope and dedication this position requires.”
Michael Gilbert, a long-time psychologist in the Syracuse City School District, said that education is his passion and, despite J-D’s good reputation for its educational programs, “there’s always room for improvement and change.”
G. Joseph Goss has lived in the district since 2001, with three children. He said his background as a director of a nonprofit agency for disability services gives him distinct insights into budgeting processes.
David Leach, a 26-year district resident, is an attorney whose specialties is labor, employment and construction issues.
“I’m interested in giving students and teachers the resources they need in a fiscally responsible and transparent way,” said Leach.
Of the candidates, only Steve Theobald did not speak at the budget hearing. Theobald worked in the live entertainment industry for 35 years and, in the district’s budget newsletter, said he is focused on the interests of students above all other considerations.
One slight change was made to the overall school budget. During the May 11 board meeting, the proposal to cut the Chinese language program due to declining enrollment was met with vocal opposition from parents whose children were involved in the program.
To address those concerns, superintendent Dr. Peter Smith announced a modification to that proposal. All students who took Chinese in seventh grade will be given the option to continue that program in eighth grade, with high school students also staying in the program as it gets phased out over a longer period than previously scheduled. Students who took Chinese in sixth grade will be asked to switch to either French or Spanish language classes.
The overall numbers remain the same – a $58.640 million spending plan, a 1.61 percent increase over the 2019-20 school year, with a $42.2 million tax levy. The increase in the tax rate will not be known until August, though it is projected by the district to be 1.4 percent or less.
Smith also announced that J-D’s projected enrollment for 2020-21 will be 2,549, down from 2,701 in the last school year, a decrease of 5.6 percent, although he prefaced those comments by stating that those numbers skewed low because kindergarten enrollment for the fall of 2020 has yet to be fully completed.
Editor’s note: This story was amended on 6/3/2020 to reflect that sixth graders will not be allowed to move forward with the Chinese program and that kindergarten enrollment for the fall of 2020 had not yet been completed.
