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School Board Candidate Scott Sabens
| Name: | Scott Sabens |
| Office: | School Board |
| Term of Office: | 3 |
| Years Resident: | 15 |
| Contact Info: | Please message me through https://www.facebook.com/ScottSabensMSB/ |
| Website: | https://www.facebook.com/ScottSabensMSB/ |
| Offices/Community Involvement: | BSA Troop 424 Webmaster |
| Why am I Running: | I see the challenges that the District has faced over the past year and I want to help by applying my years of leadership, logical thinking and IT experience to the board. I will offer a unique perspective that will help to balance the board's views with the need to provide an excellent education for our children. |
| What do you plan on accomplishing while in Office: |
Given recent events, first and foremost, I want to help ensure that we have a strong leader in our new superintendent. I want to help the administration prepare for next year and be ready to pivot on a moment's notice, should the need arise. I plan to set policies and standards that provide consistency and accountability across the district that will help our students, teachers and parents ensure we provide a solid education. |
| Candidate Statement: | My focus will be on excellence in education, accountability across the district and transparency.
I want to see more public participation in school board meetings, that means implementing a way for voices to be heard and answered if appropriate.
I firmly believe that diversity on the board is a valuable asset. If we have a board of only educators/education specialists, we will never see another viewpoint. |
| School District Articles Below were questions asked of the candidates running for School District Positions |
|
| Article 2 Accept Gifts: |
Yes |
| Comments | It is impractical to call a special hearing every time a donation comes in. |
| Article 3 Support Contract |
Yes |
| Comments | Without draft contract language (as is every taxpayer), I am limited in making a fully informed decision. As a board member, I would advocate for transparency with full contract language available to all. We have to assume that the contract language is not far off from previous contracts, and if that is the case, I support this cost increase. |
| Article 4 Spec. Mtg A3: |
Yes |
| Comments | Having the ability to call this special meeting is important should article 3 fail. We need to ensure that our support staff are taken care of. |
| Article 5 Ventilators |
No |
| Comments | Not being involved with the process, I am not sure that this is the best or most efficient option. I would like to obtain more information on the details of the purchase, why we aren't purchasing air scrubbers at the same time and that we understand the design of the systems. It is on record that the 'escape clause' is in favor of the vendor, not to the district. If approved, we are contractually obligated to pay regardless of the functionality/testing outcome. If we do not pay, the vendor can remove the system. I would like to see/know if there is a set criteria as to the expected outcome of this system and that there is guarantee. It is also my understanding that the 3 options that were considered were all from the same (existing) vendor that services our systems today - making this a no-bid contract. I will likely vote against this, in favor of obtaining more data and competitive bids. |
| Article 6 Disband Budget Committee |
Yes |
| Comments | It appears that this committee provides minimal value at the cost of time. The chairman said, "97% of the budget is contractual," and of the 3% left, they ended up finding $5000 to cut. Rather than drawing out the process an extra 4 to 6 weeks, I would rather see the time given back to the teachers and administration to focus on educating our children. I believe that the school board is fully capable of providing the oversight necessary for this process. The majority of districts in NH do not have this additional committee, and ours does not have the ability or the authority to make line item changes. Add this to the fact that the committee is working with a budget that has already been vetted and approved by the board, I just do not see efficiency here, and we need to recognize inefficiencies to move forward. I applaud and respect the individuals on this committee, this is in no way a reflection of these individuals, as I do feel they have the best intentions, but they are simply limited in authority. |
| Article 7 Budget |
Yes |
| Comments | Given the two options and the fact that a portion of the budget has always been returned, there is no reason to vote for the higher amount. I am a bit concerned with the constant need to over-fund the district though. I believe the district is returning $4.7million to the taxpayers this year. I can understand some padding, but the amounts that are regularly returned seems excessive. |
| School District Non Ballot Questions Below were questions asked of all candidates |
|
| Question 1 |
What is your stance on travel and quarantine policy? Do we make up our own school
policy or do we follow what the CDC and DHHS has a current policy and keep up to date
with them.
|
| Response: | I believe we should follow the DHHS guidance. Just as the administration should be focused on their own expertise; we should follow the guidance of the experts. |
| Question 2 |
What is your stance on continuing the REAL academy for those who cannot safely
return to school or choose not to until there is a vaccine for children.
|
| Response: | I do not want to change anything this year. We are too close to the end and the disruption to the district could be catastrophic. I like the idea of REAL, but we also need to understand the impact to the district and the taxpayers as well as the legal implications concerning school choice. The options offered through REAL are not the same that are offered to in person learning right now. If we need a remote option in the fall, I would look to a concurrent model with strict guidelines. |
| Question 3 |
What is the role of the School Board and what differences do you see with their role
versus the role of administration?
|
| Response: | The role of the school board is to provide direction, to set a vision, policies, goals, and expectations of the administration and then hold them accountable. The administration's role is to carry out the above and run day to day operations. |
| Question 4 |
What are your thoughts about full-day kindergarten?
|
| Response: | Full-day kindergarten was voted in by the residents of the town. The will of the voters was implemented, the role of the board is to follow through. |
| Question 5 |
What are your thoughts on college and career readiness?
|
| Response: | I think students need to be ready for whatever comes after school, whether that be college, a trade or something else. They need to be exposed to the different options available to them. We need the guidance counselors to really track our students and understand their strengths and weaknesses as well as their wants and needs. I would look to ensure a policy that really engages our guidance councilors to work with every student in the district to keep them on a path forward. In the corporate world, we should be having regular career sessions with our managers and mentors, I think this translates well into the schools. |
| Question 6 |
What are your thoughts on Vocational programs and how would you improve the
programs what we have now?
|
| Response: | As I mention above, we need to expose our children to these programs. There are many (9 I believe) vocational options in area. We need to make sure our students and parents are aware of what is available and understand what might be missing to help fill the gaps. Our guidance team is key in providing direction for our youth. |
| Question 7 |
What are your thoughts on ELO's (extended learning opportunities)?
|
| Response: | I think this fits very well with the above. We should be giving our students every opportunity to succeed after they leave the district, no matter what path they decide to take. |
| Question 8 |
Do you find value in benchmarking us against other districts and if so, how?
|
| Response: | Yes. We have a natural tendency to compare. It helps us to understand value. School districts are rated in many different ways (this is just one of them), and to compare ourselves to similar districts is important to understand what we are doing well and what we might be able to do better. It provides a metric that we can use to drive results. |
| Question 9 |
Please share your thoughts on how Merrimack is currently doing working with
students who have additional and special needs, and if you see any changes that should
be made, etc.
|
| Response: | From what I understand, Merrimack does very well with these students. I would want to speak with the head of this department to understand the program and the needs fully before I could ever offer any improvements. |
| Question 10 |
If there is a budget cut, what would you cut first?
|
| Response: | If we need to make cuts to the budget, I would look for items that have the least impact to the students and teachers. |