POULSBO — The candidates for the one contested race for the North Kitsap School Board say the unpaid position will be a priority in their lives.

Just how involved Doug Prichard or Beth Worthington would be as a school board member will only be seen when one of them takes the reins in 2014.

Prichard is able to focus his time and, if elected, the school board would be an area of focus, he said. The candidate said his work with the school board and his career would be in contention for second on his priority list.

“In terms of prioritization, I always put my family first,” Prichard said. “And then, school board and my career will be conflicting right after that. I believe that you just need to focus your time and commit yourself once you’ve decided to engage in something.”

People who know Worthington know she is involved in many things. The school board would “absolutely” be a priority, she said.

“One of the things I do, is I’m an endurance athlete. I do triathlons,” she said. “I think the school board is real similar to doing a big, long triathlon. So, I really know how to just go out there and put one foot in front of the other and keeping going, and that’s what it’s going to take.”

The District 3 candidates participated in a League of Women Voters candidate forum Oct. 7 in the Poulsbo City Council Chambers. The two north end residents answered questions from the public for an hour, without a whole lot of disagreement.

Following the general election Nov. 5, Prichard or Worthington will replace Kenneth Ames on the school board. Ames was appointed to complete Kathleen Dassel’s term, which expires in December. Ames was eliminated in the primary election in August.

Worthington led the primary election with 3,146 votes. Prichard received 2,280 votes. Ames received 1,333 votes.

During the candidate forum, Prichard and Worthington said they would like to see better data as to why students are leaving the district — as enrollment continues to decline — and how well district programs are faring. They both want the school board to be more communicative with the public, and are willing to answer questions directly and not pass them off to district administrators. Neither disapproves of the new common core standards of testing.

The two also missed the mark on a few questions.

When asked what the role of the board is and the role they might play as a facilitator between the district and Olympic College Poulsbo campus, neither gave a specific answer as to what role they would play.

When asked what is the best way to serve students in alternative learning programs, the candidates focused on the loss of enrollment in the Parent Assisted Learning program. They did not give any suggestions as to the best way to serve those students.

Prichard (www.dougprichard.org) has lived in North Kitsap for 14 years. He has two sons in the district. His wife, Colleen, is active in the district — she is on the Board of Trustees of the North Kitsap Schools Foundation. Prichard is vice president of information systems at Bentall Kennedy, a real estate investment advisory and services organization.

Worthington (http://bethworthington728.wordpress.com) has lived in Suquamish for 19 years and has one child in the school district; another child graduated from the district and is attending college. Worthington is in a 28-year career as a senior systems engineer for FGS-LLC, a Navy contractor. Her work in education has included examiner, judge, and board member for the Washington State Quality Award, and serving on the NKSD 2013-14 Budget Committee.