Troy civics students pose questions to school board candidates

The Troy High School civics class hosted a forum for candidates for the Troy Public Schools Board of Trustees on Tuesday, May 1. Though the forum only lasted about an hour, the high school students challenged the candidates with a series of questions that addressed core issues confronting modern educators.

The two trustee seats that will be filled in the Tuesday, May 8 election are those being vacated by Melinda Thompson and Mark Roesler-Begalke.

Four candidates were present for the forum, Rhoda Richardson, David Orr, Ed Hanson and Joshua Chapel.

The high school students asked a series of questions of the candidates that the students had come up with.

They sought out the candidates’ views on how GPA requirements are met for participation in sports, their support for teachers implementing new material in the curriculum and increasing the “rigor” of classes to keep students engaged, and many other subjects including the dress code and bullying.

The students also tested the candidates’ knowledge of technology in the classroom, posing questions about the use of cell phones in the classroom — none of the candidates viewed personal calls or texting favorably — and other types of personal computers.

One question from Liam Hensley dealt with the Gear Up grant that helps to fund a variety of activities at the school aimed at preparing students for further education after high school and improve the likelihood of their success in college.

With the funds for Gear Up decreasing, Hensley asked the candidates whether any of them had plans for implementing more programs or acquiring new grants to continue helping students prepare for college.

Chapel, the first to answer, admitted that he had no expertise with seeking and applying for grants, but said he would be interested in finding out more about how grant money is spent and how effectively it is spent.

As a hypothetical, Chapel talked about preparing to take tests to get into college as opposed to programs that would prepare students to succeed in college once they got there.

Richardson focused on grants that help to pay for college, such as federal Pell Grants.

She also said that colleges students apply to may be willing to help with the costs of going to tour the college for students the colleges want.

“There’s ways to do it,” she said.

Orr noted that he was not a grant writer.

“The bottom line is, as has already been said, there’s lots of ways to go to college. The first thing you have to decide is why do you want to go to college,” he said.

Orr said that there are other options aside from college that may suit some students as well as or better than a four year degree. Such a career path may also offer greater demand for those skills.

“If you watch the current trends, there’s not going to be a lot of jobs that are there today, 10 years from now. Some of them will be gone in five years,” he said.

He said that students should think about what the long term potential is when choosing a field.

Hanson, who has served on the board in the past, said that his familiarity with Gear Up came from the advantage his grandchildren took of the program.

He said that the program offers more than a typical campus visit in regard to direct interaction with colleges.

The extended visits allow students to get an idea of what college life might be like, including some “advanced learning,” he said.

“I think the intent here is to generate excitement about going to college, and maybe set some goals,” he said. “It’s a good program, but you’ve got to have the funding for it, so a lot of that stuff’s out of our control.

The final question from Zach Burkey spoke of two recent petitions — one for allowing teachers to be armed in or on school grounds and the other against allowing them to be armed — that have been circulated in the community.

He asked the candidates, “What is your opinion on how to keep Troy High School safe in the future?”

Orr acknowledged the question was one the candidates had anticipated.

He said he favored tighter access controls on campus, and noted ongoing efforts by the school to look into ways to do that.

“As far as arming — allowing concealed carry on the campus, I’m in favor of making it available to those who can pass all the psychological evaluations, the desire to do it and the responsibility that goes with it,” Hanson said.

He also said he liked the idea of a school resource officer, “but not somebody that’s riding out the last two years for retirement.”

Orr said there are few things worse than feeling helpless.

“Having served in the military overseas, the only way I want to face someone with a gun is if I have mine,” he said.

Hanson said he was concerned that if teachers were allowed to be armed, it could increase insurance costs.

“There are a lot of other options, physically, that don’t involve guns, that could improve the safety or the security of the campus here,” he said.

Yet, Hanson said that while options included electronic door locks and alarms, “it all comes down to what have you got available in your funds.”

Hanson also raised the option of teachers interested in doing so to become reserve deputies with the Troy Police Department, thereby receiving training and the clearance to carry a firearm in the school.

Chapel said that he is not against teachers carrying, but said there is a struggle in regard to teachers who take issue with the idea of carrying a gun at school.

In a conversation with one of his former teachers, the teacher told Chapel he could not and would not ever shoot one of his students under any circumstance.

“I think that that’s definitely something that needs to be chewed on for a long while,” he said. “That’s the bonus of living in Troy, Montana. It’s small enough that, if we have any of those people running around, we kind of know who they are.”

Chapel said he felt the community could identify someone and get them help before a tragedy happened, “but I’m definitely for making the kids as safe as possible.”

“We all agree that we want our children to stay safe,” Richardson said. “But we need to start from the beginning.”

She questioned what caused people to feel unsafe.

“We need to find out where the problems are, and safety starts at home,” she said.

Richardson said if people identify potential concerns about a child or young adult, they should talk to others, including — if necessary — recommending them to counseling or involving Child Protective Services.

“We need to stop the problem before it gets out of hand,” she said. “I do not want to see guns in the school. I am so against it. There’s got to be another way.”

AJ Faur, the student moderator, re-read a disclaimer at the end, noting that the school did not endorse any candidate or their opinions. He also reminded that voting for the Board will take place Tuesday, May 8, at the Troy Activities Center, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.