Warren school board candidates vary in style, but both want better schools

Chuck Thibaudeau challenges incumbent school committee member Erin Schofield in November election

By Ted Hayes
Posted 10/17/18

They’ve got different styles and visions for how Bristol Warren schools should — and is currently — educating students, but two Warren candidates who hope to earn a seat on the …

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Warren school board candidates vary in style, but both want better schools

Chuck Thibaudeau challenges incumbent school committee member Erin Schofield in November election

Posted

They’ve got different styles and visions for how Bristol Warren schools should — and are currently — educating students, but two Warren candidates who hope to earn a seat on the nine-member board next month agree on one thing: A lot of work needs to be done to help make students at all grade levels safer and happier, support and fight for teachers, improve Hugh Cole and the Kickemuit Middle School, and prepare students for life after high school.

Incumbent Erin Schofield, a mother of three who has been on the board for four years, faces Charles “Chuck” Thibaudeau in this year’s election. Ms. Schofield was new to public service experience when she was first elected to the board in 2014, while Mr. Thibaudeau has been serving on the Planning Board for two decades. For the past few months the two have been trying to get their message out, taking different routes to get there. For Ms. Schofield, that involves walking around town, knocking on doors and talking about issues with administrators and parents from inside and out of the districts. For Mr. Thibaudeau, it involves networking with business owners and getting out on Social Media. Facebook has played a large role in getting his message out, and he has a wide Facebook network of parents, teachers and supporters who have been discussing the issues with him for months.

While both agree that the district needs work, their styles vary widely.

“I’ve got three kids in this district and I’m in it for the long haul,” Ms. Schofield, a Providence business owner, said. “This is the hardest job I’ve ever had. It truly is. But nothing worthwhile is easy. I’m not going to be the loudest, angriest person in the room, but that does not mean I’m not there in the fight. There’s always more to be done, and I feel a great responsibility to being a part of getting our schools to where they need to be.”

“A lot of things need to change, and I haven’t seen a lot of fight,” said Mr. Thibaudeau, who has six children in or graduated from the district.

“There’s ways to fight a battle: Sometimes you need to get angry, and sometimes you need to put your foot down. If you have an angry crowd with pitchforks and torches show up at meetings, it’s a lot easier to make change. Dissent (on the school committee) is a good thing. We’ve gone through members left and right. I don’t have a problem getting along in a good fight.

The issues

While their styles vary, both candidates share many of the same concerns about the district. In Warren particularly, that includes behavioral health, administrative support and morale at both the Hugh Cole and Kickemuit Middle School.

Well-publicized stories of bullying, low teacher morale and other difficulties have been circulating at both schools for months, and both candidates also believe that there needs to be more support for students, teachers, school infrastructure and more.
While she said the district has made and continues to make great strides in addressing behavioral issues at both schools, Ms. Schofield said much, much more needs to be done. The schools don’t have the resources they need to effectively deal with the large issues they face:

“We need stronger support services, we need training for our staff. If we’re talking about Warren schools, we need more in both Hugh Cole and KMS. Kickemuit, in my opinion, needs a lot of attention. We have kids who need help, and we don’t have the supports set up to do that.”

Mr. Thibaudeau agrees, and believes that Warren’s place in the district — particularly with its 33 percent minority on the nine-member school board — is part of the problem.

“Hugh Cole has never received the resources it needs,” he said, saying that the lack of support is systemic across the district.

“No one has ever fought for it. I’ve met with 40 or 50 teachers across the district that are seeing discipline issues that are disrupting the classrooms; they’re not getting a lot of support from the administration.”

A lot of that, he believes, comes from what he views as a cozy relationship between district brass and the school committee, in which — he believes — committee members blindly follow directives from the superintendent’s office.

“As a board they’ve become complacent,” he said.

”I think they’ve gotten to a point where they’re taking all their information directly from administration. They’re not talking to teachers, they’re not talking to other districts.”

That is not the case, Ms. Schofield said.

"I don’t think it’s a huge secret that this is a split committee," she said. "I ran four years ago to get in there and start changing the culture to make it more accessible, more transparent. Change starts with four years of me being the dissenting vote and waiting for the other votes to come. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it does, and is, happening.“

Does the school board rubber stamp administration recommendations? Absolutely not, she said. Speaking of votes she’s made against the majority — on standardized testing, delinquent lunch account policies, March spring break and other issues — she said she has always voted her conscience even if she was in the minority.

“My record shows that I listen and that I carefully consider every single vote. I am one vote of nine but I believe I am an important vote.

Technology, and reaching every kid

One aspect of education that Mr. Thibaudeau feels has gotten off track in Bristol Warren is technology and specifically, his belief that it is not being used effectively, or for the right reasons.

The district has been taking steps in recent years to increase the amount of technology available to students and while he believes it is important, it is no substitute for good, well-supported teachers and hands-on interactions between students and staff.

"We seem to be living in an isolated bubble that is more interested in Chromebooks," he said. "We need to get back to the point of teaching. The teachers are the important part, and the simple question that needs to be asked is how does this (increasing technology) enhance a child's education?"

From Ms. Schofield's perspective, it does a lot. But she disagrees with Mr. Thibaudeau's take that the pursuit of technology for its own sake is what's driving its increasing presence in the district.

"I believe that we need a balance between technology and traditional teaching methods. I think that no child should walk in and be on a Chromebook all day."

"I see the issue more as, how can teachers use this technology in a balanced way? Because this is still pretty new."

Across the district, she said, teachers are using the increased technology in exciting ways, and it's not being done in a vacuum. From the Mt. Hope news network to using computers to augment teaching and help supplement hands-on lessons, to sending students out into the community to learn firsthand about the technology used in the real world, she believes district teachers see it as a tool, and nothing more.

"If (students) can take these tools and skills that they learn in school and see right away how they apply in the real world, that's a really big deal."
That's why she is happy with the district's involvement in Prepare Rhode Island, a career and technological education program that has been ramping up in the district over the past few years. through the program, she said, students are placed with local businesses and learn about how the jobs of today operate, and what they need to learn to be successful in them.

She said business owners have told her and others exactly what they want to see from grads, and through that curriculums — and the use of technology — are being shaped to help further those goals. She said she is proud of the program and believes it offers students the type of education they cannot find in the classroom.

"The world is changing," she said. "That's the way it is. But we're building pathways for (students) to be successful."

Not enough, Mr. Thibaudeau fears.

He believes that high school students who don't fit the district's formula are getting left behind. While college prep is a big push and many students follow that path, he believes that those standards don't apply to many students. Those are the ones being overlooked and and under-served, he said.

"We need to look at the high school for the other half of the students," he said. "We need to take care of the kids that aren't going to college for whatever reason," he said.

"There are plenty of local opportunities, from manufacturers" that would love to train students in CNC work to the Warren Fire Department, which for years under former Warren Fire Chief Al Galinelli brought in youngsters to teach them about his calling.

"Since 2011 I've been involved a lot with the kids in high school," he said. "Where is that training? I'm noting that a lot of kids argen't going to college. So about five or six years ago, I got involved with people trying to give direction to kids who were getting out of school without direction. My people are ready to go and have 30 to 40 kids, at least, being given some guidance on good careers they could get into."

Wider audience

In the coming weeks Ms. Schofield and Mr. Thibaudeau intend to keep pushing their philosophy for the district by knocking on doors, connecting through Social Media and debating the issues in public. They will both appear at a Bristol Warren Regional School Committee forum being held this Thursday in Bristol (see story, page xx).

"I don't feel there's an option for me not to run," Ms. Schofield said. "I'm not done yet with the important work that we've started and I want to see it through."

"As a parent I've seen how the district works," Mr. Thibaudeau added. "The district has a lot of issue and many things are coming to a head. I think I can help."

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