Three file for board

Farris wrote in his application, “As the runner up [in the May election] I owe it to my neighbors within zone 5 to apply for the position we campaigned so hard for as we were serious about representing the majority of our neighbors in public ownership of our community’s schools.”

Farris got 34 percent of the vote, while Bethani Frantz-Studebaker kept the seat she’d been appointed to the summer before with 56.3 percent of the vote. She announced in August, however, that she was moving to Idaho because her husband got a job there.

Stevens said in his application he would share his “business and life experiences to benefit our community. I will represent different groups in the community and ensure that others have a voice in making education and administrative decisions. As a member, I will be a conduit for the concerns and interests of teachers and parents along with students.

“I have a personal interest in preserving and improving the quality of our school system because I have an 8- and 10-year-old that lives in this district.”

Grant said in his application, “I would like to be a member of the NWCSD Board to serve our community. I would like to help bring in my work ethic and enthusiasm to better our children’s education.”

Grant said he is the current vice chair of the Wasco County Republican Party. He said his goals for the board were to expand as much as possible on programs that would help students transition into the adult world. “I would like to bring a great deal of pride into our school system no matter what condition the current facilities are in.”

When speaking of his goals for the district, Stevens wrote, “I will be saddened to see Mrs. Armstrong retiring at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. With her retirement it is imperative that we as a board hire a forward-thinking, proactive person that knows how to effectively communicate and bring people together with the idea of running a district but also passing a school bond.”

Stevens said his goals for the district were to hire the right superintendent to replace Candy Armstrong, who retires next June, and to pass a comprehensive school bond to replace the high schools and elementaries. He wanted the bond presented in a way that would be understandable to the general public.

Farris’s prior relevant board experience includes serving on a non-profit board he co-founded in Seattle that helped families facing foreclosure.

“My background in education and as a grassroots community organizer makes me uniquely qualified to represent our neighbors and help rebuild trust for our public school system,” Farris wrote. He has worked as a teacher, union electrician, and tutor.

He received the John Caughlin Youth Award in 2007, was on the Dean’s List at Seattle Central Community College and got an Army Commendation Medal for an incident in Iraq.

Farris said his goals for the district were to end privatization of services in the district, which include food service and maintenance, and to have “administrators accountable to the public again.”

He said the “culture of fear and retaliation encouraged by the current administration must be replaced with advocacy for the real leaders” of the school system, the teachers and staff.

He said the public needs to know they can trust the district to transparently represent them, and he felt strongly that active shooter drills should be deprioritized and more focus put on “comprehensive prevention and health resources.”

He said a strong liberal arts education to help students learn to think critically in advocating for themselves and others was crucial.

He said technology like computer games, cell phones and iPads are making learning and socialization more difficult. He called for healthy skepticism of implementing new technology in the classroom. He also encouraged more focus on the trades.