WL school board candidate forum: What about the rancor?

Candidates for four seats on the West Lafayette school board walked a fine line as they discussed the past, present and future … and how they’d deal with each of those

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

Five of the six candidates running for four at-large seats on the West Lafayette school board walked a delicate line at times during a forum Monday night.

Told at the outset by moderator David Sanders, a West Lafayette City Council member who assembled the forum, that for civility’s sake they shouldn’t make references to other candidates or current school board members, the candidates still were asked questions about lingering resentment in the past few years among those on the seven-member body.

The candidates – incumbents Yue Yin and Amy Austin, along with George Lyle, David Purpura and Beau Scott – still found room to be blunt on a series of questions about cell phone use in classrooms, the best way to deal with mandates from the state legislature and whether there’s a way to smooth over or get past hard feelings on the school board.

Maria Koliantz, the sixth candidate on the nonpartisan Nov. 5 ballot, was out of town on business, sending an opening statement for Sanders to read.

The six candidates are running for seats currently held by Austin, Yin, Brad Marley and Tom Schott. Marley and Schott are not running for re-election. The other three board members, each with two years remaining in their terms, are Dacia Mumford, Laurence Wang and Rachel Witt.

Below, find a rundown on their answers Monday night, offered in the order they were given. Responses from Koliantz were gathered later by Based in Lafayette.

First, about the candidates:

• Amy Austin, elected in 2020 and now the school board president, works with IN Space, an aerospace propulsion research and engineering services company her husband co-founded. She has two children in West Lafayette schools and another who graduated from West Lafayette High School.

• Maria Koliantz, a board member of the West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation, is a Purdue graduate with a construction management degree who returned from Detroit to West Lafayette in 2021 when her husband, Ara Koliantz, accepted a call to pastor of Riverside Covenant Church. She has two children in West Lafayette schools.

• George Lyle is a security analyst and lawyer for Purdue IT who works in IT security. He has three young children, including one in the West Lafayette schools and one in West Side’s new pre-K programs.

• David Purpura is a Purdue professor of human development and family science and director of the university’s Center for Early Learning,  research, practice and policy center focused on conducting and translating research that enhances the lives of children birth through 8 years old. He has four children in West Lafayette schools.

• Beau Scott is a former Dayton Elementary teacher. He was a Golden Apple award winner there in 2015 before accepting a role as an elementary math and science specialist at the Indiana Department of Education. He has two children in West Lafayette schools.

• Yue Yin, elected to the West Lafayette school board in 2020, is running for re-election. A West Lafayette resident for 16 years, she is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago, working remotely. She has three children in West Lafayette schools.

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(Photo: Dave Bangert)

Question: For those candidates who are currently on the school board, what specifically do you hope to accomplish in your next term that you have not accomplished previously? For those candidates who are not currently on the school board, what would be different due to your service if you are elected?

George Lyle: Lyle said he wanted to make the school board boring. “I think one of the biggest differences that would occur if I’m on the board is I would encourage everybody to present a united front. I think that's an incredibly important thing,” Lyle said. He pointed to a consultant’s report commissioned by the school board to help sell the November 2023 renewal of the corporation’s property tax referendum. “At the time, the consultant said that the biggest danger to the referendum not passing was you,” Lyle said. “He was speaking to the board. That's not a conversation that a school board should ever have to have. A school board should never be the center of attention. It should be the student at the center of attention. So, that's what I'd like to bring. I’d like to bring calm back.”

David Purpura: “All the school board members, all the candidates for school board, come from unique backgrounds,” Purpura said. “We all have strengths. We all have skills. One of the things that I would like for us to bring to the board after this election is really understanding who each other is – not just somebody else on the school board, but really who we are as people, how we can work together to set a mission and vision for our schools and really work to enact that. Provide the superintendent and the administration with the necessary resources and really understand where each person is coming from. We can do a lot of talking, but if we're not listening to each other and not understanding where each person is coming from, then we're not going to make the progress that we really need to make as a group. The school board really needs to be able to clearly think through the strategic planning process.”

Yue Yin: “Actually, there are a lot of things to do that I feel I could have achieved,” Yin said. Yin pointed to the need of West Lafayette schools to focus on enrollment, which is down from a year ago, “which means we serve fewer students and we receive less from the state.” She also said she hoped the district could improve support for students with different needs. “For example, students with a special needs, students who are struggling with mental issues,” she said. “Also, I wish we could have less turnovers in staff members and paraprofessionals. … As you can imagine, that brings some problems to the students that we serve.”

Amy Austin: “Since I've been (board) president since January, I worked really hard to change the structure of the space and the structure of the meetings in order to bring more harmony to the board,” Austin said. “I think several of the things I've tried have worked. I think there have been things that didn't work the way I anticipated, but I do believe it's getting better.” Austin said strategic planning “is really going to be the main thing going forward. We'll be talking with constituents. We'll be talking with the city, the parks department, all the various stakeholders, to find out where the community wants the schools to go, and that will inform our decisions for the next 35 years.”

Beau Scott: “My boss in my current job, he described me the other day as someone who is able to step in and to be a uniting factor in different areas of our organization,” Scott said. “I feel like I can bring that same presence to the board position, as well.” He said that has he’s campaigned and met current school board members and candidates, “it's been great to see their passion stand out for education.” He said, “Though we might not always agree on every single idea or every single protocol or procedure that we're addressing at that time, I feel like valuing the other candidates and the other board members’ thoughts and being able to communicate with them to meet the best solution for any of the problems that we're going to be facing, this process is going to be something that I can do very well.”

Maria Koliantz: “I'm not sure what will be ‘different,’ but I can tell you why I am running.  I am running because I believe that we should use the gifts and talents given to us to the best of our ability.  We are given different experiences and opportunities in life, and I believe that we should always look for ways to learn and grow from those experiences.  My background and current job is in construction, but I stepped away from that industry for a time when my kids were little.  As they grew and were both in school, I had the opportunity to work for the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, and did so for 4½  years while I was also a parent leader in various PTAs.  From personality tests such as Clifton Strengthfinders, I am strong in Inclusiveness, Consistency/Fairness, Analytical, Compassion, Leading, Learner, and Common Sense, among others.  I am an Enneagram 1, and if you're not familiar with the Enneagram, I encourage you to look it up and take the test.  I hope to be afforded the opportunity to use these gifts and my experiences to continue the long history of excellence in West Lafayette schools.  I hope to be a part of repairing trust and respect among the members so that we can serve the community well with one common goal: give every student the best chance at success and a strong education.”

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Question: What is your opinion about the proposed new base Indiana diploma and the readiness seals (Honors and Honors Plus)? Do you think it is part of the role of a school board member to advocate for or oppose state legislative or administrative measures that impact West Lafayette schools?

• Here’s some background, via an Aug. 21 article from Indiana Capital Chronicle: “After second draft released, questions linger over Indiana’s proposed diploma changes. The new high school graduation requirements must be approved by the end of the year, but so far, some details are still up in the air.”

Amy Austin: “I have done a great deal of advocacy in Indianapolis as the legislative liaison for the board, and I have developed great relationships” with the local General Assembly delegation,” she said. “I think that advocacy is extremely important on behalf of the students.” She said that after outcry about the initial draft of the new diploma, “the second plan looks a lot better.” She said, “Of course, there's always room for improvement, and I think they're continuing to refine that and work on it. We should have a final plan at the end of the year, but in working with the Department of Education, (Superintendent Shawn) Greiner and I met with the state superintendent of education to talk about it on Zoom, and we have really done our best to advocate for not only West Lafayette students, but also all Indiana students.”

George Lyle: “So, the first iteration of that diploma plan was definitely more of a concept of a plan,” Lyle said. “The revisions go a step toward making things better.” He said he thinks it’s the role of board members, and board as a whole, to confront things that are coming out of the state legislature. He said, “The diploma system didn’t necessarily work for everyone, and I don't believe that the revisions work for everyone. So, they still require some massaging, but they're far better than we had. And I'm glad that the presidents at the universities spoke out and told them the truth in the first round that the first version of diploma wouldn’t have gotten anyone in to an Indiana college. That’s the kind of absurdity school boards can point out to the state legislature, to say, Hey, our community thinks we should rethink this.”

Beau Scott: “As a former employee of the Department of Ed, I will openly state that they don't always get things right,” Scott said. “And the first version of these diplomas were abysmal, for lack of a better word here. The fact that it took the presidents of the major universities in our state to step up and to say something about this before they ended up being changed, I was absolutely aghast by this. I'm very grateful for the fact that they actually listened to the public input.” Scott said that one thing he learned while working for the Indiana Department Education was that it says it will listen to the public, “but that doesn't mean that we're going to do what the public wants.” Scott said he had hesitation about the diploma seals that put students onto one of three avenues for graduation before they start high school. “I’d rather see something that is more open ended,” he said.

Yue Yin: “I agree with the other candidates regarding the first version,” Yin said. “It was very problematic. And actually I submitted my feedback to their online form and shared my input. I also encouraged the school board actually to make suggestions jointly, to be more powerful. Because I feel an individual’s voice is really small.” Yin said she thought the second draft versions of the diplomas were much better. “But I still wonder about the implications,” Yin said. She said she had concerns that some parents, particularly in cases of students who would be first-generation college students, might not have the information they need to make the correct choices initially and that the system might not leave them the flexibility to switch later.

David Purpura: “Sometimes when you put out of plan that’s just so bad, everything else looks good by comparison,” Purpura said. “Seriously, that's what the state did. This current version isn't a good option. It creates such a high unfunded mandate for schools to come up with funding to create and supervise and maintain all of these work-based learning opportunities that we already have existing through career technical education programs.” Purpura pointed to the Greater Lafayette Career Academy that already serves that purpose for West Lafayette, Lafayette and Tippecanoe school corporations. “We need to actually recognize what this is going to do to our schools,” he said. “Some schools may be able to afford to do some of this, but they're going to have to pull the money from other places. We have to understand the financial impact that this is going to have on schools, and continue pushing the state to make sure that we have the right options for our students.”

Maria Koliantz: “I think version two is better than the original newly proposed diplomas, but I don't believe they are great. I like the flexibility given, but only students who go to schools that can offer a variety of classes will benefit.  I don't like the reduction of social studies requirements, and I wonder what the reduction of health/PE will have.  I think creating a better pathway to skilled trades is great, but where is the funding that will make it happen?  Are ‘work hours’ the way to achieve this?  This adds a large burden to our school counselors who already have a lot of responsibilities.  From a safety and logistical standpoint, what industries will be able to provide safe, meaningful jobs that will place our students on a pathway to skilled trades.  Who will pay for transportation, training, uniforms, etc.?  Will the kids get paid if they are working during school hours?  I think the whole thing is being rushed and does not have the funding and thorough planning to be successful.  The implementation would start almost immediately since it's our current eighth-graders who would receive the first set of these diplomas and some are already taking high school classes.”

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(Photo: Unsplash)

Question: Senate Enrolled Act 185 prohibits, with exceptions, a student from using a wireless communication device during instructional time. What is your opinion of law? And how you think is best implemented?

• Background: Here’s a look at West Lafayette Community School Corp.’s policy on wireless communication devices in the classroom, approved by the school board in May.

Yue Yin: “I agree with this law, and our school board actually passed the corresponding policy regarding this,” Yin said. “We have very specific rules for this, and I personally feel our policy is very reasonable.”

David Purpura: “Sometimes when these broad policies come down, they're done without the input of those who are most affected by them, such as teachers and administrators,” Purpura said. “And I feel that at times, they don't necessarily address the actual needs in schools. I do think the schools and school boards should have more control over making these decisions as to what best fits the needs of our specific community.”

Amy Austin: “I can tell you, I wouldn't be a very successful student right now if I couldn’t use the calendar and the to do list and all of those things on my phone,” Austin said. “I think a lot of the kids are using Google and those tools which they can also access on their devices. In a way, the devices are still in the classroom, it's just what form do they take. Are they in your hand or are they on your desk? So, I think it was a decision the state made in order to look like they were solving the problem, but I'm not sure if the problem that they were trying to solve was actually solved by the policy.” She said she liked that the district’s policy give latitude to teachers to manage when cell phones were allowed in classrooms.

Beau Scott: “I'll say this about the policy for the district, I like the fact that it still allows some leeway in educator autonomy in utilizing devices as they see fit for instructional purposes,” Scott said. Scott said he was concerned the Indiana seemed to be hopping on board with similar laws once they clear tests in states such as Florida and Arizona. “I've got concerns with this, as a former classroom teacher, from the standpoint that I loved the opportunity to integrate as much technology to my classroom as possible,” Scott said. “It's not every single teacher's forte, and that’s OK. But they should have the right and the opportunity to utilize these as tools, if they if they see fit in their own instructional time.”

George Lyle: “I get what the legislature was trying to do, but I think it's a little heavy handed,” Lyle said. “I appreciate what has been done here to put it at the teacher's discretion. Because they are distraction devices, but they are also tools. And it sets a bad precedent and gives students a bad idea when we say, well, you can use this tool, but not this tool.”

Maria Koliantz: “I am in favor of this law. From my understanding, it allows teachers who want to use technology in a creative way to still utilize phones and other devices for educational purposes and it supports teachers who want a phone-free classroom.  I know teachers in other states that wish they had support like this from their legislature.  Now, I'm not naive enough to think it's a fix for cyber-bullying or that kids can't still figure out ways to use Chromebooks in non-educational ways, but I think it's a step in the right direction.  I've told my son, my only kid with a phone, if I ever text during a school day, I do not expect a response until after school and I'm most likely texting something at that moment so I don't forget later.  In an emergency, I'll call the school.”

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Question: In February, the West Lafayette school board hired a new West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School principal. For those candidates who are currently on the school board, did you vote to hire the principal?  If so, why? If not, why? For those candidates who are not currently on the school board, would you have voted to hire the principal? If so, why? If not, why?

• Background: Here's a Based in Lafayette account of the Feb. 12 school board meeting when Chad Rodgers was approved as principal at West Lafayette Jr.-Sr. High School: “Teachers steam after new West Lafayette High School principal greeted by 5-2 vote.”

• Also, this:

David Purpura: “I wasn’t part of the process, so I don't have the inner workings of other candidates,” Purpura said. “But if we're talking specifically about the final vote, I think that the principal is exceptionally qualified, and I'm looking forward to getting to know him better, as my oldest is now in the junior-senior high school. But I think that there was a lot that happened during that process that could have gone better from an organizational, functional point within the school board that I think is best rehashed among those folks who were part of that process.”

Yue Yin: She voted no in February. “And not because I was against the new principal,” Yin said. “The main reason was that I think the process was very problematic.” Yin said she’d raised concerns in December “regarding the tiny number of complete applications” for the position. She said she proposed extending the application process beyond the winter break, instead of sticking with a deadline when candidates were all busy. “I served on many, many searches for my job at the university,” Yin said. “We often extended the guidelines when we didn’t have enough candidates.”

Beau Scott: “One of the main roles as a school board member is to ensure that the superintendent for the school district is held accountable for their work and for the individuals that they proposed to hire for the district,” Scott said. “Had I been on the board and Dr. Greiner presented this individual as a candidate for the position of the principal at the junior-senior high, I would have trusted his professional opinion, and I would have gone along with that. I would vote yes, making sure, though, that down the road, had there been any reservations on my part as an individual, to ensure that Dr. Greiner would then be held accountable for the hiring and the professional performance of that individual in that position.”

George Lyle: “Obviously I wasn't part of that process,” Lyle said, so he said he couldn’t speak to how well it went or what other candidates’ qualifications were. “What I will say is that the beauty of a school board and an active one, and an active superintendent, is the school board supervises superintendent, and the superintendent brings candidates. But they also bring reports back to the board. And if there is a problem, we can always remove the principal. … That’s what the community entrusts the board to do.”

Amy Austin: She said that K-12 education “is extremely different from higher education.” She also said that “out of respect for all the applicants and all of our personnel, I decline to speak any further about a private personnel matter.”

Maria Koliantz: “Yes, I would have voted to hire him.  I believe that Dr. Greiner is a professional and an expert in his field.  I believe that he's capable of ensuring that all hiring processes are fair and in compliance with all the laws.  I have no idea how many candidates we had for the position, but I also know that there is a shortage of teachers in our state and I assume that means administrators as well.  I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Greiner speak about the candidate during his report at the West Lafayette Education Foundation board meeting. He did not reveal any specifics, but he shared how he was excited about the proposed candidate that would be presented to the board the following week.  He spoke highly of the person's experience and how this person was known as a leader from other professionals in our state.  He also shared about the teachers on the committee and of their support.  You could just see Dr. Greiner's passion.  So yes, I would have voted in favor of who we now know is Mr. Rodgers and I have had a few positive interactions with him so far this school year.  Dr. Greiner and the team made a great choice.”

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Question: There is a widespread sentiment that there is rancor among members of the current West Lafayette school board. Without referring or alluding to an individual, please answer the following questions: Is that perception correct? If so, what's the origin of the problem, and how can it be solved? If not, why do you think that there is such a perception and how can that be addressed?

Beau Scott: “Yes, the perception is correct, I would assume,” Scott said. “I feel like there is some rancor between individuals on board. I feel like this is definitely something that we all as candidates, as current board members, need to be working toward presenting, I’ll call it, the best possible product for our district. We want to make sure that what we put on display for the public … is strength. Not full unity. There can always be intellectual debate about things. But we also need to demonstrate respect for our colleagues, as well. And I feel like that's something that has gotten stripped away over the last few years, and definitely something that, if I'm elected, I would like to work to grow that that collegial manner on the board.”

Amy Austin: “This is difficult to answer with those parameters,” Austin said. “But I agree there is rancor on board. There is a serious disagreement about how much information is appropriate to share online and how many of our opinions are relevant to the community as a whole.” Austin apologized to Yin for not doing more to reach out when they were both elected four years ago. “But having said that,” Austin said, “I don't think we need to be friends in order to work well together. I think we can disagree without being disagreeable. And I think that if people would put their political aspirations aside and stop publishing opinion pieces that don't necessarily reflect the truth of what has gone on that would be best for all of our employees and teachers and especially our students.”

George Lyle: “I think there is a perception of that,” Lyle said. “The origin? You know, there's several. Depends on who you ask and on who you trust. In my observation, I think that there are some folks who are fighting against ghosts of school boards and administrators past. But we need to leave that in the past. The school board is a place for collegial disagreements, not grievances. We leave our grievances at home and do what's best for the kids and the community. Because, if not for the kids, why do any of this?”

David Purpura: “I think it's sad that this is a question that we have to have at a school board forum, when we have so many more important things to be discussed as a community,” Purpura said. He said the school board should discussing the state’s new diploma proposal and the influence of state money going to charter schools, among other things. “We should be working together as a school board to try to work to head off these issues,” Purpura said. “I think it's really important for everybody who ends up on the school board to work together to talk about what are these big challenges that we have. Some are things that we can directly handle, and some are things that we need to work together to advocate, to support our schools and other schools so that we can ensure that all of our children have the most opportunity set before them.”

Yue Yin: “I think so,” Yin said. “I agree there are a lot of disagreements, for sure. … Sometimes there are emotional moments.” But Yin said disagreement is OK. “We have seven board members,” Yin said. “If all of a sudden people think alike, it’s not necessary to have seven people there. Sure, we shouldn’t fight all of the time.” Yin said she felt she had good ideas to contribute and had volunteered to be an officer on the board in 2022 and 2023 but couldn’t get support from the majority of the board. In 2024, she said, because she couldn’t get a leadership post on the board in the two years earlier, she nominated other board members for those roles, only to have them rejected by the majority of the board, too. As for the campaign, she said, “I think we all are passionate about public education and also for teachers and students, and that’s all very positive common ground. I really look forward to a more collaborative and collegial school board, whether or not I’m elected in the future.”

Maria Koliantz: “Yes, I think that perception is accurate.  And in full disclosure, since I'm answering these questions after-the-fact, I did look up the word to ensure that my assumed meaning was correct.  It means, ‘bitter deep-seated ill will.’  I can guess and theorize at the origin since I have only been a part of this community for a little over three years, but I will not do that and I don't really think it matters how it started.  How can it be solved?  Every single member has to be willing to get to know the other members better, to see them as a person and a neighbor and to build mutual respect. … I think diversity on a board is a great thing!  We need differing points of view, different lived experiences, different ideas, different skills and talents. But to be effective and wade through the differences, there has to be respect and a willingness to collaborate.  The board is only effective as a body, and once the board votes, the decision of the board must be respected by all members.”

• For more from the candidates: For more of an introduction to the candidates and why they’re running, this is from a June edition of Based in Lafayette, shortly after the filing deadline: “Crowded fields: Meet the LSC, West Side school board candidates.”

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About the election: The voter registration deadline to vote in the Nov. 5 election is Oct. 7. To check your voter registration, get registered or to see candidates who will be on your general election ballot, go to the Secretary of State’s portal at www.indianavoters.com.

For a list of early voting locations, starting Oct. 8, and Election Day sites, check here.

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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.