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Two vie for 9-R school district board seat

Candidates to speak at forum Thursday

There are two seats up for grabs on the Durango School District Board of Education in the November election, but only one has a race.

Matthew Sheldon will take on incumbent Brieanne Stahnke for the District D seat. Stahnke was appointed to the seat in 2013.

Incumbent Stephanie Moran is running unopposed for the seat representing District B.

The race comes as the 9-R board shrinks from seven to five seats, a move voters approved in 2013. The 9-R school board follows a policy-governance style, which means it provides oversight but does not micro-manage the district’s activities such as curriculum, hiring and student-support services.

The school board will have a number of challenges in the next few years, many of them funding-based. What programs and activities should they cut? Should they ask voters for a bond/mill levy increase? What standards should a 2021 graduate from Durango High School meet?

In interviews last week, both candidates sat down with the Herald to discuss issues key to the school district:

Q. Why are you running for the school board?

A. Sheldon: I love education and think I can do a good job. This is home for me. I knew the second I moved here, I planned on making this the place I want to live for my future children.

A. Stahnke: It’s a good way for me to give back to the community, to prepare kids for the future. I have two little ones coming up and want it to be the best for them.

Q. What is the biggest challenge facing District 9-R?

A. Stahnke: As the community knows, the funding coming in is set. We’re running a deficit this year, and we ran a little deficit last year, and that can’t continue. We have to make some hard decisions, like either bring in more funds in a bond/mill levy or increase class size. We offer full-day kindergarten, will we have to make that a partial day? There are a lot of different ways to reduce spending by eliminating programs and activities, but the community needs to have a discussion on that. Wages are 80 percent of the budget and continue to increase, and we’ve reached a point where we can’t cut the number of pencils we use to fix the problem.

A. Sheldon: Funding is a problem, not just locally but across the state. Colorado is 46th in the nation on K-12 spending per pupil and 49th on higher education. La Plata County is 145th out of 178 counties in Colorado. And affordable housing is a big concern for teachers. I think having someone on the board who is going through the housing challenge like I am is a good idea.

Q. What skills would you bring to the board?

A. Stahnke: I think I bring a unique perspective to the board. I see the value of (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) every day, so I make sure we remember that focus, provide emphasis. And it’s a critical time in education, a hard time in education, and we’re going to have to do a lot of problem-solving. I’m good at problem-solving. The other four members of the board are either currently involved in education or have been involved in education. I feel like my perspective, coming from the private sector, is valued.

A. Sheldon: Because of the funding limitations, the board is going to be addressing those issues and making some tough calls. I have strong skills as a communicator – I’m good at explaining why we’re doing things – and bringing people together to undertake really big challenges. Because my mother is an educator, I worked at the Boys and Girls Club (of La Plata County) and now organize campus tours at Fort Lewis (College), where I talk to prospective students and their parents. I feel like I’ve been on both sides in understanding the skills needed for success.

Q. Is there an area in particular where you would like to see improvement at 9-R?

A. Sheldon: The district does an incredible job educating the top tier students, but I think we can do a better job giving all students better preparation and life skills. I’m also concerned about recruiting and retaining the best possible teachers. Education is getting a lot of very top-down national pressures. What is that doing to the morale and psyches of teachers? And how can the school board address cost-of-living increases? If not monetarily, are there other realms where they can do something?

A. Stahnke: I think the whole education system needs a revitalized interest in math, to get rid of the negative perception of math. Not everyone wants to do calculus, but when they graduate from high school, they should have a number sense. If you get a credit card with a 29 percent interest rate, what does that really mean to you? They should be able to use TurboTax and not pay an accountant $300 to do their taxes.

abutler@durangoherald.com

If you go

The League of Women Voters of La Plata County will hold an election forum at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Durango City Council Chambers, 949 East Second Ave. The forum will include candidates for the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education as well as state and local ballot issues.

Colorado has 100-percent mail-in elections. Ballots are scheduled to begin going out Oct. 12 and must be received by the La Plata Clerk and Recorder’s Office no later than 7 p.m. Nov. 3. Visit www.GoVoteColorado.com or www.co.laplata.co.us/departments_and_elected_officials/clerk_recorder/elections to learn more.

Matthew Sheldon

Sheldon, a graduate in economics from Colorado College, has lived in Durango since 2008. After serving with AmericCorps Vista at the Boys and Girls Club of La Plata County, he worked on three local political campaigns, for Sen. Bruce Whitehead and both the 2012 and 2014 campaigns for Rep. Michael McLachlan. He has been the campus visit coordinator for Fort Lewis College for the last eight months.

Sheldon grew up in Takoma Park, Maryland, and his mother is a lifelong educator, first in higher education and then English as a Second Language.

“When not meeting prospective Fort Lewis students and their parents,” he said, “I can be found working on a local campaign, running on the trails around town, hacking my way around Hillcrest Golf Course or teaching skiing and snowboarding lessons with the Adaptive Sports Association.”

Brieanne Stahnke

Stahnke was appointed to the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education in 2013. A facilities engineering team leader at BP America, she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Montana State University.

“I’m passionate about (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education,” she said, “and am grateful to my teachers who fostered my love of these subjects at a young age.”

A native of Fairbanks, Alaska, Stahnke grew up in a family of educators. She and her husband, Graham, moved to Durango in 2010 from Anchorage, Alaska. They have two children, Rex, 2½, and Stella, 6 months, and two dogs. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, gardening, kayaking and art.

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