Michael Gallina: How to Prep for School Board Elections

Editor's Note: The following is a news release from Michael Gallina, superintendent of the North Canton City School District. 

For more information about elections, check out North Canton Patch's elections Facebook page and our update that has a list of all election-related stories.

School Board Elections — What kind of “homework” should I be doing?”

As you read this title, I’ll bet you wrinkled up your face! Homework?  Who likes homework?

With all kidding aside, the “homework” that we as citizens in our community should do on this topic is vital to the future of our community in general, and to the schools in particular. Often times, school board elections take a quieter seat behind larger local, state and national election items. We can be inundated with campaign ads on TV, radio and via the Internet (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) for these larger issues and sometimes forget that the school board election is just as important. The school board election process is the purest form of local democracy and should be treated as an honor, as well as a right.

So, how should we go about “completing this homework” before the “test” on Election Day? Here are a few suggestions that can serve as a guide for your work over the course of the next several weeks:

• Familiarize yourself with the candidates from your perspective. If you have a specific interest or question, you should find the best way that you can to connect with the candidates and ask that question. Often times, the candidates will provide a phone number or an email. Use these contact options to ask your key questions.
• Attend any candidates’ nights that are scheduled. Often times, Chambers of Commerce will sponsor such nights, or sometimes parent groups and support groups will sponsor such nights, as well.
• In North Canton, our TV Channel 11 will run a -sponsored set of interviews that will be conducted in our TV studio. We will announce the air dates and you will also be able to find these on our website, as well as the Chamber’s website.  Additionally, the North Canton Patch has a set of interviews that are currently available for viewing.
• Watch for newspaper questionnaires that provide a general set of questions that each candidate must answer. In this format, you hear the same question answered from each candidate’s perspective.
• Reflect upon the candidate’s “full body of work." Such qualities as poise, insight, ability to speak and write clearly, service history, connection to the heart of the community in which that candidate will serve and the ability to function as a team member are vital to the overall performance of a school board member. One way to think of this point is to think about the candidate’s ability to be an “ambassador” of/for the community where the school system is involved.

I close by saying that the community of North Canton that I know will complete their “homework” in their usual A+ fashion! The children, families, businesses and friends of our school district need us to “ace” this test! We will make the grade, given our past tests!