10-22-2021 11:04pm

Meet The Candidates Night For CLSD

Rick Amburgey Neighbor

By Beth Callahan

On November 2, residents in the Carlisle Local School District will have the opportunity to stay status quo or make some changes on its school board members.

To help voters with their decisions, the Carlisle Class of 2022 sponsored a "Meet the Candidates" event in the district's new school auditorium on Thursday evening with Carlisle City Manager Julie Duffy performing as the event's moderator.

Duffy started the event by explaining the protocol for the evening to both the candidates and the approximately 100 people sitting in the audience.

This year's election has seven individuals running for the three open seats, Duffy said.
Running on the 2021 ballot are three of the five current board members; Bill Jewel, Tammy Sue Lainhart, and Mollie McIntosh. Running for their first time for a seat on the board are; Isaac Clark, Jane Fahrney, Amanda Morris, and Susan Svarda.

Duffy asked eight questions that had been submitted by residents within the Carlisle School Local District. Each candidate had the same amount of time to answer each question.

When asked what is the most urgent issue facing the district outside the pandemic, Jewell was the only candidate to answer finances. All the other candidates answered students' mental health, such as worries of job preparedness for the future, bullying, and passing the standardized test to be able to move forward.
Some of the other questions the candidates answered consisted of:

What does the district need to improve on and if elected how would they go about implementing it?

How would they interact with the superintendent, teachers, community, and students?

The candidates were also given a hypothetical question. How would the district survive losing $9 million dollars of state funding if the board did not adopt the state's curriculum known as the Ohio Learning Standards?

While all the candidates agreed the district could not survive losing that amount of money, one candidate answered back with a question.

Svarda said, "Since this is hypothetical, I'll come back with a theoretical question... I see a problem with the whole system in that case. What's the point of a local school board if we have no say?.... The state, the government, the federal government have too much power...I don't know the answer to that... I know I would fight it... whether that means we go to Columbus... We have to take a stand."

Below is a summary of each candidate's answer to “why” they should be considered to fill one of the 3 open seats.

Isaac Clark – He is a 2019 Carlisle Grad. Clark feels he has a better understanding of what the current challenges, fears, and worries of today's students are because of being a recent graduate. He said, "students really need a voice and need to be listened to. They have been through hell and back these last few years... and the community, we really need to have transparency." Clark believes he is the candidate to be that voice.

Jane Fahrney - "My granddaughters are the reason I am running for school board. I want them to have a great education like our son did when he attended here. I will work hard to stand against mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and radical indoctrination," said the certified K-12 substitute teacher.

Bill Jewell - He is a 3-term board member (12 years). It was the financial concern that caused him to run 12 years ago when the district was almost taken over by the state. It is his experience in working with the teacher's union on writing contracts, the building of the new school, along with his time of volunteering as a coach, and his own children in the district, that he believes makes him an important asset to stay on the board.

Tammy Sue Lainhart - She is a 6-term board member (24 years) and has served on the CTC Board for 11 years. "I run for the students...we live in different times now... we really need to think about the students." Lainhart noted that it is her years of experience that make her a top candidate.

Mollie McIntosh - She brings a Master's of Education from the University of Dayton along with a 24-year career in teaching. She is finishing up her first term (4 years) being on the board and helping campaign to get the new school building built as co-chair of Bond This Village Committee. "I would like to see future people go through it... with the building being taken care of and being well maintained." On being re-elected, "I know that we have improvements that need to be made on the board and within our schools... I know that I am willing and have shown our community that I am willing to work on those, identify those problems, and come up with a solution to those problems...I am also willing to listen to new ideas."

Amanda Morris - A Carlisle grad with three children currently in the school district. She has a Masters from Wright State University and works at Carlisle Medical Care as a board-certified nurse practitioner."I am running for school board to give the voters an option for change... I am here to be an advocate for the kids and to make sure they get the best education possible... I believe in traditional values... I am not a politician. I am a working mom that will use common sense approach to do what is in the best interest of our kids."

Susan Svarda - She holds a BA in Communications from Ohio State University and has been in sales for 18 years. She has two children currently in the district. "I do believe I have the skills to be an asset to the board. I would like to have the honor of serving the community... I look forward to the challenges that are out there... I will work hard. I will be available. I will communicate and try to do my best."