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Show J' ' ' - '( " J v I -.'xx.... .:' 3 ) '(; -jXZi-' Jl -,Mh." r.. - V 'VA - i ' ' ' y Nancy McComb Ralph Hale Candidates vie for four school board seats by Nan Chalat This Tuesday four of the five members of the Park City Board of Education will be up for re-election. Two of the incumbent board members, Lindy Blackboum and Gary Avise, face opposing candidates candi-dates in their districts. Ralph Hale and Nancy McComb are running unopposed. Lindy Blackbourn was appointed by the board last January to replace Rand Clark who had two years remaining on his existing term. By law the appointed, candidate , must file for election on. the nearest voting date. Blackboum has filed to complete the last two years of Clark's term. Blackboum has been challenged for her seat by Ennis Gibbs. Both candidates are profiled in this issue. The other contested seat currently is held by Gary Avise, who represents Precinct 1 of the school district. Ed Axtell has also filed for that seat. Both candidates were profiled in the Oct. 18 edition of the Park Record. Avise, who is president of the Park City Board of Education, said he wants to continue the progress made by the current administration. He cited the increased graduation requirements, the passage of the voted leeway and the 16.7 percent increase in teachers' salaries as examples of that progress. Axtell told the Park Record the board of education needs to be more responsible to teachers and parents in the district. He criticized the current board's handling of the now vacant Carl Winters Middle School which could have been sold to the City and Deer, Valley for use as an Arts and Sciences Institute. Axtell ' said the board was mistaken in not pursuing that offer. Although the district has made significant gains in the last four years, Axtell said there is no time to sit down and "pat ourselves on the back. "I promise to be a good listener." Nancy McComb, who is running unopposed in the Park Meadows District now is working at the state office of education as an intern in community education. At a recent candidates night she said her educational goal was "to make our kids into life-long learners." She is seeking a second term on the school board because "there are still a lot of areas to address, such as the scope and sequence of curriculum curricu-lum between schools and the evaluation of teachers and administrators. adminis-trators. McComb said she is in favor of setting up more public committees and charging them with responsibilities responsibili-ties to formulate specific options for the board. According to.cComb . all. three. v school'staffs are capable and caring. The only weakness is that one school often doesn't know what is going on in the other two schools, she said. She is in favor of district support for staff development and says the district should pay for all in-service training. Ralph Hale, who is running for a second term in the Prospector Square Precinct, said his goal is "to make the Park City School District the finest in the state." He has been active on the career ladder committee which is in the process of developing a merit pay system for teachers. "I think the career ladder is the biggest issue we are facing and it has to be designed so it doesn't destroy the morale of our teachers," he said. Hale also said he welcomes public involvement. "But when I get phone calls about the school board's actions I always ask the caller, Are you involved? Have you been to the community council meetings? Have you been to see the teacher or attended the board meetings?" Hale said each of the three schools in the Park City School District is unique and the communication between each faculty and its principal "is one of the great strengths of our district." He added that the middle school staff has done a fine job with the fifth and sixth graders and that "our fears never materialized there." Residents in the Park City School District will be asked to vote only for the candidate representing their precinct. Please see the accompanying accompany-ing map to determine your school district voting precinct. |