Willard Candidate Full Answers
1) Do you support requiring teachers to be trained or to teach students based on equity (equal outcomes), culturally responsive education, social justice or any other tenet of Critical Race Theory?
Kip A. Baker
Did not respond
Jennifer Triplett
No. I do not support the teaching of CRT or similar theories in our classes. I have hired, worked with and managed many people of various ethnicities over my almost 25 years in business and we always did so based on the fact that everyone had the same opportunity and was advanced on merit. Again, many of my prior staff and co-workers were multi-ethnic and were treated the same, and had the same expectations. We believed on accountability based on performance and everyone worked hard to meet their work parameters and were rewarded for their achievements. Nothing was based on color or culture, and everyone was good with it. To this day I keep in touch with employees from 15 years ago who have moved on in their careers and have lasting friendships with those people. As a side note, I come from the Baltimore/Washington DC area originally. Obviously, that is a vastly more multicultural metropolitan area than Springfield. I grew up in a very integrated school system and then again in a work environment that was filled with people of all ethnicities. Never did we discuss race. People were who they were, and either they were good people or not. Those prothletising and mandating CRT and equity education are wrong. Plain and simple. And I don’t believe the vast majorities of minority communities agree with it either.
Elizabeth Nothum
No. I firmly stand against CRT or anything like it and believe teaching it will only create a bigger divide. As a side note, I fought the Willard school district starting in December 2020 regarding the mask mandates. I don’t know if you heard of what I did, but I started a petition, I spoke in December 2020 and April 2021 to get them to get rid of the mask mandates. I also have spoken out against requiring the Covid shots for staff and students.
Christopher Moak
No! The left seems to think that an attempt to achieve equal outcomes through equity programs will somehow bring the underperforming students up. In practice it almost always brings the over achieving students down. For example, some states are stopping their advanced placement classes while others like Washington are stopping math language and science requirements for high school all together. Equity is a trope that leads to tyranny. I also want to add a few other remarks. Last year I voted for people who I thought would stand up against the tyranny of COVID mandates, but when push came to shove, they bent the knee and voted unanimously to implement the terrible policies the Missouri School Board Association told them to. That is why I decided to run. I am done letting other people solve my problems so I am taking it into my own hands by running for School board.
David A. Menditto
No. I don’t feel CRT has a place in k-12 education. It’s definition (if you can find one) is vague and unclear. To tell our teachers to teach something that can’t be clearly defined is irresponsible at best.
2) Do you support public schools teaching students, ages 4-18, that there are more than two genders?
Kip A. Baker
Did not respond
Jennifer Triplett
The basic answer is no. I don’t believe a) that children under the age of 18 are mature enough to make such a judgment as to decide they are meant to be another gender, or b) that it is the role of school to teach this in any way. Nor do I believe there is anything scientifically in existence other than male and female. You either have XX chromosomes or XY chromosomes. I certainly do not buy into a non-binary gender.
Elizabeth Nothum
I believe God created only two genders, male and female, and the public schools have NO authority teach anything otherwise.
Christopher Moak
No! there is no way on this planet that I will ever allow my children to be taught gender theory in our public school. To my knowledge that is not an issue here in Willard, but the left has been pushing so hard so fast that it very well could be a common practice in the next 5 years.
David A. Menditto
No. I don’t support teaching children anything that is biologically untrue. There are two genders. It’s the first thing called out at a child’s birth and is one of the most concrete things we know. It’s not based on how you feel. It’s simply a fact.
3) Do you believe that parents have the ultimate authority over their children’s education?
Kip A. Baker
Did not respond
Jennifer Triplett
I believe that parents have equal and ultimate authority over their children’s education. It should be equal in that the thoughts, opinions, ideas and suggestions of all should be heard and considered. It is ultimate, because there are other school choices. That said, within a public school system, I do not believe that equal and ultimate means they get to make every single choice within the school system. The schools are dealing with very complex and varied issues day to day and have systems put in place. They have chosen curriculums and developed processes, and each and every parent can’t just walk in and start to dictate at that level. Should the school board be open to hearing parents and allowing input regarding suggestions and concerns? ABSOLUTELY! And the school board should be accountable for addressing those concerns. However, there is also another side to that in that the Superintendent and day to day leadership is charged with some of that decision-making and problem-solving and sometimes the roles between the Superintendent and the School Board are not well understood by some members of the community. Most parents also need to understand that they personally operate within a fairly small perspective of what life looks like. What I mean by that, is that many of the concerned parents have stable lives, with fairly regular issues in their lives, without a lot of trauma, upheaval or instability. But there are many families and children who come to school with incredible amount of baggage. As a juvenile attorney and Guardian ad litem for the Greene County Juvenile Office, I have worked with hundreds, probably close to 1000 kids, over the last 7 years and there are so many families struggling with poverty, abuse, substance use, mental health issues, and more that come into play in our schools each day. So it is imperative that we as a community step back and understand the big picture that the schools are dealing with day in and day out in terms of making the school system work for everyone. We have to listen and understand the issues at hand, and work together for the best interests of everyone.
Elizabeth Nothum
Yes. Parents/guardians are the ultimate authority over the children. The public schools are there to serve the students and parents, and therefore need to listen and support the voice of the families.
Christopher Moak
Yes! I think the nationalization of our public education system is one of the greatest evils of our federal government. Local control is the answer to all of governmental woes, and parental control over our children’s education is no different.
David A. Menditto
Yes! If a school is teaching things I don’t want my child to learn, I’d like to first try to bring light to the issues I’m having to get things changed. If I cannot get the curriculum changed, I should be able to either remove my child from that classroom or school district and find somewhere that aligns with my beliefs and values.
4) Do you believe that the academic achievement overall of the Willard School District has been on the right track?
Kip A. Baker
Did not respond
Jennifer Triplett
Yes, I do believe that Willard School District has done well and been on the right track. One of my children is in a couple of the honors programs and I do believe she is challenged. She is headed to college in the fall and earned an academic scholarship. I would be interested to know what provoked this question, and if there is something that others see differently as I have not heard this as a concern. I believe in the Leader in Me program, although I do know there are parts of it that are stressors on the teachers. And this needs to be worked through. However, generally and especially in the lower schools, I believe it is a great program for the younger children. Where I personally struggle with the academics, really has to do with Canvas and the use of technology. That there are no textbook options. That it is very difficult to understand what the children may have due on any particular day or to help them study because everything is online. It is hard to access work assignments and reference class materials on a computer, having to go back and forth between screens. It is also an issue that some families, including our own for awhile, had difficulties even having stable internet in our home (since we live in the country).
Elizabeth Nothum
Yes and no. I think in some respects they are on the right track, in others, they are slowly drifting off the right track. I think that minor tweaks are being made that are going to slowly accumulate and affect the students and district negatively.
Christopher Moak
No! Our test scores have dropped by over 10% since 2019. This isn’t a Willard only issue, but we have fallen to 7th out of 10 in our conference in academic achievement scores. If you ask our current school board they will say “In class learning was our biggest priority during COVID” when in actuality they were kicking out 5 healthy students to every 1 sick kid. Willard central used to be on the “best schools in Missouri” list but we fell off that list pre COVID, so the degradation of our kids education was exasperated by COVID, not caused by COVID . That said, our schools are only half of the equation. Parents are getting lazy and letting the schools do all of the educating.
David A. Menditto
Yes, I believe Willard is on the right track. At our core, we have administrators, principals, teachers, and support staff that want what’s best for our kids academically. In any school or business, there is always room for growth and improvement, but if you have the right people in place, that growth happens. In my 8 years experience with my three children in school (currently in 7th, 4th, and 1st), we have only had one person we felt was not truly helping our child grow (note, they are no longer there). Because we are a school full of humans, that kind of thing will happen. But overall, I am proud of our administrators, teachers, and staff for striving to propel our students academically.