Candidates' Take: Do You Trust FCPS Staff?

Editor's Note: Even though Fairfax City residents cannot vote for Fairfax County School Board members, the decisions made by the county school board affect curriculum, resources and staffing in city schools. Fairfax City schools are run by FCPS through a services contract the city has with Fairfax County.

Seven candidates will vie for three at-large seats on the Fairfax County School Board in the Nov. 8 elections. 

Patch took six questions  and sent them in a survey to all at-large candidates. All but candidate Lin-Dai Kendall got back to us with their answers.

This series will look at how the candidates responded to each question.

Question: The School Board is almost entirely dependent on school system staff for knowledge and understanding, and there is no standing ombudsman function.  Do you trust the central office staff of FCPS to provide the School Board with honest, well-reasoned, fact-based analysis of policy questions facing that body?

And the responses? 

All of the candidates talked about the importance of school board objectivity and noted that staff recommendations aren't always neutral. Five candidates expressed an interest in hiring an auditer or ombudsman. The sixth hinted at it.

Read on for full responses.

--------------------

Ted Velkoff: "I believe the time has come to examine both the size and reporting structure of the staff that reports to the School Board."

The School Board and the Board of Supervisors have responsibilities that run in parallel.  The School Board oversees the school system, which is managed by the superintendent; the Board of Supervisors oversees county government, which is managed by the county executive.  The twelve member School Board is currently supported by a staff of four people; each of the ten supervisors typically has a staff of four or five people that report to that supervisor.  Although the Board of Supervisors has sole authority to generate revenue, the School Board has sole authority over the school system budget, which comprises more than 53% of county revenue.  The public rightly expects the School Board to operate with independence of the superintendent, just as it expects the Board of Supervisors to act with independence of the county executive.  I believe the time has come to examine both the size and reporting structure of the staff that reports to the School Board.  The hiring of an auditor and perhaps an ombudsman is a good first step.

-------------------

Steve Stuban: We need to an auditer, ombudsman and whistleblower.

To ensure the School Board receives the fact-based analysis of questions it requests, the School Board should create a very small, but important, Inspector General (IG)/Auditing team that reports directly to the School Board.  The IG office would include:  (1) an inspection/investigation/auditing capability to validate appropriateness of policy analyses, programs and associated resources, to include personnel and budget; (2) an Ombudsman role to aid in identifying and addressing FCPS stakeholder (students, families, teachers, staff and the community at large) concerns; and (3) a whistleblower function to investigate reports of potential mismanagement of FCPS programs and/or resources, or other potentially serious and problematic matters.

------------------

Ilryong Moon: "Experience matters."

I do trust staff. They are highly trained professionals who are very good at what they do. Often more important than whether or not I trust their answers (I do) is whether or not the school board has asked the right questions. After twelve years dealing with staff and the implementation of policies, I have gained the experience required to work with the staff resources available to the school board to ask the right questions to get the right information in order to come to the right conclusions. Experience matters.

With that said, I think an audit function that reports directly to the school board is still a good idea. This is not necessarily about trust; an independent audit will give the school board a good understanding about what policies have been the most cost-effective and successful, which will be a critical tool for setting future policy.

-----------------

Ryan McElveen: "It is up to School Board members to challenge the upper-echelons of administration to provide adequate information and policy options."

I have been the only candidate advocating that the School Board employ ombudspersons to oversee and make recommendations based on the concerns of both teachers and parents. However, I do not believe the School Board should be forced to hire a middleman to check the work of the central office staff.

Along with parents and community members, I am concerned that the central office staff presents to the School Board their preferred plans for approval instead of providing policy options from which School Board members can choose. It is up to School Board members to challenge the upper-echelons of administration to provide adequate information and policy options.

As a School Board member, it is impossible to know every situation at every school at all times, but as the only former FCPS employee and graduate running, I will be ready on day one to challenge the administration when necessary.

-----------------

Lolita Mancheno-Smoak: "The School Board must maintain its independence and objectivity in order to best execute its fiduciary responsibility and oversight."

Trust is a very personal human relationship that requires time to build and it would be disrespectful on my part to the highly professional staff to make an attribution without having personally engaged with them. However, the issue is that the School Board does not currently have the ability to obtain independent expert advice without filters, as central office staff is bound to their respective chain of command and cannot serve two masters without conflict. The School Board must maintain its independence and objectivity in order to best execute its fiduciary responsibility and oversight; however, it is hindered by the potential lack of neutrality with the current arrangement of loaned shared staff support.

---------------

Sheree Brown-Kaplan: "An ombudsman function could help foster more mutual understanding and trust, but isn’t the only option."

Unfortunately, a majority on the School Board relies excessively on staff recommendations over those of outside subject matter experts and resists community input. A recent article in Patch, “FCPS Says Schools Survey Lacks Credibility Because of Security Issue,” demonstrates how FCPS leadership views community input, even when staff has designed and implemented the instrument to collect opinions. The implication being that answers FCPS does not want to hear must be generated through inappropriate actions on the part of the community.

As the author of a June 2011 School Board advisory subcommittee report which recommended establishment of a parent ombudsman, I reviewed research which demonstrates our students benefit significantly when schools and parents work together to resolve problems and build relationships. An ombudsman function could help foster more mutual understanding and trust, but isn’t the only option. When parents are recognized and valued as partners throughout the system, an ombudsman supports parents differently than is suggested by this question by providing guidance and support rather than serving as a voice for them.

There is no question that staff expertise must factor into decision-making and policy-setting, but it cannot be the only resource. Research, data and subject matter experts do not exist solely within FCPS. We must be mindful of any and all opportunities to provide the best for students and the community regardless of where the expertise or data may originate.

----------------

Check Patch again for more questions and answers.