Two file for one seat on Onaway School Board

Darwin Smith and Henry C. Prall are vying for the only open seat available on the Onaway Area Schools Board of Education. Marsha Tovar, secretary, who has served on the board for eight years, will be vacating her seat this year. The school board election is Monday. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Forest Township Hall and the school buildings in Onaway and Millersburg. Prall is a pastor at Huron Beach Community Church, He is married with three children, 15, 13, and 10. Smith is married and has five children, 18, 13, nine, five and two.

He is a truck driver for the Presque Isle County Road Commission, in the Onaway garage. In order to allow the voters in the school district to make an informed decision on Monday, The Outlook asked the candidates a few questions.

Why are you running? Prall: In order to be eligible to participate in extra-curricular activities in the Onaway Schools, a student must maintain a ?D? average or above…I know we can do better than that. I believe a well-balanced child should do well in all activities. I have pulled my own children out of sports when their grade averages dropped below a ?B.? Did it make me popular with them? No, but I?m not trying to win a popularity contest…I?m trying to raise my children to become responsible adults.

Smith: I have been attending the school board meetings for some time now, as an interested parent. I have felt that for the most part that I was in agreement with the way in which the board conducted its business. Had this seat not become available, through the resignation of Marsha Tovar, I would have continued to attend the meetings as I had in the past, because I had no complaints. I also do not feel that I could do the job any better than any of the current board members. Marsha was an excellent board member and her shoes will be hard to fill.

What qualities would you bring to the position? Prall: I am currently Chairman of the Board at Huron Beach Community Church, where I have served as a board member for the past four years. After attending the May school board meeting, I have to ask…what is the primary role of the school board? Are they representatives of the public or of the teachers? Are they an advocacy bridging the gap between parents and teachers, or are they there to side with the teachers and staff no matter what the situation? Don?t get me wrong. I believe Onaway Schools, for the most part, has a superior staff, both teaching and administrative. However while sitting there, listening to parents and former students alike voice their concerns regarding our school, I couldn?t help but get the feeling that they were getting ?blown off? by the board. Their obvious distress was minimized in order for the board to defend their actions. There was a total lack of diplomacy. I believe that Lori Kowalski had a valid concern. We cannot afford to shake our heads and label someone as an ?alarmist? because they fear another Columbine incident. Many of the parents of the Columbine School district are wishing they had done something, instead of having their heads in the proverbial sand. Being a child today is much more stressful than when most of us were in school. They don?t need the added pressure that has been (admittedly) added by the bullying incidents. Did the school board handle it appropriately? Good question. The biggest problem that was shining like a beacon at the last board meeting was the cold callousness that most of these concerns were treated with. They were dealt with last month? So what! You continue to address them diplomatically until everyone is satisfied that they have been heard. Immediately following the meeting, I was approached by a teacher who asked, ?Are you sure you still want to do this?? My response is ?YES!? We don?t make changes, make our community a better place to live, by sitting in our homes shaking our heads and grumbling under our breath. ?Dining room politics? just don?t work. If you want change, you have to get involved.

Smith: If elected, I will bring many of the same qualities to the board that she (Tovar) possesses.. I have a deep interest in the school system, and deeper still by the fact that I have children in the system. I want very much for the children of our area to succeed. I?d like them to have the best possible education, in order to take the best advantage of opportunities that may come their way. The mileage has passed and construction will begin very soon on the changes that the people of the district approved. This is an exciting time for the district, and a critical time for the board as well as the school administration. What will be needed during this time is a vision for the near future which will put the best interest of the students at the forefront. Additionally, there is a need for long term vision that will provide a consistent, cohesive plan, which will make the best use of the taxpayer?s investment in the school. These two things will require a united board, working together for the future of the districts students. One of the benefits I gained by having attended the meetings is that I have acquainted myself with many of the issues facing the board. This is important because many of the toughest decisions facing the board, particularly in relation to the cutbacks that have been visited upon the district, will have already been made by the time the election takes place. One thing that I will bring to the board is the ability to work with them. We have a very good, very capable board, and I think most of the visionary issues I mentioned are already in place. Onaway is really a great place to live, and has been good to me. I want very much to give something of myself back to this community, and I see service on the school board as one excellent way to do that.

Why do you believed you are the strongest candidate?

Prall: If elected, I promise to take every concern seriously, whether from inside the school system, or outside. No one should get blown off. While it?s impossibl

e to please everyone, a little diplomacy can go a long way. Everyone has a right to be heard; and everyone should go home with the satisfaction that while they may not have won the fight, at least their voice was heard. That is my goal. Parents, teachers, administration, staff and most of all the students are important enough for you to bring to the board, than it?s important enough for me to listen to. If it were my problem, and I was taking it to the board, I would expect the same treatment… and that?s the key. If elected, I?ll treat you exactly the way I would like to be treated if you were a board member.

Smith: Frankly, I don?t know that I am. Henry Prall is a fine person, and I think we are pretty much in agreement on the issues. The board is in kind of a win-win situation in this election, in that both candidates are interested in the academic issues and are aware of the problems facing the school. There are several challenges in the immediate future, having mostly to do with the construction issues and dealing with drastically reduced State Aid for the system. School security is probably going to become more of an issue, here and throughout the country, and will have to be dealt with. Block scheduling will likely have some bugs to work out and possibly some curriculum changes will be needed to bring the book work in line with the new scheduling. I?m speculating on some of this, but these are some of the possibilities that I see on the horizon. I would like to mention also, that I gathered the required maximum of twenty signatures on my petition for elect to the board.