Meet the Francis Howell Board of Education Candidates

Four candidates vying for two open seats on the Francis Howell Board of Education answered questions during a "Meet the Candidates" night on Thursday.

Incumbents , and candidates and were at the event.

FHNToday.com hosted evening and posted a full video of the event on YouTube. Below, find an excerpt of the questions asked and the responses from the candidates.

How would you handle the tax rate and budget and keep the district fiscally solvent?

Eric Seider: "I think we need to balance the need of the students vs. laying off teachers. Neither situation is a good situation. ... I spoke very publicly at a board meeting when the tax rate that had been increased was rolled back the next week at a special meeting. I disagree with the roll back because I believe the district could use the money in teh classroom as a reset ito put back in some of the things that were cut last year

Marie Haupt: "I know it's a very difficult time because our community members are struggling also with jobs and trying to make ends meet, but again the district needs this money. and a lot of things we really dont know what is goign to happen down the road. ... I would like to see that tax be permanent."

Hodits: Hodits said deficits are due to the state failing to fully fund transportation and the foundation formula. "(The 20-cent levy) is one when we're going to have to ask our public what type of education do you want Francis Howell to have? They're going to have to tell us do we want to keep the 20 cents or roll it back and decrease the quality of education of our students. It will be up to our state legislatures and mainly our tax payers."

Johnson: "The 20-cent special purpose levy does fall off in the next couple of years... We're going to need some input from the public to basically tell us, as a board, what they want to do. Do we want to maintain the current academic level that we have or are we going to let that levy expire and, of course, make additional cutbacks. As Mr. Hodits pointed out, that's a local tax issue patrons will have to decide."

How do you plan on supporting gifted education?

Hodits: My wife is a gifted teacher here in the district. Gifted education at the high school level we have a little issue with. With the AP class that we're offering now for our students, the gifted program enrollment has decreased over the years as enrollment in AP has increased. At no time do I see will we discontinue the gifted program in our high schools, but it's going to be decreased in size. We took that step last year, because we could not afford to have teachers to have one or two teachers in the classroom for gifted while other teachers have 25-30 kids.

Johnson: "I think the challenge in high school with gifted students is providing them with a challenging curriculum, one that keeps them busy. ... We started to launch a pilot program in the middle school to try to prepare students for science, technology and math before they get into high school. I would see continuing to support those programs and encourage as many students a possible to get involved in those programs in high school."

Seider: "As the parent of gifted students I think gifted education is extremely important at all levels. As Mr. Johnson said, we need to keep students engaged however we can keep students engaged. keeps them in school and keeps them progressing. I also think we need to make the same resources available to kids who are not gifted."

Haupt: "At Saeger I worked with a lot of those gifted students... These are the people who are going to be the leaders of our world. We need to give them all the supplies and all the information they need to continue into their endeavors and expand into their brain. They need a lot of guidance also." Haupt said she'd like to see the middle school students who take classes at the high school be able to get college credit for those classes.

How do you plan to keep funding for the various projects equal across the board for various high schools and middle school and elementary schools? 

Haupt: "I understand with turf fields it makes it much safer for our athletes to be on turf fields. It's a very difficult decision to make but I think we have to weigh everything out what our most important needs are at the time, financial responsibility, if we have the finances available to do that. It's something that, if we had the money, and it's going to make it safer for the students I'm in favor of the turf fields,  however, if we only have so much money and we have a building that's falling apart and needing reparis anthen obivously that's going to take precedent."

Hodits: "With the construction being down, we have been able to finance project we never thought we could. First choice in projects was student learning... our classroom needs for science labs, the addition at Daniel Boone. Turf fields is not a question of if, it's a question of when." Hodits said after April 5, the board should know the cost of the HVAC system at Farimont and there may be money for turf fields. 

Johnson: "It's interesting, two years ago turf was a four letter world in this district. We've come a long way. ... Eventually, over the next year or so, Francis Howell North and Francis Howell Central will be the only two schools in the St. Charles area without artificial turf. I think that's something that needs to be considered. ... It is a safety issue, it will keep our schools on parity with other schools they compete against."

Seider: "I'm in favor of turf fields for several reasons. No. 1 safety is a major concern. Compared to other schools in the county, as Mr. Johnson said, North and Central will be the only schools without turf fields in the County." Seider said he'd like to think if someone moved into the are that the athletic facilities would be similar across the district, but that isn't the case.