AUSD candidates
offer very different choices for voters
By Lori
Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — The candidates for the Alpine Union School District
Board of Trustees have made their campaign strategies known, and
have staked their signs out in an attempt to collect votes.
Alpiners have no doubt seen the mass of campaign signs that are
filling corners and roadsides all around town.
There are Bill Weaver’s signs, who was the first to
advertise his candidacy. Also in plain sight are Gina Henke’s
signs, who along with Weaver and Scott Barr, the current incumbent
on the board, has suffered from campaign signs being removed.
Also out there, we can see Eric Wray’s signs, which
pronounce his candidacy for the school board. Lou Russo’s signs
are visible along with ads taken out in the paper. In addition to
these he has placards he distributes that that advertise his
availability for your vote.
These above mentioned candidates are running their
campaign in open view, some more than others but there are two
more candidates that we are not really seeing on the street. Those
candidates are Matt Schumsky and Chuck Taylor. Both of these
candidates have campaign strategies that account for this lack of
publicizing.
Scott Barr has been sitting on the school board of
trustees for the last four years. He has learned that the best
thing a board member can do for his community is be available, to
listen to the people, listen to the teachers, and then direct the
issues brought to him, to those who can best serve them.
Barr has enjoyed his tenure on the board, and hopes for
re-election. He has tried to always be available, and listen
carefully to the concerns of teachers, and parents when dealing
with school issues. If it is possible, he appears at every school
function he is invited to, and he has found that as a board
member, his job as a facilitator of communication between
administration and teachers is more apparent than any other task
on the board.
Bill Weaver is a strong community member who is at
every board meeting, every month. Weaver is involved in the Alpine
community, serving on the district PTA council as treasurer, and
is very involved in the Alpine High School Citizen’s Committee.
Weaver is serving on the Shadow Hills School Site Council and has
recently received an Alps Award from the Alpine Chamber of
Commerce for his work on the Education Committee.
He was involved two years ago on the District School
Strategic Plan and is now on the Parent Advisory Committee, which
continues to review the process of the Strategic Plan. Weaver
served last year on the Alpine District Wellness Committee, and is
actively involved in Kiwanis, serving as the publicity chair,
working for children’s causes.
Gina Henke is currently a 4th grade teacher in the
Lakeside School District. She has found that she is in the right
place and at the right time in her life to give back to her
community. She has chosen to run for our Alpine School as a way to
do that.
She feels that as a teacher she can make a difference,
and she is confident that she can help facilitate communication
between the teachers and the administration, making each teacher
feel that they are a valuable part of the school district.
Eric Wray is a parent in the district and serves as the
president of the Shadow Hills School Site Council. He has an
honest respect for our school district.
“Alpine School District has been run well for a number
of years and I would like to carry on that tradition,” Wray said.
He feels that every parent, teacher and administrator in this
district has the children’s best interests at heart. He says that
here in Alpine, we are fortunate, because everyone here respects
each other. He says that as a school board member, if he lets the
teachers teach, the district will have the most success possible.
Chuck Taylor is a long time resident of Alpine, and is
a visible personality in our community. He has been a writer for
The Alpine Sun, and was a voice personality on the Alpine Lite
107.9 radio station. He has put his name on the ballot to serve
once again on the school board though he has not been openly
campaigning.
He has experience on the board as he has previously
served four years and never missed a single meeting. During that
time he introduced the practice that is still upheld, having 8th
grade students serve on the board.
Lou Russo believes that the Alpine Union School
District is doing very well and he wants to help it continue to do
well. Russo has a ten year old and a five year old enrolled in the
district and holds this as his motivation for running for the
school board.
Russo is a credentialed teacher in the San Diego County
School District and has completed his administration credential
which allows him to understand both the teachers’ and the
administrators’ positions. He supports teachers in our district
because teachers are the ones who step through the classroom doors
and teach our students. He has volunteered his time at AES, and
also at the Shadow Hills campus tutoring Math and English during
summer school.
Matt Schumsky’s candidacy signs will be posted just
before the election takes place. He likes Alpine to be beautiful,
and feels that the signs tend to clutter up the landscape. His
motivation for running for the board is that his four year old
child will soon be joining the Alpine School District Schools and
he wants to be involved. Schumsky plans to facilitate
communication between teachers and administration by sitting down
with the different parties and conversing about the issues at
hand.
Schumsky believes that we need a balance on the board. He feels
that teachers should be left to teach students, and know that the
board is taking care of them.
All candidates that are running for the board are in
favor of an Alpine High School here in Alpine. Weaver is
consistently working towards this end on the AHSCC, and Eric Wray
feels strongly about the building of this in Alpine proper.
Lou Russo commented that as a community, Alpine needs
to place the high school in the most beneficial situation for the
community and Schumsky feels that the AUSD board may be able to
show a little more strength in achieving this.
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