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Vocational school unites board hopefuls But other issues divide Medford four By DAMIAN MANN From school crowding to student transfers, four candidates vying for a Medford School District board seat are ready to tackle a number of issues. William Klenke, Bill Mansfield, Tricia M. Prendergast and Robin A. Stroh are seeking the board position being vacated by Dennis Hoffbuhr. One issue they are agreed on is the need to build a vocational school in Medford, estimated to cost $40 million. Ballots in this election have been mailed out and must be received by 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 13. Former Medford elementary school principal Klenke has two main concerns: finances and the curriculum offered to students. He said local education will continue to walk a fine line between finding enough money and providing the right kinds of programs. The district needs to examine the sort of courses it offers its students, he said, especially with the pressures that state testing has placed on curriculum. "Right now we have a cookie cutter kind of educational system," he said. More emphasis needs to be placed on helping at-risk children in earlier grades, he said, and the proposed skill center would better prepare students for the work world. "Our society has become so skill and technically oriented that unless you have a well-defined niche, you�re not going to find a job anywhere." Attorney Mansfield is concerned about creating enough school facilities in a district that is on the verge of overcrowding. "I am also concerned about the accompanying problem of how to finance these facilities." The former Medford City Council member said he wants to examine whether the district has too many administrators and wants to make sure there are enough teachers at the schools. He also wants to review school boundaries. Mansfield believes the district needs to offer educational alternatives for students who don�t plan to go to college. "We need to do something other than be a warehouse." With government and business experience behind him, Mansfield said, "My overall goal is getting the best education for the least tax dollar." Prendergast, a program assistant with Asante Child Development Services and yoga instructor, said schools will continue to find it difficult to balance state requirements for testing with appropriate learning for students. The testing also creates more difficulties for teachers. "I don�t necessarily see it as a bad problem," said Prendergast, who is active in school programs. "It�s a new thing and new things have bugs. ... It�s a matter of honing. Transition is a good thing. It keeps us flexible and keeps things moving along." One future concern for the district, said Prendergast, will be the search for a new superintendent. Steve Wisely is set to retire in 2003, though the present board has asked him to stay on as interim superintendent until after the skill center is completed in 2004. Prendergast said this vocational facility, which could train 2,000 students a day, is an "intriguing idea that has a lot to offer this community." A personnel specialist for J.C. Penney Co., Stroh said the combined task of creating a new middle school, upgrading the two high schools and building the vocational center is the biggest issue facing the district. All these projects are expected to cost $70 million, paid for through a bond measure. Stroh, involved in many school activities, supports creating middle schools with a sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade curriculum as do Ashland and Central Point. One major problem for the district, she said, is its boundaries, which force some students who attend Hedrick Middle School to go to South Medford High School and others who go to McLoughlin Middle School to attend North Medford High School. "I hear parents complain quite a bit about the boundaries." She said the board will have to resolve the general problem of transfers, both within and without the district. "You should really go to the school where you live." With the planned creation of a third middle school, the boundary issue will have to be dealt with head on, said Stroh. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.