Our Voice: Pasco School Board: Richardson and Lehrman

The Pasco School District has had a tumultuous year, and the challengers in this election’s school board race represent a frustrated constituency.

In the spring, district leaders were criticized for their lack of transparency in the search for a new school superintendent. That distrust continued through the summer and reached an angry peak when contract negotiations broke down and Pasco school teachers went on a two-week strike.

Students are now in class and school employees are managing, but some hard feelings remain. Our picks for the Pasco School Board reflect who we believe can best help the school district heal.

Brault v. Richardson

Pasco School Board President Ryan Brault is finishing his first term. He is a hard worker and his expertise as a financial adviser with Edward Jones has been extremely useful on the board. But his quiet demeanor did not help alleviate the contentiousness that divided the school district this year. As board president, we would have liked to have seen him step up and communicate more effectively with the community this past year.

His opponent is pediatrician Aaron Richardson, and he has a lengthy list of concerns about how Pasco schools have been run. He is polite, but unafraid of asking tough questions. He said there is a “troubling culture” in the school district, where teachers feel silenced and collaboration with teachers and parents are not the priority. Richardson will push for establishing a more open process, which is what the school board needs right now.

Lehrman v. Barton

Kathleen Barton will not be listed on the ballot. She is running a write-in campaign against incumbent Scott Lehrman, who was unopposed after the initial filing period.

Nearly getting a free-pass this election actually says a lot about Lehrman. He obviously is not the school board member people initially wanted to see voted out of office. While he may have gone along with the rest of the school board on some key decisions, he also reaches out and tries to listen to all sides.

He is a chemical engineer whose wife is a teacher, although she is taking time off to stay at home with their three children. He visits classrooms on his days off, chats with parents and also responds to taxpayers who don’t have children in school.

Barton is a well-respected, retired Pasco teacher who would bring an inside knowledge to the school board. She is a past president of the Pasco Association of Educators, and the breakdown in contract negotiations spurred her decision to come out of retirement after a year.

What the school board needs, though, is someone who can look through many lenses, and Lehrman is in a better position to do that. He also is genuinely eager to restore unity.

The Tri-City Herald recommends Aaron Richardson and Scott Lehrman for the Pasco School Board.

Michelle Whitney, reader representative and Pasco’s deputy superintendent, was not involved in the selection process.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Pasco School Board: Richardson and Lehrman."