This candidate forum is hosted by Chalkbeat Detroit and WDET. Sixteen candidates are vying for four seats on the @Detroitk12 Board of Education. Voters will decide Nov. 8.

We’ll have a recording and transcription: https://detroit.documenters.org/assignments/detroit-school-board-virtual-candidate-forum-4727/

Watch live: https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2022/10/7/23392932/detroit-school-board-candidate-forum-dpscd-elections

🏃 Need to catch up on the DPSCD? See our past reporting: https://detroit.documenters.org/reporting/?agency=11

@BakuliEthan reported on Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting…: https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2022/10/12/23401685/detroit-public-schools-name-change-ben-carson-finney-attendance-enrollment

…And Paul Warner live-tweeted: https://twitter.com/PauldubbWarner/status/1579947475003396097

🗞 Detroit public schools will use a rideshare service to transport students, amid bus driver shortages. DPSCD said it will be used for families outside school boundaries. Prices will vary per ride. @SarahRahal_ has more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/2022/10/09/metro-detroit-schools-partner-with-rideshare-to-aid-bus-driver-shortage/69541546007/

❓ The Board of Education decides the educational and financial policies of the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD). Boardmembers are elected and they meet monthly.

Here are your DPSCD Board of Education candidates:

• @MsNyckii¹
• @BishopCVaughn¹
• @DrHarvill4DPSCD¹
• Georgia Lemmons¹ ²
• Aliya Moore
• @Aka4everuc
• Ida Simmons Short
• Iris Taylor
• Jamaal Muhammad
• John Telford
• LaMar Lemmons²
• @moe_drivez
…

…
• Patrice Douglas
• Regina Ann Campbell
• Richard Clement
• @Ridgeleyhudson_

¹ Incumbent.
² Invited to forum but did not respond.

🚩 Need visual descriptions? Reply and I’ll provide them to you.

Something inaccurate? Email documenters@outliermedia.org with the subject “Correction Request.” I’ll add corrections at the end.

We’ll be right back! See you at 5:30 p.m.

⌚️ At 5:32 p.m., the Detroit School Board Virtual Candidate Forum begins! Lori Higgens of Chalkbeat Detroit introduces the meeting. There will be two panel discussions and an audience Q&A. Each candidate gets 60 seconds to answer questions. #DETdocumenters https://t.co/ib0bv40IPN

Now to our first panel. Chalkbeat’s Ethan Bakuli and Cass Technical High School student and activist Hafiza Khalique are our moderators.

Question 1: What is the biggest issue facing the district and how would you address it? https://t.co/FzkO24okPx

Richard Clement: School funding and resource allocation.

Deborah Hunter-Harvill: Attendance.

LaMar Lemmons: Attendance and literacy. “I would address it … by having greater parental involvement.” Would also have supplemental tutors.

Jamaal Muhammad: Attendance and literacy. He would focus on hiring bus drivers, teacher recruitment and strengthening libraries.

Ida Simmons-Short: Literacy. “One of the things that we need to do is to have a literacy core.” She would also work with the Helen Morris Literacy Project and have one-on-one tutoring.

John Telford: Literacy. “The current administration has not taught them to read. … If they leave the third grade not able to read, they’re in big trouble.”

Corletta Vaughn: Systemic proverty. “(It’s) the issue that causes chronic absenteeism. … We’re going to have to engage the entire community.”

Question 2: How do you plan on connecting with students, families and staff?

Vaughn: “I plan to continue doing what I’ve been doing for the last four years” such as “house-to-house networking” and outreach to nonprofits.

Telford: He’s a teacher and the poet-in-residence at DPSCD. “That gives me a direct contact with students.”

Simmons-Short: As a former board member, she frequently met with parents and hosted monthly parent meetings.

Muhammad: By sending notifications to students and hosting monthly meetings.

Lemmons: “We need to go out (and conduct) in-person visits to all the various homes” and places of worship.

Hunter-Harvill: As a current boardmember, she’s hosted student forums and visited Parent Academy sessions.

Clement: Office hours for parents and students, and identifying “trouble students.”

Question 3: What should the district be doing to address learning loss?

Clement: Address the attention deficit amont students through individualized learning.

Hunter-Harvill: Implement a district literacy plan, which includes 90-minute blocks for reading and math, and bringing back Saturday school.

LaMar Lemmons: Saturday school and after-school programs, such as sports, music and theater.

Muhammad: Invest more into after-school programs “to be able to get them extra assignments (according to) different types of ability.”

Simmons-Short: Tutoring and African-centered curricula.

Telford: Implementing the “quick to learn program” (?). “The kids can’t read, okay? We’ve got to make sure that when they leave the third grade, they can read right. That’s not happening.”

Vaughn: Policies to engage parents in parental support and adult learning courses. “The pandemic impacted the way our parents are supporting their children in their education.”

Rapid-Fire Question 1: What grade would you give to DPSCD Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti?

Vaughn: C to Vitti, but a B- to the board. “I think the current board is amazing.”

Telford: F. “If we don’t teach our kids to read, we’re failing our kids in the most fundamental responsibility that we have as educators.”

Simmons-Short: F. “The students are failing.”

LaMar Lemmons: F.

Hunter-Harvill: C. “We must do better. But it’s not because Dr. Vitti doesn’t have the brain to get us to where we need to be.”

Clement: C. “When it was time to rename the schools … the board kind of miserably failed by not acting.”

Candidates get 30 seconds to answer these rapid-fire questions.

Rapid-Fire Question 2: What is the one thing the district isn’t doing that it should be doing?

Clement: Addressing student attendance.

Hunter-Harvill: Transportation.

LaMar Lemmons: Finding out why students aren’t attending school.

Muhammad: Assisting families with gift cards for gas.

Simmons-Short: Holistic approach to student absence.

Telford: Same as Simmons-Short.

Vaughn: Equitable funding.

Rapid-Fire Question 3: Name one thing you would do to increase teacher retention.

Vaughn: Equitable funding. “If you wanna retain great teachers, pay them great salaries.”

Telford: Better teacher pay. “They need better pay in Detroit because they’re facing social problems that they don’t even imagine in the suburbs.”

Simmons-Short: Incentives, such as housing and student loan assistance, especially for teachers who were formerly Detroit public school students.

Muhammad: Transparency in classroom curricula.

LaMar Lemmons: Equitable funding of better working environments.

Hunter-Harvill: Meeting with teachers to find out what it would take to retain them.

Clement: Bonuses based on student attendance and paying off teachers’ student loans.

Now to audience questions.

Audience Question 1: How would candidates improve regulation in air quality in and around schools?

Clement: Invest in building maintenance and capital investments to modernize air conditioning systems and power buildings using solar energy.

Hunter-Harvill: Modernizing school buildings.

LaMar Lemmons: Improving air filtration in school buildings and to identify students who have breathing problems, due to Detroit’s high asthma rate.

Muhammad: Ensuring school buildings have proper heating and cooling systems.

Simmons-Short: Using new air filters and using renewable energy like solar power.

Telford: Investing in air quality.

Audience Question 2: Given the book banning issue in Dearborn, what should we do to support LGBT students and ensure a diversity of ideas offered in our libraries?

Vaughn: Says she is not familiar with the issue in Dearborn, but “every child needs to be represented in what they read.”

Telford: “Censorship is something that I will oppose. … Our kids should be exposed to any kind of material that there is.”

Simmons-Short: “If a parent does not want the student to read a certain book, I believe the parents should have a right to determine.”

Muhammad: “We should make sure that the books that we have in our library represent students from our different nationalities, backgrounds … Everybody should be respected for their walk of life.”

LaMar Lemmons: “I’m totally opposed to censorship. … Every voice must be reflected and definitely should not be removing books from the library.”

Hunter-Harvill: “Diversity is very im portant to me, and so we must make sure that we give all students a chance to learn however they need to learn.”

Clement: “I think book banning is politcally motivated. If you can’t find it in a book, they (children) got smartphones and can look it up on the internet.”

Audience Question 3: How would you eliminate bullying (in response to bullying-motivated school shootings)?

Clement: More athletics programs. “You get the bully and put a helmet on each one of them.”

Hunter-Harvill: Points to DPSCD’s no-bullying programs. Get teachers and parents involved with combating bullying.

LaMar Lemmons: “Teach the child that such behavior as an adult is a criminal offense and that it could put them on the path they don}t want to be on.”

Muhammad: Putting more emphasis on intervention and addressing underlying issues among bullies.

Simmons-Short: Social workers, counselors, and other social services.

Telford: More anti-bullying programs.

Vaughn: Better mental health programs.

Now a one-minute intermission (where I get a few seconds to breathe).

Ope, now we’re going to the second panel.

WDET’s Sascha Raiyn will moderate this panel. https://t.co/ovymU2uyQu

Question 1: What is the biggest issue facing the district?

Monique Bryant: “Parent engagement is suppressed in this district.” Wants a PTA and set committee in every school.

Regina Ann Campbell: “Parental engagement, absenteeism, educational achievement and safety — they’re all interconnected.” Wants better school safety.

Bessie Harris: Chronic absenteeism. “We’ve got to bring back the joy of coming to school.”

Ridgeley Hudson Jr.: Same as Harris. “How could we ensure a more positive and more proactive school culture for our students?”

Latrice McClendon: Low achievement, high dropout rates, chronic absenteeism, transportation. “Where are we creating barriers for our own students?”

Aliya Moore: Allocating federal dollars.

Peterson-Mayberry: Funding and prioritizing after-school programs. “I don’t think we an say that there is one (issue).”

Iris Taylor: Socioeconomic disparities among students. “We have to build in some programming that addresses those disparities.”

M’Joy Reed-Nash, a student at Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, is also moderating this panel.

Question 2: How do you plan to connect with students, families and staff?

Taylor: Community forums, visits to community groups.

Peterson-Mayberry: Connecting with community groups, student ambassadors to the board.

Moore: Communicating with parent leaders through monthly meetings to have coffee or tea.

McClendon: “We’re thinking outside of the box on how we connect with those who are in this ecosystem.” Wants more focus groups.

Hudson Jr.: Hosting events outside board meetings.

Harris: Visiting schools, PTA meetings. Making herself available to the public.

Campbell: Monthly visits to schools and parents. “Hybrid” meetings for those without transportation.

Bryant: Says she’s closely connected with her community. “We have got to just simply care more about our students.”

Question 3: What should the district do to address learning loss?

Bryant: Bring more resources into classrooms. Prefers textbooks over electronic resources.

Campbell: Hybrid learning — in-person and online teaching.

Harris: Individualized learning plans that involve parents

Hudson: A district literacy plan, night school programs and Saturday school programs.

McClendon: Teacher resources and current programs over after-school programs. “We should be addressing learning loss in real time.”

Moore: Increasing enrollment. Of social programs, she says, “All of those things will be gone because the majority of our COVID funding will be gone.”

Peterson-Mayberry: Points to the literacy plan recently unveiled by the board, summer school programs.

Taylor: Reforms and community engagement.

Now to rapid-fire questions.

Rapid-Fire Question 1: What grade would you give DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti?

Taylor: Would not give a grade, but says a “moderate level.”

Moore: D for Vitti, but an F for the current school board.

McClendon: Would not give a letter grade, but says “there’s a lot of work to do.”

Hudson: D. He bases this on Vitti’s pre-pandemic and post-pandemic performance.

Harris: C-.

Campbell: F. “Our children are faliling.”

Bryant: F. “Our students are suffering.”

Rapid-Fire Question 2: What is one thing the district is not doing to address chronic absenteeism?

Bryant: Recounts sending her child to a charter school. “I didn’t trust the education that was happening in the (public) schools.” Wants to improve trust.

Campbell: Better understanding root causes of absenteeism.

Harris: Wraparound services.

Hudson: Same as Harris, “to ensure that we could close that gap.” Also visiting the homes of students.

McClendon: Home visits, “to understand where our students are.”

Peterson-Mayberry: Points to DPSCD’s home visit campaign where they knocked on almost 50,000 doors.

Moore: “This conversation about chronic absenteeism should have been with the board.” Concerned about future funding for home visit programs.

Taylor: Social workers that can connect students with healthcare.

Rapid-Fire Question 3: Name one thing you would do to increase teacher retention.

Taylor: Improving work environments, teacher supplies, professional development opportunities.

Peterson-Mayberry: “A lot of teachers will say wages, but it’s so much more than that.” Wants to improve work environments and work culture.

Moore: Partnering with community organizations, mental health professionals. Hiring more academic interventionists.

McClendon: Increasing support staff, having incentives.

Hudson Jr.: Increase teacher pay, invite them to discussions with the board.

Harris: Survey teachers on entices them to continue employment with DPSCD.

Campbell: Ask teachers what they want.

Bryant: Funding classroom supplies. “The things that they really need, teachers go without. But they’re like parents but they don’t want to see their students without them.”

Audience Question 1: How do you intend to protect transgender students?

Bryant: Training staff and distributing information to parents.

Campbell: Asking vulnerable groups, “What do they need? And what do they want?” Still wants parents and caregivers to have a choice in their child’s education.

Harris: “We need to teach about diversity. … We need to meet the students where they are. We need to make them feel included.”

Hudson: Engaging parents and administrators in diversity and inclusion.

McClendon: Having a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and discrimination.

Moore: All district employees should hav training that teaches “how to put your personal beliefs … to the side.” Wants to invite minority groups to policy discussions.

Peterson-Mayberry: Says DPSCD already has a zero-tolerance policy, but they need to focus on enforcing it. “Bring your whole self to school and (you) should not be treated differently.”

Taylor: Transparency and accountability in policy-making, in regards to inclusion.

Audience Question 2: How will the district handle funding gaps that will resurface once pandemic relief dollars run out next year?

Taylor: Lobbying the state for policy changes.

Peterson-Mayberry: Same as Taylor.

Moore: Partnering with local businesses. “We do not need to wait until this money is gone, because it is pretty much gone.”

McClendon: Equitable funding, partnering with businesses.

Hudson: Lobbying the state for further funding.

Campbell: Same as Hudson, as well as equitable funding.

Bryant: Also lobbying.

Audience Question 3: For current and former boardmembers, if you were not able to raise the school standards to an appropriate level, why should we give you another chance?

Bryant: Says she’s already advocating and raising funds for DPSCD, with engagement with the community.

Campbell: Has been on the board of Hamilton Elementary School and was a teacher. “I’m not looking to be a politician.” Wants to be “intentional around funding, watching where the money is.”

Harris: Emphasizes her community engagement and her prioritizing being approachable to the public.

Hudson: Is involved with religious communities and has been involved on other public agency boards.

McClendon: Has children who are students of DPSCD. “This is not a game. This is real life.” She also runs a “one-billion dollar community strategy.”

Moore: “If I am elected to this board, I will bring parents, teachers, and students” on board.

Peterson-Mayberry: Points to “hudreds of partnerships” between DPSCD and community organizations.

Taylor: Says she has served on “many community boards” and runs a “more than four billion dollar operation.”

That’s it for this panel! Moderator Raiyn says Chalkbeat and WDET will publish a report on this candidate forum, so look out for that soon. https://t.co/SJnKNFbZg9

⏱ At 7:36 p.m., the meeting adjourns!

The DPSCD Board of Education will host a Policy Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting on Oct. 24: https://www.detroitk12.org/Page/9425#calendar14864/20221013/event/68670

That’s my live coverage of the Detroit School Board Virtual Candidate Forum. Phew! Thank you for following along!

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Corrections may follow below. Have an absolutely splendid night, everyone.