A forum last week signals a new direction for the Woodland Park School Board when three of six candidates replace three outgoing members in the election Nov. 4. Hosted by the Greater Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Carrol Harvey and Steve Woolf, the chamber’s president, the forum was the candidates’ second public appearance. Each relayed their vision Oct. 1 during the Vision Forward Rally.

You can see a video of the forum at: woodlandparkchamber.com

For the two-hour forum Oct. 6, residents packed the Ute Pass Cultural Center. After two years of community turbulence and division, Carol Greenstreet, Laura Gordon, Norm Michaels, Kassidi Gilgenast, Bert West and Clayton Austin agreed that trust must be restored within the community. For all of them, transparency, particularly financial transparency, would be the key to reducing distrust.

Greenstreet is the only one of the six who previously served on the Woodland Park school board.

Each agreed that special education is vital.

“Special ed is growing because so many of our families are hurting,” Greenstreet said. “It’s important for us to bring back our mental health resources to offer classroom support.”

Gordon noted that the district is part of special education’s “The BOCES” and partners with schools in Cripple Creek whose students take special ed classes in Woodland Park.

Michaels was the only candidate to publicly state his support for the American Birthright standard, while Austin spoke out against the teachers’ union.

“I do believe that taking away the teachers union was the right choice for the board,” Austin said.

Woolf’s and Harvey’s questions ranged from the role of the board and the superintendent to pinpointing the qualifications of a superintendent. The new board will be part of the decision process.

Candidates responded to questions about balancing state standards with local curriculum choices and supplemental materials.

“I think we must balance the needs of our students and our community with our values,” Gilgenast said. “But it’s important that we prepare our students for post-secondary success in terms of being excellent citizens but also preparing them for the next level of education.”

‘Three of them will join Mick Bates, the president, and Keegan Barkley on the board and each was asked how they would attempt to heal the wounds of a community divided.

Greenstreet: “I think so much of the distrust is when decisions are made without a lot of public input. Trust is lost in the way we conduct board meetings; I believe we should get back to having two meetings a month, one a workshop when we discuss issues and problems that are coming forward.” Greenstreet recommended having luncheons with business leaders, government officials and residents, as in the past.

Gordon: “I would start by getting the community involved, parents, teachers, students, all stakeholders in creating a vision, mission statement and strategic plan. When trust and accountability are established, we work on the unity part. I would love to see a committee of parents, teachers and all our students work to come up with ways to bring our schools together and unify us as one district.”

Michaels: “I believe in creating more opportunities for public input from the community outside of those long meetings. A web portal for people who are just getting home from work, or who are too shy to speak in public, offers a chance to share ideas when it’s convenient. This online portal gives every voice a place to be heard.”

Gilgenast: “I think healing starts with strategic planning and the mission and vision of the district. I think it starts with transparency and community trust so that there isn’t suspicion in how decisions are made.” Gilgenast highlighted the feeling of camaraderie apparent during homecoming week. “I would like to see additional opportunities for people to celebrate each other; I think there can be meaningful opportunities for people to get to know each other.”

West: “Visibility; it’s important for a board member to be visible so that parents and students feel comfortable in coming up to speak with you. Whether they’re just coming up to offer encouragement, or to ask a question, they have to feel comfortable. Obviously, we need transparency, and everybody needs to understand why we’re making decisions.”

Austin: “Transparency. We have all seen the tremendous legal fees from frivolous lawsuits that are the result of mistakes being made. With proper training we would have those mistakes not happen,” If elected, Austin would ask for reports from the superintendent about individual schools, about curriculum interventions and a brief report from the finance department. Austin, too, would like to bring back the community luncheons to engage small business owners, government officials and concerned