Dear Editor:
During my campaign, I have witnessed firsthand the nastiness that we see impacting our political system, but not where you might expect.
It has evolved at the most local level, our Westfield Washington School Board. I have three children in the Westfield school system. It is a wonderful school district. Its size and rating are attracting people in droves like it did my wife and me when we chose to move here. We continue to be happy with that decision and are excited about the direction this new administration and school board has chosen to lead us.
Westfield now has a superintendent in place who has successfully led capital projects due to growth, done the research to understand our needs as a community given the rate of growth, managed a partnership with the YMCA at a previous school and hired a CFO to manage our finances. We are not the small community we once were and need to hire the right people to continue looking out for our best interest. As far as I can tell, we are on the right trajectory, yet there are people saying explosive things.
Here are the facts:
- Westfield has had the highest rate of growth in the state amongst schools in last five years.
- The financial picture that is being attributed to this administration was during the tenure of the last set of leaders.
- The factors that would dictate a school “in danger” are being misrepresented by a slate of candidates from data from the prior leadership.
- The school recognizes the financial hole they were given but has the professional leadership now to plan and implement a plan to fix it.
- Per the State’s Legislative Services Agency, schools in danger must be experiencing a reduction in assessed value throughout the district and a reduction in student population, which is definitely not the case in Westfield.
Our schools are on the right path, but you wouldn’t believe that if you read some of the misinformation being stated and advertised in this school board race.
Learn the facts and reach out to our administration like I did. Dr. Grate is always available and my conversation with Brian Tomamichel, WWS CFO, was eye-opening about the reality of our schools, to say the least.
It is good to have the right leadership in place and I am proud to call Westfield home.
Ken Alexander
Westfield
Candidate for Hamilton County Council, District 4