2 views on needs of schools in Marysville

Published 10:34 pm Saturday, August 11, 2007

MARYSVILLE – In different ways, Corinne Diteman and Lisa Vares spend a great deal of time looking to make schools better.

The pair are candidates for the Position 5 seat on Marysville School Board along with incumbent Sherri Crenshaw, who decided to withdraw from the race but couldn’t get her name off the Aug. 21 ballot in time.

Diteman has worked on districtwide committees, volunteered in classrooms and pounded in stakes for levy and bond campaigns.

Vares is an Arlington police officer assigned to work in schools in that district, a position that gives her unique perspective on campus life.

Both have long resumes of community service, but emphasize different priorities.

Diteman, 45, said she wants the school district to do more to explain in simple terms how parents and the community can help students and schools meet ever-changing graduation and performance requirements that trickle down from the state and federal government.

She has spent many hours studying complicated education reform and accountability requirements, such as the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Mainly, she said, she wants the district to encourage residents to feel that they can contribute to the community’s schools.

Diteman, a mother of four and an attorney not now practicing law, served on the successful levy and bond committee in 2006 as well as the district’s facilities, boundaries and highly capable student advisory committees.

Working on the facilities committee revealed to her the extensive work that still needs to be done, including improvements to Liberty and Cascade elementary schools, which were removed from the 2006 bond list.

The bonds added critically needed classroom space, but the next need “is to strengthen our infrastructure that needs help,” she said

Vares, 37, a mother with two students in the district, said she wants to make sure schools are drug and weapon free.

“I would like to be a voice for safety in the schools,” she said.

Marysville, like other districts, has reduced funding for its school resource officer program.

Vares argued against cuts. She said the presence of a police officer on campus is vital and makes for a better learning environment.

“I just think that officer presence makes a huge difference in the way students handle themselves at school.”

Vares also said communication between the school board, administration and teachers can get better, particularly when it comes to teacher buy-in to major changes, such as the move to break Marysville-Pilchuck High School into several small schools.

“I think the district has made some good improvements over the past five years,” she said. “I think we can do better and continue to raise the bar.”

Vares said she would draw on her experiences serving on the Marysville City Council, Marysville Fire District and Snohomish County Developmental Disabilities Board.

Crenshaw said her decision to step aside boiled down to job and family time commitments.

Position 5 represents much of the south end of the school district, including the Sunnyside area. The Marysville district serves more than 11,000 students.

The school board post pays $50 a meeting or for other school-related functions, up to $4,800 a year.

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.