Local News

Making Franklin schools even better goal of board candidates

October 11, 2018

The four candidates vying for two spots on the Franklin Community school board all have children in the system and a vested interest in the schools’ success.They do, however, differ slightly in what issues they prioritize and how they might go about providing a top-quality educational experience for their own children and others.Ryan Waggoner, one of two candidates for the Needham Township board seat, stresses the importance of doing right by the teachers in the district."I think we expect teachers to solve all the world’s problems, and we pay them in peanuts, and that just can’t be how we operate our school system," Waggoner said. "Particularly when the corporations that surround us are paying higher salaries. So I think that’s the number one priority, to get our compensation up. And there are efforts underway right now to do that, and I would just be really supportive of moving that forward as fast as possible."[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this galleryHis opponent, Joey Ott, is big on organizational behavior and says he’d like to see greater accountability for those charged with touching the lives of students. He wants to develop strong administrative leadership and believes that his experience as a pharmaceutical project manager at Eli Lilly would serve him well in those efforts."I think the superintendent, from the top all the way down, can create a culture of ‘people matter,’" Ott said. "And while it’s great to have people who are effective and highly effective, it’s also OK to have an improvement plan for everybody. I’m a high achiever at my work, but I also have my own things I need to work on."For Union Township candidate Greg Hurrle, safety is a top concern — and he feels that with his experience as a firefighter in White River Township, he’d be able to offer some valuable insight in that area.Hurrle spoke about the importance of taking additional steps to be prepared for emergencies, such as numbering windows at the schools so that first responders could better identify entry points and assess situations more effectively should an incident occur.Becky Nelson, who has been working inside the school building in her role as a nurse at Northwood Elementary School, says that her top priority is making sure that students have a healthy and safe learning environment. She said that Franklin has achieved that on an everyday basis, but also by having a communication plan set up to alert parents in the event of a crisis."You have to get all of the information together first before you contact parents," Nelson said. "You wouldn’t want to contact parents as it’s happening because you wouldn’t even know what’s going on."There’s a system in place, and in the past, as an employee and as a parent, I feel that that system has worked."All four candidates agreed that the facilities across the district are in good shape overall, though they display varying degrees of urgency in terms of what upgrades might need to be made in the future.Waggoner would like to see Union Elementary School either get a facelift or be replaced altogether. Hurrle said that the building is still in solid shape but worries that enrollment increases in coming years may render some of the schools obsolete."(Union) is without a doubt the oldest building in the Franklin school corporation, but yet it produces pretty good results," Hurrle said. "My concern as time goes on … I don’t know if the school, 10, 15, 20 years from now, would be able to handle the capacity of kids."Both Nelson and Waggoner came up through the Franklin school system, and they said that it has served them well and is doing the same for their children. They’d like to work to make what they consider great schools even better."Growing up in this town and going to these schools, I can attest that the vast majority of the teachers I had — and many of them are still there — were highly effective and good educators," Waggoner said."I see a lot of exciting things happening at FCS, and I want to be a part of helping the corporation reach its goals," Nelson added.Current school board members Danny Vaught, who is the Union Township representative, and Darren Thompson, who represents Needham Township, decided not to seek re-election. The two new board members will each serve a four-year term. [sc:pullout-title pullout-title="About the job" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]Franklin school boardTerm: 4 yearsPay: $2,000 per term with no per diemDuties: Review superintendent, approve school district budget, review and approve new school policyRepresents: One representative each for Needham and Union townships[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The candidates on: School safety" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]School safety and security are huge issues nationally. What, if any, changes does your school district need to make to be sure that schools are safe?Greg Hurrle: I have the luxury of seeing both sides of it as a parent and as a first responder, being a firefighter at White River Township and working with the Center Grove schools and training in those facilities. … Having a game plan from the outside of the building before we get to the inside is key. It’s early preparation. It’s being proactive instead of reactive.Becky Nelson: I feel that the schools are very safe right now. There are a lot of checks and balances in place already that help to keep the schools safe. We have a great relationship with our resource officers and the Franklin police. Anytime we need help, they’re just a call away.Joey Ott: I would like to maybe evaluate having Franklin’s own police force. I know that other school districts around have their own police force, and so at least do a financial analysis to see, number one, if it’s feasible. It might actually be better, at least in terms of better bang for your buck.Ryan Waggoner: We need a comprehensive approach to figuring out how we address this problem. I think one piece is increased training and education for teachers — not just what to do in crisis situations, but also how to identify at-risk kids and figure out a way to intervene before students become predators in schools.Are school resource officers needed? How many? What would their role be? Hurrle: They’re needed. I think Franklin has two that are going to be in the schools right now. I think there’s more coming; there’ll be one at the middle school, maybe one at the intermediate school. Just their presence being there is a good thing.Nelson: I definitely think they’re needed. If nothing else, sometimes it just takes kids seeing them and building that relationship; it doesn’t have to be a bad thing to see the resource officer there. … As far as how many, it really depends on what school you’re at. It depends on what day it is. Some days are better than others. So just having a pool we could pull from would be helpful.Ott: It depends on what the needs are. I think a daily on-duty officer, at least one officer in each elementary school — those are smaller, obviously — but as you get up to Custer Baker and the middle school and obviously the high school, those are larger buildings that could pose different threats or dangers because of the number of entrances and what not. So I don’t know what the right answer is from a police force standpoint. Whoever we would hire as a (school police) chief would surely have some input into that.Waggoner: I’d like to figure out a way to have more resource officers in the buildings; we have one at the high school, and it’s been a pretty big success. If we can replicate that at the middle school and the intermediate school, and maybe even at the elementary schools, I think that could give a lot of us a lot of peace of mind.[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The candidates on: Grading schools" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]How important are the scores from statewide testing or the grades the state assigns to school districts and schools? How would you use that information for your school district?Greg Hurrle: I think a grading system or testing system is important. I’m not 100 percent convinced that what we’re doing is a good way to measure the kids’ progress or success. I don’t work as a teacher; I don’t work as an educator … but I feel the teachers sometimes question the way the state measures their students. I would definitely have to refer to that and ask for more information from the teachers, but that’s kind of the vibe I get from the teachers.Becky Nelson: I think it’s nice to see those signs that say, ‘Oh, this is an A-plus school,’ but I think you have to actually look at what’s going on in the school, what’s going on in the classroom. How are kids improving? Not every kid starts at an ‘A,’ but if they started at an ‘F’ and now they’re at a ‘C,’ that’s improvement. I think as long as the kids in the classroom are continuing to improve … I think that’s more important than a letter grade from the state.Joey Ott: They’re important. I’d be hesitant to say they’re the end-all, be-all, because whatever metrics you put on people or the schools for performance, you’re going to dictate a set of behaviors to really hit high on those metrics. If these scores from statewide testing, if that’s the goal, then teachers are going to teach to get those high scores. … I don’t believe that the way it’s set up now is preparing all of our students for a college or a trade or whatever.Ryan Waggoner: It’s important because it’s the metric that the government uses, and at this point we can’t do anything about it. That’s the rules we have to play by. … I think what really matters is student growth, how we treat kids who come from all types of backgrounds in our buildings, and whether or not we’re a school system where kids can have big dreams and have the opportunity to chase those dreams.[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The candidates on: Bullying" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]In state reports, schools report few, if any, bullying incidents. Are these numbers accurate? Is bullying an issue in schools? If so, how should it be addressed?Greg Hurrle: I would have to listen to my kids. Bullying is an issue. Fighting is an issue. I think it comes with the territory of that age group. … Unfortunately, a lot of times it goes unreported and the teachers never know about it. … Students need to report it, and I think sometimes the pressure is to stay out of it, to not report it, to not be the tattletale — but the end result can be bad.Becky Nelson: To an extent, there’s still bullying in schools. I think that there are still issues, but it’s dealt with when it occurs. Especially if it’s brought to our attention by a parent or a student, then it’s addressed right then. Usually the principal and the parents can work through things pretty quickly and find out what’s going on.Joey Ott: If I had to guess, it’s probably an inaccurate number, because most cases don’t go reported. And there’s different levels of bullying; there’s verbal, obviously, and then there’s physical. I would hope the physical bullying would be reported in some manner. … It’s up to those teachers who hear about it, who see it, being observant and looking for it.Ryan Waggoner: I don’t know if it’s accurate or not. The reality is that there are bullies. There have been bullies since the beginning of time. The difference is nowadays … the public is becoming more aware of the impact of bullying and the role that schools need to play in preventing bullying. I think it goes back to teachers who have the support that they need to see these things happening. … We do ourselves a disservice if we have kids coming into our schools who are worried about how they’re being treated, when really they need to be worried about learning.[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The candidates on: Rating the superintendent" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]School districts give reviews to the superintendent each year. What are important qualities in a superintendent? How would you measure their performance?Greg Hurrle: I look at the superintendent like I would look at the fire chief of my fire department. He’s the chief; he’s the leader. Important qualities would be for him to stay engaged in his teachers, to take feedback from his teachers, be able to process it and turn it into forward progress. I would like to see him engage in the students, to be at the athletic events, to talk to the parents, to support the coaches. He should be the No. 1 cheerleader at the school.Becky Nelson: Are they a good problem solver? Are they approachable? … Fair? Dr. Clendening, I’ve always felt like he’s been very fair. He can be serious about things, you can joke with him about things. That’s important, to build a relationship with the superintendent. I guess to measure their performance, how happy are the staff? Do they feel like they’re being treated well and good decisions are being made? I mean, that’s their livelihood.Joey Ott: The superintendent has got to be a leader. Establishing and nurturing that culture of people matter, and development, that is something that I would look to the superintendent to do.Ryan Waggoner: It’s really important that the superintendent be a part of this community, and that’s one of the reasons that I really appreciate Dr. Clendening, because he is here. … I also think that the superintendent needs to be the face of the corporation, and with that comes a lot of responsibility. It’s how you carry yourself, it’s the way you speak, it’s the way you address problems. Those are the things that matter most to me, and I think currently, Dr. Clendening is doing a great job.[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The Hurrle File" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]Gregory HurrleResidence: BargersvilleFamily: Wife, Mandy, and three childrenOccupation: Firefighter and EMT, White River Township Fire DepartmentEducation: Roncalli High School (1994), Ivy Tech Indianapolis (1997)Political experience: Appointed to Bargersville Fire District Board in 2006[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The Nelson File" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]Becky NelsonResidence: MorgantownFamily: Husband, Travis, and two sonsOccupation: School nurse at Northwood Elementary; registered nurse with Johnson Memorial Hospital and Advantage Home HealthEducation: Franklin Community High School (1991), Marian University (1998)Political experience: None[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The Ott File" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]Joel "Joey" OttResidence: FranklinFamily: Wife, Amanda, and three childrenOccupation: Pharmaceutical project manager for Eli LillyEducation: North Harrison High School (1996), Hanover College (2000), University of Louisville (MS, 2004), Butler University (MBA, 2016)Political experience: None[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="The Waggoner file" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]Ryan WaggonerResidence: FranklinFamily: Wife, Amber, and two childrenOccupation: Nonprofit attorney for Ice Miller LLPEducation: Franklin Community High School (2006), Butler University (2010), Pepperdine University School of Law (2013)Political experience: None[sc:pullout-text-end]

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