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By MIKE MURRAY Class sizes, computers, closed schools and curriculum. These are some of the top issues seen by candidates for the Edmonds School Board. There are two school board posi tions on Tuesday’s primary ballot and three candidates for each posi tion. In recent interviews with The Enterprise, those candidates talked about issues and their qualifications for serving on the board. CANDIDATES for director district 1 are incumbent Shirley Betham and challengers Fred Gucker and Glenn M. Hunt, all of Edmonds. Gucker is an accounting super visor for the Boeing Company and a graduate of the University of Washington. He has a daughter at Woodway High School and another at Westgate Formentary. Gucker b...n attending school board meetings on a regular basis more than one year ago when the school board was involved in school closure discussions. Gucker said he wants to be elected to the board so he can have more direct input into the management of the school district. His goals are to improve the academic performance of students which he says has been declining as measured by test scores. An advocate of smaller class sizes, he believes the school district needs to beef up its computer-science cur riculum, especially at the elemen tary level. “We need to get more one-on-one with students. We need teachers who can motiviate students to learn,” he said. Gucker believes the district should be motivating students to either get a job after school or go on for more schooling. ‘“‘We need to prepare them for overday life.’ Gucker has studied the school district’s Long Range Facilities Plan (a document adopted by the board this spring which calls for the closure of half a dozen schools in five years including Edmonds High School) and said that parents should be willing to accept a closure of a high school provided that the sup port data “‘is honest and up to date.”’ Gucker said the real issues facing the district are more classroom oriented. Glen Hunt, an Edmonds resident, is a self-employed window cleaner and operates a supply business. Hunt has a degree in education and a Washington State teaching cer tificate and is certified to teach in six areas of special education and social science. He has been a substitute teacher and has a 12-year old daughter. “I have a lot to contribute to the job, being an educator and a self employed businessman. I have no feelings against what has been done, but I have much to contribute,” he said. Hunt said he feels strongly that the district should emphasize special education and vocational training for students. His top priority is to fund and support the teaching of kindergarten and first graders. Hunt said he thinks that the quali ty of public education has declined and he believes it is the result of a combination of lax academic stan dards and a decline in the im portance of the family. The candidate said he is not familiar with the district’s Long Range Facilities Plan but believes that the school board ‘‘should not jump too quickly’’ to close schools when they may be needed later. THE INCUMBENT candidate for district 1 is Shirley Betham of Ed monds. Betham has four daughters who have gone through Edmonds schools and has served one four-year term on the school board, two years as president. She is a former board member of Community College District 5, past president of the Ed monds PTSA Council and on the board of directors of the The Little Red School House. “‘We’ve started so many things that I want to see finished including the high-school study, school im provement teams, building manag ment, the elementary study and the advanced learning center,’’ Betham said. “We've also been working on our facilities study and I want to see that through.” Betham said she believes the district does not expect enough from students. ‘‘They are sliding by on half effort and we’re short-changing them. We need to challenge students and the total staff to do better.’’ The candidate said she is com fortable with the board’s decision on the Long Range Facilities Plan. “‘ I am sure that we made the right deci sion.’’ She said she is prepared to look at and review new information as each school closure on the list oc curs. Being a school board member is a 20- to 30-hour a week job, Betham said. It’s time she is willing to in vest, she added. THE CANDIDATES for director district 1 are incumbent Howard Holbrook, Judy Jones and Keith Kingsbury. Kingsbury of Lynnwood is a basketball coach and physical education instructor at Edmonds Community College. He is a graduate of Western Washington University and the University of Washington and taught school in Seattle 10 years. Kingsbury has two children in district schools. The candidate said that Edmonds has a quality program and he wants to see it continue. He wants to see more parental in volvement in the schools and says he represents no special interest groups and will be answerable only to the citizens if elected. On the Long Range Facilities Plan, Kingsbury said he has some concerns that the district did not hire an outside consultant to do the work. ‘‘I didn’t see any cost figures in the study and I would like to see some.’’ The candidate said he is con cerned that the district watch out for the interests of the ‘‘average stu dent. Judy Jones of Lynnwood is active in PTA and youth groups. She has been president of the Edmonds PTSA Council and a member of the Washington PTA Board of Directors for three years. She has worked on levy commites, the school district’s drug awareness program and chaired the Snohomish County Coali tion for Education. “During the last six years I have devoted a lot of volunteer hours to young people and I’ve worked with other parents to help kids. The quali ty of education is a paramount issue,”’ Janes said. Janes regularly attends school board meetings and said she has the time to devote to the job and wants to work to assure a quality program in Edmonds. “Our schools probably fare well compared to other schools. I think we can always improve public education and its important that we continue to work to do that,’’ she continued. If elected, Jones said she would want to review the facilities plan passed by the school board earlier this year. “We have to treat the school district as a whole, realizing that anything you do affects other areas.” THE INCUMBENT board members is Howard Holbrook of Alderwood Manor. The Lynnwood builder-contractor is seeking his third term on the school board and cites his experience and understan ding of the issues and business background. “During the past years I have seen our district struggle financially in its effort to provide the kind of pro grams for students that parents and the community expect. Understan ding and acting on fiscal and budgetary issues that benefit students and our community is one of my top priorities,’’ he said. Holbrook, who has four children, one of whom is still attending district schools, said he wants to see the high-school study implemented and also wants to stay on top of the district’s property-management program. Although he did not vote for the facilities plan, Holbrook believes that closure of a high school is likely. “If you have less than 600 kids in the top three grades, you just can’t have a good program. The under and over-achievers are the people that are going to be affected,’’ he ad ded.
Newspaper Details
Edmonds Enterprise
Edmonds, Washington, US
Wed, Sep 14, 1983
Page 3
Full Page
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Eric W.
USA 15 Aug 2025
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Edmonds Enterprise
