Our Voice: Re-elect Jansons and Cleary to Richland School Board

Two longtime Richland School Board members are up for re-election, and we recommend them both.

Incumbents Rick Jansons and Heather Cleary are hard-working, committed public servants, and their years of experience should not be swept aside.

In 2015, two newcomers were elected to the five-member board. If Jansons and Cleary were replaced, that would unwisely eliminate the institutional knowledge from the group.

Rick Jansons and Ron Higgins

Perennial school candidate Ron Higgins is running for the seat now held by Richland School Board President Rick Jansons.

Higgins has run for that board twice before and also has run for state Superintendent of Public Instruction. He is a former Marine, a retired engineer and is now an enthusiastic substitute teacher in the Tri-Cities.

Higgins’ and Jansons’ families know each other well, Higgins said, and he emphasized he is not running against Jansons so much as he is running for issues.

Higgins keeps booklets of the U.S. Constitution in his briefcase and happily hands them out to anyone. He is a strong believer in teaching children American history and civics, and adheres to the philosophies promoted by the Constitution Party.

He is outspoken on social issues, and his campaign appears centered around his belief system. Despite his frustration with society’s ills, he is an affable candidate who enjoys debating a range of topics – from vaccinations to multiplication tables to the Pledge of Allegiance.

Jansons has been on the Richland School Board for 16 years and his grasp of state school funding problems and curriculum issues is spot-on. He is an advocate for reducing the singular focus on high-stakes standardized tests, and wants schools to get away from a college-for-all approach.

He favors returning more career and technical programs to the schools and is concerned that the new 24-credit requirement to graduate from high school will limit kids’ ability to explore a variety of subjects.

When Jansons talks about education, he makes so much sense.

The Herald recommends Rick Jansons for the Richland School Board, Director 2.

Heather Cleary and Matthew Bishop

Unexpected circumstances prevented us from meeting with Richland School Board candidate Matthew Bishop in person, but he was contacted by phone after our interview with incumbent Heather Cleary.

Bishop said he has been door-belling and believes there are many parents who feel the school board is not responsive to their needs — and that’s why he is running.

He has three children in Richland schools, and one is a special needs student. A homecare worker, Bishop has served on the Benton Franklin Head Start Policy Council & Board of Directors, the Ben Franklin Transit Citizens Advisory Committee and a project leader for 4-H.

Bishop also is a former GOP precinct committee officer. He said he wants to be a voice for the community and he would be responsive to the concerns of parents.

Cleary has been on the Richland School Board for 12 years and said dealing with continued growth in the school district is a primary concern. She also said that although there are other school districts who would envy Richland’s test scores, she is pushing for improvement.

School leaders have to find ways “to move the needle,” she said.

She believes she is a good listener and isn’t afraid to ask questions. We don’t doubt that.

Cleary also said she has not seen Bishop at school board meetings. In our phone interview with him, he said he has been to a few, but that his time has been spent directly talking with citizens — not sitting in a meeting.

During her time on the school board (and Jansons’), the school district has developed several new programs, including the Three Rivers Homelink program for home-school families, the Richland Health and Sciences Academy and the Communities in Schools program, which connects volunteers with students in need.

The Richland School District has been doing too much that’s right to necessitate a change in leadership now.

The Herald recommends Heather Cleary for the Richland School Board, Director 1.

Editor’s Note: A full list of the Herald’s recommendations for the Nov. 7 election will be published in Sunday’s paper.

This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Re-elect Jansons and Cleary to Richland School Board."