POULSBO – Voters elected two new members of the North Kitsap School Board Nov. 3. A third position was too close to call.

Retired principal Glen Robbins defeated Scott Henden in the race for North Kitsap School Board, District 4.

In unofficial election results posted at 8:10 p.m., Robbins had 3,977 votes to Henden’s 2,994. School board members are elected to four-year terms. They are not paid.

In District 2, real estate broker Jim Almond received 4,804 votes. There were 497 write-in votes, most presumably for write-in candidate Bruce Christen, who was appointed to the board a year ago.

In District 5, school board member Bill Webb was leading educator/paralegal Deborah Simon 3,255 to 3,156, a margin of 99 votes.

DISTRICT 4
Earlier Election Day, Henden said of his school board service, “Honestly, I’m just trying to do the right thing,” he said. “Someone stopped me when I was sign waving and told me I was the ‘watchdog of the school district.’ I really appreciated that comment. I’m honest and direct.”

Of his campaign, he said, “I don’t think I would’ve changed a thing. I could have been better refined at times, there were some human errors in the things I’ve said. But everything I’ve said I believe.”

Earlier Election Day, Robbins was confident of being elected. “I don’t have a special agenda other than to listen to the families, school members, and staff in order to make the best school system possible,” he said. “I have a commitment to our kids and our schools. Volunteering with the kids at Wolfle Elementary is a big part of every Tuesday in my life. That’s what it’s all about.”

Henden, an electrical contractor running for his second term on the school board, campaigned as an advocate for students who plan to go into the workforce post-graduation, instead of pursuing college education.

“I have had the opportunity for 30 years to hire young people coming out of school and teach them a trade,” Henden said during the campaign.

“If I wanted to advocate for somebody — all of them certainly deserve it, but I think watching out for the average kid that’s going to school, that’s doing OK — that’s something that’s important to me.”

Robbins said his experience as an educator (he has been a teacher, principal and administrator in the NKSD) is something he thinks has really stood out to voters.

“I think that it’s my educator lens and understanding how schools work and understanding [the] school family and staff,” Robbins said during the campaign.

In an earlier interview, Robbins said, “There’s business people, in the past there’s been medical personnel, business leaders [on the school board] … I look through the lens as an educator, not only as a teacher but as an administrator. I understand how kids learn, I understand how teachers can do the best job in their classroom.”

Robbins campaigned on the idea that his personal experience in various education positions will give him a unique and needed perspective on the school board.

“The job I would be needing to really focus in on (if elected) is listening to all the stakeholders, school personnel and community, and see what (needs improving), what we can do, to implement changes that we identify need to happen,” Robbins said.

He said his campaign included “networking with support people that have been involved in the primary, connecting with the different groups.”

DISTRICT 5
Earlier Election Day, Webb was confident of being reelected. “We’re better off now than we were four years ago,” he said. “The house is better, we’ve done some really good things over the last four years.”

Simon said of her campaign, “There is a need for change in the district,” she said. “Because of that, it needs to start at the board level. I’m spending the day hoping — I’m hopeful that things work out [in a] way that spells hope for the district.”

Of her campaign, she said, “I ran my campaign as honestly as I could, saying what I felt to be true without using the ‘attack tactic.’ I wouldn’t do anything differently simply because I did it as honestly and fairly as I could.”

Webb, an engineer seeking a second term on the school board, has a bachelor of science in geology from Washington and Lee University, and is a certified project manager. He served on the board of Parametrix, an engineering, planning and environmental sciences company with offices in four states, including Bremerton; and the Society of Military Engineers.

Simon is a former teacher and paralegal who served for three years on the district’s Community Financial Advisory Committee and Highly Capable Committee. She has a bachelor of arts in liberal studies from California State University, Fullerton, and a teaching credential. She is working on a master’s degree through Arizona State University.

During the campaign, Webb said that when he joined the school board, the district’s fund reserve was down to 1 percent of the budget and finances were on watch by the state. In the ensuing four years, a new superintendent was hired, the reserve was restored to 5 percent, and the district eliminated participation fees for kindergarten, sports, and other activities.

In addition, “Our achievement scores are better … Our kids are doing as well as anyone else.”

Webb said the district has improved how it estimates student enrollment; that’s tricky yet important, because staffing is determined by the estimated enrollment. But if the average daily attendance is lower than estimated, revenue from the state drops and the district ends up overstaffed.

Under the new system, he said, “We’ve missed by half percent.” He said the district asks for exit interviews with parents who choose to enroll their children in another district, but “a lot of people choose not to participate.”

Part of the challenge in managing class sizes at individual schools: the district has open enrollment and parents don’t report which schools their children will attend, he said.

Webb supports the teaching of civics and Native American history in district schools; both are required this year. “I understand [Tribal] sovereignty and we’ve built a good relationship [with Port Gamble S’Klallam and Suquamish]. People here need to understand that [the Tribes] are members of our community, but they have their own government.” Regarding civics education, he said, “There’s nothing more important in building good citizens.”

He wants to further develop opportunities to prepare non-college bound students for careers after high school, perhaps by connecting students with internships in their fields of interest.

Webb said teachers are not compensated enough. He said he voted against this year’s contract with the teachers’ union “because I didn’t feel it supported teachers enough.”

Simon’s concerns about the district’s ability to accommodate all students with special needs — including those considered “fast learners,” or “highly capable,” like her children — arose when she found that the district’s offerings were limited prior to third grade.

During the campaign, Simon pointed to other areas where the district needs to improve.

Classroom sizes are out of balance in several schools, she said: 71 percent of classrooms at Pearson Elementary are over the contract limit regarding number of students, 21 percent of classrooms at Poulsbo Elementary are at limit, while 21 percent are over the limit at Poulsbo Middle School. She said possible solutions include flexible boundaries and reopening Breidablik Elementary.

She suggested expanding civics education to include real-world experiences, such as mock elections. Pointing to the importance of teaching Native American history, she said the North Kitsap School District is “unique in the state or farther” in that it serves two Tribes. She suggests expanding the frequency and locations of career days — not having the event at just one site, but at several schools in the district.

She said the district needs to improve how it engages with residents. She said committees often seem to use “a script” and try to shape the outcome, rather than simply elicit public input.

“That’s not engaging,” she said. “The district needs to go out of its way to hear [parents] and take to heart what they say … The district appears tired and needs to think outside the box.”

Speaking of thinking outside the box: She was asked what she would do to improve public attendance at school board meetings. She suggested having school board meetings at different schools — kind of a neighborhood approach — rather than just at the district office. Then she quipped: “Have the student performance at the middle of the meeting rather than the beginning.”

DISTRICT 2
In anticipation of his election, Almond said earlier on Election Day, “I want everyone to work together, and that’s our main goal,” he said. “It’s an honor to be on the ballot and asked to run. I just pray to do the best job I can.”

He added, “If I see they’ve elected me I’ll say, that’s a blessing, I think … I’d be a servant to the people and their wishes. If I win I’ll do the best job I can for the taxpayers and the district.”

Before the election results were tallied, Christen, who was appointed to the position a year ago after Dan Weedin resigned, was doubtful of winning as a write-in candidate.

“I don’t think there’s ever been an elected write-in candidate, so that would be quite a miracle if I won,” he said. “I would, however, like to thank everyone for the opportunity to serve on the board. I will be participating in the open discussion forum in the future, being off the board and speaking publicly. I look forward to that.”

Christen filed Oct. 6 as a write-in candidate for North Kitsap School Board. He initially decided not to run for a full term but filed as a write-in after lone candidate Almond, a real estate broker endorsed by the local Republican Party, didn’t participate in the Oct. 5 League of Women Voters candidates forum and didn’t file a candidate statement for the voters pamphlet.

Almond’s no-show prompted a letter to the editor from Beth Worthington, school board president:

“As Election Day got closer, I looked for information about Jim Almond, the unopposed candidate for NKSD director, District 2. I did not find any,” she wrote in a letter to the Herald in early October. “The statement in Kitsap County’s Voters Pamphlet was blank. He did not submit one. Most other unopposed candidates had statements. He did not respond to the invitation to the League of Women Voters candidates’ forum on Oct. 5. Three unopposed Poulsbo City Council candidates did respond and attended.

“It is not fair to North Kitsap voters to ask them to cast a vote when no information is available. Our schools are too important to vote without knowing what the candidate believes in or what they will do.”

Almond said Oct. 13 that he didn’t participate in the candidates forum because “I had something scheduled, I’ll leave it at that.”

He said that although he didn’t submit a statement for the voters’ pamphlet, “I have my written statements online,” a reference to Q&As that he’s filled out.

Of his priorities as a school board member, he said, “I’m a short-answered person. I support the union, the schools, the teachers, and our community. But do I have an agenda? No.”

Almond said he hasn’t had the opportunity to attend school board meetings, but said he keeps up on district affairs because his wife is a teacher in the district. He said he could bring “a different perspective, that of a businessman” to the school board, and wants the “community and taxpayers to know what they’re paying for.”

Almond ran for 23rd District state representative in 1998 as a candidate from the American Heritage Party, which is now known as the Christian Liberty Party. He received 4,077 votes to Republican Paul Zellinsky’s 18,980 and Democrat Phil Rockefeller’s 23,095.

Between Almond’s activities as a Gideon — an organization of Christian business and professional men who are dedicated to distributing God’s word around the world — and real estate business, he said, “A lot of people in the community know me. They pretty much know what I stand for.”

The school board’s legal responsibilities, as outlined on the district website, are to establish general policy for the school district; adopt and revise the annual operating budget; select and evaluate the superintendent; employ school personnel upon the recommendation of the superintendent; exercise the power to administer schools conferred by the Legislature; and keep the public informed on the needs and progress of the education system.