On Tuesday, October 2, the League of Women Voters hosted a public forum for the Hopkins School Board candidates.
It was wonderful to be invited and meet my fellow candidates. I got to sit next to the only incumbent running for re-election, Yvonne Selcer. She was first elected in 2003 and is the current Treasurer of the School Board. I sat most far from Irma Coleman, a veteran school administrator with experience at the state and district level. Candidate Wendy Donovan sat next to Irma, she is a parent inspirted to run, in part, by the closing of Katherine Current Elementary. Filling out the slate of candidates was Ellen Dustman, former member of the Legislative Action Committee and Dan Bloomquist, a philosopher and former legislative candidate who sat next to me to my left and graciously gave me his bottled water after I consumed mine!
The forum will be broadcast on local community cable access channels: please watch and invite your neighbors and children well. It would be a good exercise in civics!
The League moderated the forum, allowing each candidate an opportunity to reply first and last to a series of questions that were gathered from the audience and presented by the moderator. (A timer kept track of each candidate's time: my apologies to the League for running over with my time on several questions!!)
Here are the questions framed by the League. I will soon post notes of my responses, other candidate's comments, and my afterthoughts, so check back soon.
1. What do you consider to be the most important issue?
2.What has been the effect of No Child Left Behind?
3 Do you support vouchers?
4. What about the needs of special education students?
5. How important are class sizes?
6. What is your position on creationism and intelligent design?
7. What about meeting the needs of gifted students?
8. Does enrolling children in Hopkins District Schools qualify one person to be a better board member?
9. How important is parental involvement in education?
10. What more can Hopkins School District do to help students who are trying to stay sober?
11. On statewide rankings of 850 elementary schools, Hopkins Schools are ranked 80th, 223rd, 253rd, 260th, and 431st.
12. Teachers' contract
Closing Statement
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Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people see things that could be and ask, Why not?
PLATFORM
1) Stronger Accountability: Fiscal Responsibility and Results-Oriented Budgeting for Hopkins Schools
2) Governance and Oversight: Full Transparency and Clear Communication of the Issues, Resources, and Challenges Ahead
3) More Resources for Education: Smaller Class Sizes, Full Day Kindergarten option, Reverse the trend of the past seven years and devote more spending to classroom instruction.
2) Governance and Oversight: Full Transparency and Clear Communication of the Issues, Resources, and Challenges Ahead
3) More Resources for Education: Smaller Class Sizes, Full Day Kindergarten option, Reverse the trend of the past seven years and devote more spending to classroom instruction.
Wellik in the Sun-Sailor
Excerpts from a profile in the local paper
By way of his profession as an independent strategic-planning consultant, Jamie Wellik has had vast interaction with public schools all over the country. Those experiences, he said, have given him an insight as to what works and what doesn't, something he said would be beneficial to the Hopkins School Board. "I've been working with public schools and education for about 15 years," he said. "I have a unique set of business skills, analytical skills ... and a broad understanding of the issues that face schools."
"I feel that Hopkins really needs someone with that skill set to serve on the board ... I help schools for a living, I could really help Hopkins."
Wellik lists fiscal accountability, enrollment challenges and board governance as the top issues facing the district. "Transparency, communicating with the public, just really kind of going back to what school boards are supposed to do. ... I think we've kind of lost track of that."
However, he said, any trust breached between the community and the district over the closing can be renewed through positive performance. "If you do a good job on allocating the resources, it's going to show in the classroom, it's going to show with the families, it's going to certainly show in the students. ... The results speak for themselves."
"There's challenges ahead," he said. "I'm not a handwringer, I'm not a 'I wish things could be different,' I'm a 'This is what we have, this is where we're at, this is what works.'"
By way of his profession as an independent strategic-planning consultant, Jamie Wellik has had vast interaction with public schools all over the country. Those experiences, he said, have given him an insight as to what works and what doesn't, something he said would be beneficial to the Hopkins School Board. "I've been working with public schools and education for about 15 years," he said. "I have a unique set of business skills, analytical skills ... and a broad understanding of the issues that face schools."
"I feel that Hopkins really needs someone with that skill set to serve on the board ... I help schools for a living, I could really help Hopkins."
Wellik lists fiscal accountability, enrollment challenges and board governance as the top issues facing the district. "Transparency, communicating with the public, just really kind of going back to what school boards are supposed to do. ... I think we've kind of lost track of that."
However, he said, any trust breached between the community and the district over the closing can be renewed through positive performance. "If you do a good job on allocating the resources, it's going to show in the classroom, it's going to show with the families, it's going to certainly show in the students. ... The results speak for themselves."
"There's challenges ahead," he said. "I'm not a handwringer, I'm not a 'I wish things could be different,' I'm a 'This is what we have, this is where we're at, this is what works.'"
Links
- Candidate Forum on Channel 12
- Hopkins School Board Official Site
- Board Meeting Agenda
- District Report Card for Hopkins ISD
- Report Cards for Hopkins Schools
- Hopkins School District
- Hopkins School Finances
- Report "A Fiscal Review for the Hopkins Schools"
- KnowledgeWorks Foundation
- Collaborative for High Performance School Design
- Healthy High Performing Schools
- Minnesota Department of Education
- Best Place to Help Children Succeed Outside School
- Great Schools.net
- Responsive Classroom
- PAY IT FORWARD
More About Me
- Jamie Wellik
- BULLISH ON BUILDING PROGRESS B.A. Carleton College; M.Phil. University of Cambridge; UK