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Three of four school board candidates met with voters Monday to talk about their views of the Lansing Central School District and what they will bring to it , if elected.  Of three Board Of Education members whose terms are up this year, only School Board vice President Glenn Swanson is running again.  Virginia Mansfield-Richardson and Tom Robinson joined Swanson to answer questions for about 35 people.  Betsy Galvin, who could not be there Monday, sent a statement to be read aloud.


District Business Administrator Mary June King moderated.  King moderates like events for the League of Women Voters in Schuyler and Tompkins Counties.  The Lansing PTSO hosted the event.

Mary June King: This is 'Meet The Candidates' night for school board candidates who will be in the election on May 17th with the budget vote and the bond resolution for busses.

One candidate, Betsy Galvin, could not be here this evening, but I will read her statement when the time comes.  To my right is Virginia Mansfield-Richardson.  To her right is Tom Robinson, and to his right is Glenn Swanson.  There are three open seats on the Board Of Education in this election, and we have four candidates.  So it's an unusual opportunity for you to have some genuine choice.

We will have each candidate read a brief statement to introduce themselves and aspects of their candidacy that they would like you to consider.  After that we will open the floor to questions.  Candidates will have three minutes to answer your questions.

These folks are running for a thankless job.  It is a job that takes a huge amount of commitment.  It is a job that requires individuals who are really lay people to determine strategy for the whole organization and its $25 million budget.  They define the community's strategy and educational desires, and they impart that strategy to those of us who are at the tactical and operational levels to carry out.  It's a really important job.  We couldn't be in business without them.  This is probably the best example of the democratic aspect of our society.  I want to congratulate each of these folks for being willing to step up to the plate on that.

We'll begin with the candidates' three minute opening statements.  I'm going to read Betsy Galvin's statement:

Betsy Galvin is a 1984 graduate of St. Bonadventure University with a Bachelors of Business Administration and a concentration in secondary business education.  In 1997 Betsy graduated with an MS Ed from SUNY Cortland.  Her degree is in elementary education with a math concentration.

Betsy's three children attend Lansing schools, and are currently in 8th, 6th, and 4th grades.  Strengths that would make Betsy a good board member are: she is committed to achieving high quality academic education which supports students in our district; she has invested time and energy in our schools as a parent, a volunteer, and a substitute employee; she has a belief that we have a moral obligation to improve the academic environment via safety and curriculum; she loves our kids and cares about their educational future.

District issues which Betsy would like to see addressed: she believes in fiscal responsibility; she is interested in student safety and building safety; she is interested in waste reduction; she is interested in reducing the impact on students when we are operating with funding limitations; and she is interested in seeing us maintain a higher standard of student behavior relative to drugs, alcohol, and mutual respect.  She is interested in raising  the bar of expectations in all of these categories.

Betsy sees significant strengths of the Lansing School District as being the fact that it has supportive and involved parents and community; that it has a high quality of graduates that are admitted to a variety of quality higher education institutions; that it has a superior performing arts department; that it allows for smaller class sizes, which, in turn, allows students more personal instruction; and that it has teachers who strive for excellence with compassion and creativity and who bring learning to life.

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson: I really am honored to be amongst the candidates, Betsy, Tom, and Glenn.  it's a shame that there are not four seats available.  I have had two careers.  I was a reporter at the Washington Post for 12 years, and I covered a lot of school board meetings and a lot of city council.  I covered three different school boards, and I never got bored.  I think they are actually very interesting.  I love budgets and I love what's happening with the community.  And I got to know the school board members behind the scenes, so I know how challenging it can be.

I also am an associate dean at Ithaca College in the Roy Park School of Communications.  I've been associate dean there for 12 years since my husband and I moved here.  When we moved here we had one child, and we were legal guardian to my nephew.  Subsequently we had three more children.

I deal with the results of K through 12 education on a daily basis.  I am the main contact person for parents in the Park School.  I have wrenching phone conversations and challenging meetings.  I see the value of a solid K-12 education.

I think the Lansing School District -- if you have an average or superior child it's a great school district.  And if you have a child who has challenges, who may need the school psychologist, who may need help... it's an outstanding school district.  I think people don't often hear that side of it.  What I value about this community is that we care about the distribution of wealth.  We care about people who may not be as well off as others, and people really step up to the plate.  I have the utmost respect for the teachers and the staff and the administration.

My background: I have a Bachelor's in political science, a Masters in Public Administration, and a PhD in Communications. It seems like it might be a good combination to help with a lot of what the school board needs.

I also have dealt quite a bit with political systems.  I worked for a U.S. congressman.  My father was a chief of staff for a congressman for 17 years.  At one point my entire family worked in the federal government at the Supreme Court and the U.S. Department of Justice.  So I'm familiar with how the political structure impacts local school districts.  I think to not look at it that way is not responsible.

And I echo everything that Betsy just said.  i think Betsy's comments were great.  Thank you.

Tom Robinson: I won't go into a lot of my background, because that's been published in the District Bulletin.  I'd like to focus a little more on my reasons for running for the school board.  First we have six children.  We have five currently in the school system, ranging from first grade to a senior in high school, with our sixth child starting Kindergarten next fall.

The second reason is that I think we're entering into a very challenging financial situation.  I would like to enter that process, helping make the best decisions between the balance of what our students need, what our children need for our future of education, versus what the community can handle.  There are definitely two sides.  We do not have endless resources to support the schools.  but I think if we have the right people looking at the right priorities and the right resources we can absolutely get everything that our children are going to need and want for their education.

I'm employed in the automotive business.  I work at Borg Warner.  One of the factors that is more or less a given in our industry is annual price reductions.  That's a standard in the automotive industry.  What you sell this year for one dollar is less than a dollar next year.  So I understand the needs of having to provide the same level of service or increased service with decreased revenue.  We experience that on a daily basis in our business.  I would like to use my experience in that to help the school district make the decisions on where the best value is coming from to help support our students.

I think when many organizations see that challenge one of the first things they look at is how do we cut services proportionate to the reduction in the funding?  Obviously for the school district and for our business that's not an option.  We have to be able to hold or increase the level of service with the decrease in the level of financial support.


I believe the school district has done an excellent job in this process.  I really look forward to assisting with that.  When we began looking for a place to live in 1991 my wife and I chose Lansing because we wanted to be able to settle in one location and not move around, and we wanted to pick a district, even before we had children, that had an excellent reputation for its education.  In this area this was Lansing.

I'll be looking forward to supporting this ongoing process.

Glenn Swanson: Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight.  It's really an honor to be here and it's phenomenal that we have such a great turnout and a great list of candidates.  Some people remember past years where we didn't have a lot of people to run, and not a whole lot of people turned up to listen.  So it's really good to see everybody.

My name is Glenn Swanson. I'm running for my third term on the Lansing school board.  I have lived and worked in Lansing for over 20 years now, except for a couple of periods where I was asked to go abroad to work for short periods of time.  I am a mechanical engineer with an undergraduate degree from Cornell, and a graduate degree from Union College.   I have two daughters attending Lansing: one in high school and one in the middle school.

For sure this coming year will be a challenging year as we face a difficult financial environment.  But we really need to stay focused on what our mission is.  That's to educate our youth for the future.

As part of my job I travel a great deal internationally.  I work with engineers and business people around the world in India and China and Korea and Mexico.  I really understand the global economy and how hard these people work, and how focussed they are on education.  And I understand that the world is a much smaller place than it used to be.  These people and their children will be competing for our jobs.

We need to educate our children to be successful in that environment, not only for their success, but really for ours because they are our future.

Being on the school board is not an easy job, but I feel it's one I'm well qualified for.  I am now completing my sixth year on the board.  I am Vice President of the board this year.  As a member of the facilities committee I've worked on two capital projects and the EPC (Energy Performance Contract), which is a way for us to bring energy savings equipment into the district at no immediate cost to the district.  I've also been involved in two superintendent searches.  I hope not to have to do that again for a long, long time.  It is a very challenging process.

This year I was the Board Of Education representative to the Strategic Planning Committee.  It was a great process, a very inclusive process that I hope will provide some guidance for us in the coming years as we look at what our priorities are in the district and what our real mission is, and where we can cut and not cut.

I also believe my engineering background and management experience will help us develop solutions to both support student needs and be economically responsible to the community.  It will be a challenging environment.  Thank yo for your consideration.

Question from Ted Laux: As you know, there are a lot of issues before the board that may not be part of the general public knowledge.  How have you been able to keep up with the issues that are actually before the board.

Mary June King: I believe that's for the two candidates who would be new to the board.

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson: I read a lot of news.  That's my business.  I'm a former journalist.  As Associate Dean in the School of Communications I read many, many Web sites.  That's where I get the majority of my news.  But I also read local news.

Also, to be honest, you get a lot of information by talking with the community.  You pick up on a lot of people's concerns that way.

Tom Robinson: I agree with Virginia.  Talking with a lot of the people in the community through everyday interaction and through the kids' events, sports events, other activities.  Especially when an issue arises communication is very good in this town.  And that's a good thing.

I also get a lot of feedback from my children.  I have them in every single school.  And I think the staff is very good at raising current event issues, anything related to the challenges of the school district, many of them talk about them to the students, who bring that feedback home.  I think that's very positive.  It's been a very open process, and I do hear quite a bit back from my own children.

And again, through the media reporting.  I have attended probably a half dozen meetings over the last six years.  Not a lot, but I certainly keep up on what I feel are the critical issues that the board faces.

Current Board Member Dick Thayler: I'm Dick Thayler and I'm going to be retiring from the board.  I will have been a board member for eight and a half years.  Three years with this board and five and a half years with a previous board.   The thing that is very important is the continuation of this school as being the leading or one of the leading schools where the students go on to college to get a higher education.  I think it's also very important for you to consider the fact that as far as the budget is concerned we have difficulties up in Albany at the present time.  It's a question of how you will handle that on a local basis so that the local owners of property that gets assessed can handle that situation.

I think that Lansing sets a precedent for a great number of schools in this area, and both athletically and scholastically it is number one.

Question from Dan Ferguson: I am a high school teacher.  I actually have Mr. Robinson's kids.  A strange question but a relevant question: many of the top blue ribbon schools across New York State sill have ability grouping, or tracking.  Due to a variety of reasons, Lansing is adopting this model by grouping students together in the same classes.  What is your opinion on this?

Tom Robinson: I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other.  As I mentioned when I entered into this candidacy I do like to hear both sides of an issue before making a decision.  I think there are pros and cons on both sides.  I would really need to listen to the educated opinions of people who want to weigh in on that subject before making a final decision.

Glenn Swanson: As you know it's something we're thinking about now.  In the high school particularly we're talking about the English classes.  I think both can work.  I think maybe moving from the model we have today to another model may require some additional training, and maybe some tools for the classroom to help the teachers. I think there are pros and cons both ways.  YWith both groups in the same setting I think you have some ability of more advanced students to help the students who are struggling a little bit.  And also to help motivate the struggling students a little bit, to kind of pull them along.  The thing we need to be cautious of is that we don't hold back our exceptional students. I think both can work.  I look to the school administrators and teachers to make a recommendation, because you guys are the experts.

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson: That's one that I probably have a similar answer to what Tom said.  There are about 25 questions I would want to put forth to many, many people, particularly the experts in the area.  So I quite frankly don't feel I'm well enough informed about it to give you a solid answer.  It would be one of those things i would want to do a lot of research and a lot of listening on to see where people fall out.

Question from Richard Farr: For the two new folks: you both have beautiful large families and successful careers.  When you heard there was an opening on the board why did you say that's something I want to do?

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson: Well, Rich, you also have a beautiful family.  We're neighbors.

When I heard there was an opening both my husband Brian and I had been talking about it before it even came up.  I'll be very honest with you.  I feel I haven't given enough back to the community.  I feel I've had a young child who is now going into Kindergarten.  Everybody looks at areas where they may be able to give back, and that was my thought.

I have such great compassion and love for this community and all that it's done for our family.  I've gotten to know a lot of the people.  And I really believe very strongly in keeping this a top-notch school district.

And I'm worried about the budget climate.

Tom Robinson: I've been thinking about it on and off for the last several years.  What inspired me this time was when my children came home we had discussions from school and some of the potential impacts of some cuts.  I had questions about it.  Glenn and I were talking about it and I realized that I'm going to have a lot of these coming up, knowing the financial struggles we're going to go through.

It's not fair of me to sit on the outside and either have questions and not participate, or criticize a decision that is made that I haven't invested myself in.

Question from current school board member Christine Iacobucci: School board members are elected to represent our community's needs and values, and at the same time work collaboratively with the Superintendent.  As an elected official this may mean that , at times, you disagree with the direction the Superintendent recommends.  Sometimes the business-like professional relationship with the Superintendent can make asking questions easier.  Sometimes not.  Sometimes it can be very difficult.  How would you, or are you able to objectively able to represent the community, especially if it might require you to publicly question the Superintendent?  And how might you address the possible public perceptions of rubber stamping?

Glenn Swanson: I think it's important that we have open dialog on all issues.  I think differences of opinion among board members, and even with staff members, are valuable as long as they're based on logic and some basis for dialog. 

The second question was related to rubber stamping.  I think we have to be careful as board members that we really respect our roles.  There are certain things that board members do.  We develop policy.  We hire the Superintendent, and we generally approve recommendations.

All of us, I think, from our professional careers like to get into some of the details more than we should. We are volunteer part-time employees, and running a school is a very challenging task and a full time job for educated people in that field.

So I think we need to respect that role.  There are things we need to stand on because they're important.  However, there are other things that I think are more aligned with school business.  In that case we need to rely on professional staff to provide guidance.

Tom Robinson: I have no issues challenging a position or an opinion that I don't share.  I do it professionally, and I think it is very important to listen to all the constituents.  We are representing them.  I am not representing myself and my children.  I'm here to represent the community and they have the stronger voice than me personally.

I would hope not to ever give the impression of rubber stamping, and that we raise the questions that need to be asked, and then let the group decision happen.

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson: In my professional life I have to ask a lot of difficult questions.  I have to deal with a lot of difficult situations.  I also had to do that as a reporter at the Washington Post.  And I've had to do it with situations in the Lansing School District.  I think that there are times where you can respectfully disagree.  I think 'respectful' is important.  This is a community that is a respectful community.  I agree with both what Tom and Glenn are saying: we're here to represent the community and have thoughtful discourse.

If you start to have rumblings of thinking that there is rubber stamping going on, then that's a bit of a communication issue.  The last thing you would want is not knowing that opinion is going on and not trying to help to correct it through open discussion.

Question from Ted Laux: As a public body everything you do with some exception is supposed to be done in the open.  I'm curious about your feelings about openness and communicating with the public, as opposed to communicating in secret, and what, if any, familiarity you have with the open meetings laws and the freedom of information laws of the State of New York.

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson: I've taught FOIA.  I'm very familiar with it.  I filed many FOIAs as a journalist, and I am very familiar with it as an educator in communications and journalism.

I've sat in hundreds of school board meetings, so I really respect the process, and I understand when they have to go into closed session.  I think it's important to follow the law.  I also very much believe in the democratic process, with a small 'd'.  I think that school boards are one of the most important parts of the democratic process.

Tom Robinson: My position is similar.  There's a reason for having that process and those laws to make sure that decision making is done publicly as it's supposed to be, while at the same time respecting the privacy of others for issues that are supposed to be kept confidential.

Those rules are in place, and I will simply respect them.

Glenn Swanson: I went to training at the New York State School Board Association meeting in New York a couple of years ago on open meetings and legislation, so I understand the rules well.  My preference is to have everythng open.  I understand that we can't do that for student discipline, personnel issue, or contract negotiations.  I think that's logical.  Other than that I think everything should be open.

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson: That also means we can't have a dinner party.

Mary June King: We'll allow each of the candidates a two minute closing statement.

Glenn Swanson: Thank you for your time this evening.  I hope I've been able to answer your questions about my qualifications to be a school board member again.  If elected I promise to bring experience, teamwork, fiscal responsibility and common sense to the school board.  I am a good listener who will do my best to bring the community's input to the board so we can continue to keep Lansing schools great.  Again, thanks for your attention this evening, and please vote for me on May 17th.

Tom Robinson: Thank you for coming out to listen to us tonight.  One of the comments that I would have is that I think this community would have a wonderful problem if we had too many candidates... way more than the number of positions.  That would be a great problem. I would gladly lose an election in that situation.  That would mean the community has even stronger support than what we've had in the last few years.

I look forward to being challenged to participate on this board.  I feel all the candidates are very strong this year.  So I leave it up to the voters to decide who they think is best going to represent them and the future of our district.

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson: I want to say thank you also to everybody who has come out, and to those who can't be here because of other obligations who might find out about it in other ways.  If I were elected I would very much work hard to be a good listener, to be fair, to be balanced, and to not be afraid of difficult problems that we may have to be facing.  I think when we were all getting our petitions signed we heard that.

I am absolutely thrilled to be amongst this group. I'm sorry Betsy couldn't be here with us tonight.  I really love being part of the Lansing community, and I would love to be on the school board.  It would be a great honor.

Mary June King:  That concludes the activities of this evening's 'Meet The Candidates' night.  The election is on Tuesday.  You have three seats to choose from among four people to fill.

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