Our Voice: Christensen, Phillips and Lewis for Pasco schools

While the teachers’ strike two years ago may still be fresh in the minds of many Pasco voters, all six candidates we interviewed for the Pasco School Board agreed the school district is moving in a more collaborative direction.

Communication within the district and with the public has greatly improved, they said, and wounds are healing. Even so, all three newcomers challenging the incumbents say they can offer a helpful change for the better.

Here is our take on each race:

Steve Christensen and Brian Griffith

Pasco School Board member Steve Christensen is seeking his second term and has worked hard to understand the big issues affecting education. He is the legislative representative for the local board and is on the legislative committee for the Washington State School Directors Association.

Challenger Brian Griffith is the associate vice president of marketing for Gesa Credit Union and is a unique candidate. He has no children, and is coming from a community perspective rather than that of a parent. We don’t see that very often, and we applaud his interest.

Griffith correctly notes that good schools should be the focus of more than just teachers, parents and school administrators, but the community as well. He would be that community voice, he said.

In his role at Gesa, he has been involved in creating and managing the student credit unions in the Tri-City area high schools, and wants to make Pasco’s “great schools even better.”

In many areas the two candidates are on the same page, but Griffith questioned why Christensen voted against putting the school bond on the November ballot.

We wondered that too.

Christensen said he understands there is an urgent need to build more schools to keep up with Pasco’s growth, but he would have preferred the school district take a step back and commit to a long-range plan first.

He disagrees with the idea of looking at the immediate need and only considering “what can stick.”

While we understand Griffith’s concern that Christensen’s stance on the bond might encourage some voters to oppose it, we like that Christensen is willing to speak his mind.

Griffith is an impressive candidate and likely would put his all into the school board job if elected.

Christensen, though, seems to look at education through a wider lens than many school leaders, and he is not afraid to be a lone voice on the school board. His insight on legislative issues also makes him an asset.

The Herald recommends Steve Christensen for Pasco School Board, Position 3.

Amy Phillips and Jeffrey Peterson

Amy Phillips strikes us as the Energizer Bunny of the Pasco School Board. She was elected four years ago driven to make a difference and doesn’t show signs of slowing.

She is a homemaker, a mother of seven — including being a foster mother. Phillips also is a substitute teacher in the Richland School District and has devoted her life to education and all things kid-related.

Phillips said when she was elected four years ago she felt the school district was not as responsive as it should have been to community and parent concerns.

She said she believes change is happening — a better school district website, a commitment to answering emails from parents, and more time for public comments at school board meetings have all helped improve communication.

Her challenger is Jeffrey Peterson, a project manager in the health and safety field at Hanford. He has children in the Pasco School District and has been concerned about the resources available for children with special needs.

He has multiple college degrees and is an enlisted member of the U.S. Air Force.

Peterson said he doesn’t like the status quo and wants to get involved to help promote new ideas for the school district. He said a lack of trust has been an issue between parents and the school board in the past.

Peterson wants to be a force for change, and we appreciate that. He is an involved parent and his experience in management would be a plus.

But we think Phillips has been working for improvements in the district since she joined the school board, and she is just now hitting her stride.

We would like to see her continue.

The Herald recommends Amy Phillips for Pasco School Board, Position 5.

Sherry Lancon and Erin Hall Lewis

Sherry Lancon has been a Pasco school board member for 20 years and we want to thank her for her many years of dedicated service.

We think, though, it is time to let someone new have a chance to lead. We are recommending newcomer Erin Hall Lewis for the Pasco School Board.

Lewis, like Phillips, is an involved mother and also a foster mother. She regularly visits schools, talking to teachers and other parents, and — most impressively — she attends school board meetings and does her homework.

She is the kind of person who gets in the trenches, and while we wouldn’t want her to micromanage the school district, she does seem like someone who would speak for parents who feel their voices are not being heard.

Lancon’s children have gone through Pasco schools and now her grandchildren are attending them. Her institutional knowledge has been helpful, but her opponent is a candidate who has been paying attention to the school board for a long time.

We think Lewis is ready to have a turn.

The Herald recommends Erin Hall Lewis to the Pasco School Board, Position 4.

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Our Voice: Christensen, Phillips and Lewis for Pasco schools."