The next four to six years will see changes for public education as the Legislature completes its court-mandated work to amply fund K-12 education and as districts adjust to new statewide tests, and the state determines how results will be applied to graduation requirements. Everett, with more than 19,000 students, and Edmonds, serving more than 20,000 students, are among the school districts electing board members in November who will confront the local effects of those and other issues.
Edmonds School District, Position No. 1: Carin Chase and Bill Willcock are running for the seat now held by board member Kory DeMun, who is not running for reelection. The term is for four years.
Willcock is the father of three adult children who graduated from Edmonds-Woodway High School. He works in the wireless network and software industry. Along with volunteering as a math tutor and launching a tutoring program, Willcock has participated on the district’s Citizen Planning Committee and the district’s strategic directions committee. He also has volunteered with the district’s levy and bond campaigns.
Chase is the parent of a student in Mountlake Terrace High School’s STEM program. She is a graduate student at the UW’s Evans School of Public Policy and operates a small consulting firm. She also serves on the strategic directions committee, PTA and is a substitute paraeducator.
Chase and Willcock agree on most issues facing the district. Both are frustrated with the Legislature’s pace in solving the state’s education funding problem and believe the state will have to reform the levy system. Chase says she is opposed to high-stakes testing, while Willcock wants to the see the new Smarter Balanced tests used chiefly to assess student achievement.
Either candidate would be a good fit on the Edmonds school board, but Willcock’s length of service in the community gives him the edge as the voters’ choice.
Everett School District, Position No. 3: Incumbent Caroline Mason, appointed to the board in early 2014, is challenged by Kathleen Estabrook. The term is for six years.
Estabrook is a Mill Creek parent of a district student. She is a contract worker with Microsoft.
Mason’s two sons attend Everett district schools. A small business owner, her prior district experience includes time with the bond and levy committee as its public relations chairwoman, the district’s financial advisory committee and PTA.
Estabrook is an opponent of Common Core and also says she would seek a new high school and middle school in the district’s south end. Estabrook also believes school board terms should be reduced to four years.
Mason demonstrates an understanding of the complexities in education funding, testing and graduation standards that result in a diploma relevant to students. Her degrees in communication and business also are of value to the board and district. Based on her record thus far, Mason deserves a full term.
Everett School District Position No. 4: Incumbent Traci Mitchell, also appointed early in 2014, is challenged for a six-year term by Derek Ogle.
Ogle is a 2014 graduate of Cascade High School and is studying electrical engineering at the UW’s Bothell campus.
Mitchell, the mother of a student, has volunteered with the Penny Creek and Gateway PTAs and has been a member of the district’s foundation board since 2009. She is a pharmacy manager with a doctorate in pharmacy.
Ogle seeks to increase the public’s access to the district and views his recent experience as a student as useful to the board.
Mitchell, like Mason, has shown herself to be an effective board member, encouraging the district to establish more all-day kindergartens ahead of the state’s timeline. She also worked with the implementation of the state’s Smarter Balanced Assessments exams in the districts.
It’s encouraging that young adults like Ogle see public service as a responsibility, but Mitchell deserves the voters’ support for a full term.
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