Westerly School Committee forum reveals some stark partisan divides

When asked directly if they endorsed Moms for Liberty's policies, the three Republican candidates declined to answer, while the three Democrats said "no.”

The Westerly School Committee is rewriting its Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Transitioning Student Policy. It is the only municipality in Rhode Island actively working to weaken the RIDE (Rhode Island Department of Education) policy that has protected all public school students in the state for seven years without incident. For this reason, I watched the League of Women Voters candidate forum on Thursday.

Westerly will soon elect four new school committee members. These members will be responsible for the schools' bread and butter, determining how money is spent and how the district can improve testing scores. They will also decide on what those involved in this forum described as “hot-button” issues.

Six candidates—three Republicans and three Democrats—are running for four open seats. The election is on November 5, and early voting has already begun. I’ve identified party affiliation with an R or a D. Corey Fyke, former managing editor of the Westerly Sun, moderated the forum.

Though many issues were addressed, very little was said about the ongoing rewrite of the school district’s transgender student policy, but when asked directly if they endorsed the policies of Moms for Liberty, a group that has been vocal in opposing the current policy protecting trans students, the three Republicans passed on answering while the three Democrats said “no.” [Republican candidate Kristi Walston replied, “Yes, for parental rights. Other than that, I would pass.”]¹

The video is on Facebook here. The following has been edited for clarity:

Corey Fyke: What is the purpose of public schools, and how will your leadership on the school committee benefit parents and students?

Timothy Killam [D]: Public schools, to me, provide a proper education for students within a public setting versus paying for private education. I have previously served on the Westerly School Committee, and our district is strong in many ways. It always can use improvement in other ways, but I believe in working together. No matter who sits up here, you work together as a team to come up with the best policies and ways to continue moving the district forward.

Kristi Walston [R]: I believe that the purpose of public schools is to provide a free and public education to all students that the parents decide to... We should have free and public education for all students in the community. I plan to empower parents to collaborate with the school district, superintendent, and the school committee - and I believe in parental rights. The first thing I will advocate for is collaboration between parents and the district.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: The function of public schools is to provide a solid academic and practical foundation for all students in the district. This is accessible to everyone regardless of income or background. The role of the school committee is to administer to the district's needs. That would be the teachers, parents, and families. [The position] makes you a liaison. Part of that job is going to be listening. It's key to listen to what people say and to guide and change. We change what needs to be changed and fortify what works well.

Angela Goethals [D]: The purpose of a public school education is to instill our children with critical thinking skills, to honor their academic journeys, and to offer them the broadest possible understanding of our world, our citizens, our country, and our history, while also allowing them to explore the arts and to grow as global citizens. My background in theater arts is strong in creating a collaborative environment between the school committee, community members, families, and students to create a cohesive working environment where everyone feels heard.

Joseph Jackson [R]: The purpose of public school is to prepare the children for their future lives, both personally and professionally - prepare them for the world. My goal as a member of the school committee is to work with the teachers, the administration, parents, and students to make sure they you've heard me speak many times before the school committee about the RICAS scores - it's all about making sure everybody is getting the quality education they need to bring everybody up to at least the minimum level [needed] to succeed in life.

Peter Nero [D]: The statute requires that we provide FAPE, “free and appropriate public education,” to every student, technically from three to 21 years old, depending [on whether] a child has a disability. We are required to provide a top-flight education for all students within their abilities and disabilities. We have one employee, the superintendent of schools. Our job is not to micromanage what the superintendent does. I can tell you that personally because I was a superintendent for 16 years. I have a lot of experience dealing with Boards of Education in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Our primary purpose as the board... is policy and budget. If we do that well, we will be a good school committee.

Corey Fyke: Outline how parents should or should not influence the school curriculum.

Kristi Walston [R]: Parents should have access to the school curriculum. They should be able to review the school curriculum, however. We should trust our educators and administrators to choose or go over the curriculum coming from RIDE, but I believe in parental rights, and I feel [that parents] should have the last say as to what they accept for their students to learn.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Parents should be able to access and view the curriculum. It should be made available. I want teachers to make the syllabus available each quarter so parents can review it. Parents can look at the materials their children are learning, get the books for themselves, see what they are, and look at the math. That's to help us parent and guide them just as much as to see what they're getting. We should always have the option to opt our children out of material that we deem is age-inappropriate for them.

Angela Goethals [D]: I don't believe curriculum building is something I would feel qualified to do, even though I love my kids as much as the next parent. They are experts in building curriculums, and I trust them to do their jobs.

I agree with my fellow candidates who have spoken before me that the curriculum should be transparent and available. It might be difficult to have parents who object to this or that aspect of a curriculum. It is difficult, if not impossible, for an educator to manage. I don't know where that lives in the discussion. I think that curriculum and curriculum building is something best left to those who are chosen and educated in doing so.

Joseph Jackson [R]: I think parents should have, not to use a word Mr. Nero just used a minute ago, 'micromanage,' the curriculum building itself, but parents will see where their children's weaknesses are, perhaps better than the teachers do. [That is] not [a] knock on the teachers, but parents are going to know best what their child is struggling with, and they should be able to have some input to work with the teachers. Again, not to micromanage anybody, but the more input you get, the more you can tailor the education to the individuals. To bring everybody up to the same level, you want a flexible curriculum that serves everyone.

Peter Nero [D]: First, the curriculum should be posted online. It should be available for parents to see. Secondly, most curriculums, especially on a secondary level, are developed within three or five years and then reviewed. All curriculum has to go in front of the school committee. It is designed by educational experts, whether in science, mathematics, or English, right down the line.

The curriculum that is developed by the experts has to go in front of the school committee's review board. As a result, parents have some input at that point, but the school committee will end up voting on the curriculum to approve it, which will be in place until the next time it's reviewed. NEAS requirements, especially for high school, is that every five years that, it has to be reviewed, and at that point, they should be going in front of the school committee for at least a review before voting on it.

Timothy Killam [D]: I want to echo pretty much everything everybody said up here. The educational experts write these curriculums, but they come before the school committee for approval. I think it's about parents speaking up, communicating, and being transparent about what your needs and wants are. This district does a good job where if a parent comes to the teacher or the administrator of the building with concerns about how the education plan for their students is going, they're open to listening and working with you to try to figure out the best plan for your student because not every student is the same. Everybody's different, and everybody learns differently. It's not a cookie-cutter answer, and we have to work together to figure out what works best for the team as a whole, especially within the classroom.

Corey Fyke: What are your ideas about how student test scores can be improved at all levels?

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: I think that improved test scores are going to be best implemented when students and teachers have been unshackled for their learning. I've already expressed some concerns I've heard teachers say to me. They are not permitted to go over certain parts of curricula such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar in depth except during allotted times of the week. If this is true, I think that's a problem. I think they should be able to address it any time they see that it needs to be addressed. Teachers need to be able to teach everything that they need to all the time. That's going to promote better learning. Maybe the teachers could build up their curriculum more as well and have more input into it.

Angela Goethals [D]: As far as improving test scores, I might advocate creating an environment where testing is not separate from the rest of the school day, where there's no anxiety attached to it. I know from my own experience with my daughter, who's in middle school that she knows when testing is coming. It's announced. The conditions under which it happens are different than what they're experiencing on their day-to-day educational journey. I would be curious as to how we might better embed standardized testing, which I don't think is a complete metric, into what feels more natural for the students on a day-to-day basis.

Joseph Jackson [R]: To balance out what I said to the previous question, I suggested, in front of the school committee last night, that they consider adding a subcommittee to allow teachers a look at the curriculum coming down from RIDE and see how they might suggest inserting whatever fundamentals they feel are lacking or that parents feel are lacking, to get those test scores up because it's going to have a multiplicative effect on everything else that goes on in the district. I said Dr. Garceaux had spoken about the RICAS scores. They don't express everything, and that's true to a degree, but as I said last night, they're a bit of a report card on the district. They're how the district is being judged by those on the outside. If we can bring those up by doing just a little more work on the inside, it's going to make Westerly one of the better school districts in the state.

Peter Nero [D]: I will speak from my experience. I was the principal of Western Hills Middle School, which had mediocre test scores. We immediately looked at the data. What we needed was the same thing I did in North Stonington - we added math and literacy coaches to give in-depth lessons to our children. We hired math coaches, and we brought them in. They did one-on-one small groups, and they did large groups. The most important thing that they did was we sent them over for professional development. They did embedded professional development within the school [where] I was principal within the classrooms, which was teaching teachers. What I did at Western Hills - we became a high-performing improvement school from being a mediocre school. In North Stonington, which is 12 miles up the road over here, that was the first thing. My first budget was to put those in, and now, when I was there just before we changed everything, we were considered to be schools of distinction. Our high school and elementary school were in the top 10% of all schools in Connecticut. So there are ways of doing that.

Timothy Killam [D]: Part of it is less testing and more teaching and learning. We're so hyperfocused on testing, and I don't mean by just the state testing. My student has. I don't know how many quizzes there are, and the teachers don't get that real time to actually teach them. That's a big part of the problem. We need to let them get back to doing their job of teaching these students. Some of the [issues with] standardized testing is that these kids are not all standard. My student gets straight A's in class, but he bombs on some of these tests. It is what it is. Unfortunately, they don't fully represent [student achievement]. If the district would listen more to the administrators at the school level, the principals on what they need for coaches and whatnot within the building, and by doing that, [and] having more in-depth budget discussions on what they need to help their building grow.

Kristi Walston [R]: We need to let our educators educate. We need to let them do exactly what they're trained and educated to do. And as the others said, take the shackles off as far as looking into other test scores and other towns here in Rhode Island that are doing better as far as RICAS. I think that, as a school committee, we could potentially collaborate with some other school districts to see what we're doing differently to get those scores up and see where we can improve. I agree with adding some math or English focus groups or focus classes, training, and additional tutoring for the kids who may be lacking.

Corey Fyke: What will be your approach to ensure that the focus of school committee meetings will remain on the budget and educational policy when social and political issues are raised?

Angela Goethals [D]: That's a great question. If you're lucky enough to be sitting up here, the first job is that you sit here in good faith and leave your politics, your implicit biases, and your life experience, all of that, at the door. It has no place in policy. I think the key to doing that is collaborating, listening, and not assuming that you know something about someone until you hear what they have to say. The job of this body is to listen to the community, to listen to the experts, and to craft policy based on that. It's bigger than any one person sitting up here. Creating a sense of collaboration and respect among committee members would be something I would strive for.

Joseph Jackson [R]: Social and political issues will certainly have a place at the podium. People are supposed to be able to come up here and address their issues with us, but it should never be the entire focus of the agenda. It shouldn't take over a meeting. In the years I've been coming to the school committee meetings, I've seen that it oftentimes does. The one school committee meeting where the transgender policy was on the agenda, this room was packed. There was not a seat to be had in this room, but almost every other night, we have a school committee meeting about the budget, education, or what's going on in schools; there's nobody here. So we need to encourage people to come and speak their voices about something other than social and political issues.

Peter Nero [D]: You might have read that Cranston had a prayer issue going back about 12 years ago. It's interesting. One night, we had a budget meeting. I was presenting my budget and on the agenda. There were 750 people at the meeting, and when we told them that the prayer issue was not going to be on the agenda, everybody left except for about 15 people, most of whom were my administrators.

I'm hoping that our agendas are going to be tight and that we're going to have a strong board here because that's important. If you're speaking on agenda items and it's clearly in there, whether it's any issue, then you have a right to talk. I'm hoping that there are going to be people who are going to be allowed to talk and not timeframes who cannibalize all the time. The second thing is if they do have issues that are not on the agenda, they're perfectly welcome to state them at the end of the agenda, but one of the [reasons] people don't run for school committee is because they see these meetings go on for hours. I certainly had them, but we need to have a tight agenda. We have to have a strong chair, and at this point, we want to hear people, but we have to keep it within the department.

Timothy Killam [D]: I'm going to echo a lot of what everybody said, but I sat on the school committee for two years. Mr. Jackson is absolutely correct that unless it was a hot-button topic, there was nobody here. Nobody came and spoke to us ever. I believe everybody has the right to speak. I like the format they use now as far as the open forums are concerned because those meetings could drag on and on forever, and that didn't accomplish anything. To what Ms. Goethals said, park politics at the door. When you're in here, you're here to do work and work together. I believe that everybody, whether you're Republican, Democrat, or Independent, doesn't matter. You're here for the kids, and you're here to work together for the better of the schools, and that's what your focus needs to be on. Nothing else.

Kristi Walston [R]: I'm going to echo basically what Tim said. I agree that you need to focus on the agenda. We need to work and get things done. I agree that parents should be able to come and speak. I believe that they should be encouraged to do so and that they should be able to be present. But as everyone else has said, I have attended many school committee meetings either virtually or in person, and unless it's a hot topic, nobody comes. Even posting it all over social media and all over every page, we still have parents who are uncomfortable coming or not sure what the disconnect there is. We need to stay focused on the agenda, especially regarding the budget, and we need to look at that closer.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Everybody has brought up good points here. We have to work together. We have to keep in mind what the ultimate goal is, which is our children, and we do have to listen to what the community has to say. Everybody sitting up here has to listen to what each other has to say and come to an agreement. That requires pulling up your big girl and big boy pants and acting like an adult, being civil, and being courteous.

It's absolutely possible. There's no reason why it shouldn't be. But just to piggyback, Kristi, you said something, and it poked me a little bit. There, we have these hot topics, and people come, but that's the only time they come. They don't come for the ordinary topics, and I think a lot of that is just fatigue. I think that our families have a limited amount of time together as families, and these meetings happen during those times. That's because this is not a day job. This is an extracurricular activity that is currently not even a paid extracurricular activity. That's something to bear in mind, too. Maybe it's a matter of getting the word out more to parents to participate more frequently in the achievements and not just the titillating news headlines.

Corey Fyke: Some citizens are concerned about the appropriateness of reading materials both in school libraries and on student computers. Do you think this is a problem? Why or why not?

Joseph Jackson [R]: I do think it's a problem. A lot of people use the words book banning, and that immediately creates a divide between people. We're not asking to have books banned. We're asking to have books put in the hands of children that can contextualize what they're reading. Books that contain explicit images and explicit sexual content don't belong in the hands of elementary school kids. As you start to get into middle school, health classes, and reproductive science, these things become a little more appropriate because they're able to contextualize what they're reading. But just like I wouldn't show my 10-year-old daughter Saving Private Ryan to teach her about war, you don't want to show her something she can't contextualize to teach other topics. It's all a matter of timing. It's not what you're showing. It's when you're showing.

Peter Nero [D]: First of all, I'm hoping all books are reviewed by the librarians who are certified by the State of Rhode Island for the grade level that they're in. I had 22 librarians in Cranston, and I have two in North Stonington. We never had a problem, which I've read has gone on in this town. We're hoping that the books are going to be appropriate for students. When a book comes along that may not be appropriate, I hope it's brought to the attention of the administration so they can take a look. At some point, there may be books that parents don't agree with that are appropriate for that grade level, but the parent should have the right to talk to the teacher and to the principal and say, “Look, this may be appropriate. I don't find it so. I would appreciate an alternate assignment where my child can get the same value out of it.” Those are the things that are done.

I agree there shouldn't be anything that's explicit that children are going to read at any grade level to be honest with you, but we should be counting on our librarians and our teaching staff that they're going to have the best judgment when they're releasing a book to be read.

Timothy Killam [D]: I'm never going to support a book ban, period, but I agree with what Peter said. Our librarians are educated, they're reviewing all the books, and they should be age-appropriate within the libraries. They need to be. The list of books needs to be made public for parents, and if parents want to opt their students out, they should have the right to do so at the end of the day. It's 2024, and if a kid wants to read something or look something up, they're going to. It's just the fact there are phones, there are computers, and there are ways they're going to get online and look at stuff whether we like it or not. It's the reality of the fact that it's technology days now and it's something really hard to curtail.

Kristi Walston [R]: Age appropriateness and the books. I believe that we should have books that are age-appropriate in our school libraries. Nobody is banning books here. They can be bought, picked up at the public library, and accessed in other ways, but in the school setting, they need to be age-appropriate based on not only the librarian's suggestions but a lot of the books have inscriptions on the front of them or in the back of them that determine what age they are for. I have been looking into the books that are listed here in specific schools, and the middle school does have books that are not age-appropriate for every age in that school. In the library, we have 10-year-olds in our middle school, and we have books that are for 14 and up. Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't have the book, but it should be in a high school.

Peter Nero [D]: You bring up something important, which is this: I raised a son; he's 31 years old, and he's in law enforcement. My son was a voracious reader, but when he brought books home from school when I was the principal, I would say, “Let me see what you're reading.” And if he was in the sixth grade and there was something more appropriate for an eighth grader, I would say, “Guess what, Mike? You're not reading that. That's not the book.” It becomes incumbent on the parents that if there is a book in the library you're disagreeing with, they have the right to say, like anything else, you're not going to read that book. That might be for someone else, but that's not for you, like anything else, going shopping, going to a movie, or whatever.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: I am 100% in favor of age-appropriate learning materials and books. We're not just talking about books in the libraries. We're talking about books that teachers privately keep in their classrooms. There is a good policy I've found here: if you contact your child's teacher, you can ask them to survey the classroom and see what materials are there, whether books or other materials that are placed on the walls. You can also opt your children out of books that may be taught in the class. There is the option to do that. We have safeguards here already. It's just a matter of fortifying those safeguards and making sure that parents know that they have those options. Parents, it does begin at home. I also think that when you have a student getting a book out of the teacher's private collection in the classroom, if it's something that's a little topic-heavy, teachers should notify the parent, give them a synopsis of the book, and say, your child has borrowed this book from me. Here are the topics in it. Now you can discuss them with your child, and maybe you should read this book yourself.

Angela Goethals [D]: As Mr. Killam said, I am not in favor of removing reading material. We started this forum by talking about the purpose of public school education, and I believe that it is for the broadest and most diverse amount of material. I'm not in favor of removing material, but I'm absolutely in favor if a parent has a concern about a certain book or books, they can have a conversation with their building principal and librarian and say, “My student will not read this book, this book, and this book.”

As far as age appropriateness, though, I wanted to share a story. When my daughter was in second grade, our dog died, and he was our family pet. She grew up with him; he died with his head in her lap, and I texted her teacher on the Remind app to tell her that if my child were to talk about this in class, it might not be the way her classmates had ever spoken about this topic. As far as age appropriateness, I think, at best, it is a subjective thing.

Joseph Jackson [R]: Not to dog pile on, Tim, but yes, kids are sneaky, and they are going to find ways to get things they're not supposed to. A big part of our job as parents is protecting them from doing that. But that does not excuse the school from being irresponsible with what it's presenting. I'm not going to reiterate my points. There's a time and a place for everything, as Ecclesiastes says, so it's just a question of timing.

Corey Fyke: The school committee is responsible for developing the budget with the superintendent of schools. What priorities do you support? Please explain.

Peter Nero [D]: Let's put it this way. I've done budgets for a long, long time, and I expect that budgets are going to have those things that need to be in the budget that are important for teachers in order to teach. Budgets should [contain] everything that is required by law, regulation, and contract. Those are the three basic things that go into a budget. The budget should be developed by the superintendent in conjunction with his content experts. They develop a budget that will be vetted by the school committee. The school committee's responsibility is to make sure that everything that we're going to need as a district is in the budget. By the same token, our budget should not be out of line with the taxpayers' needs and desires in terms of lower taxes. I've done this for a number of years. I've had budgets that have been reduced to zero in some districts, and we made it work.

Timothy Killam [D]: I did sit on the school committee for a couple of years, and the budget meetings were different from what they were this past year. We would meet with every department head and hear their needs and understand why they came to the school committee with the budget that they did. I would a hundred percent advocate going back to that because I think that was totally necessary. You have an in-depth scope of it. I'm not in transportation. I'm not in technology. I don't know what, let's say, Audrey at State Street School needs. To sit and hear from her and any of those department heads and understand why they're what they're asking for is incredibly important. {That] did not happen this past year, and the school committee ended an emergency meeting back in May because there were teachers cut out of the budget, up having that, and there was a call to action by parents saying we can't have this.

There hadn't been that in-depth conversation to understand why that budget was the way it was. We needto go back to that. We also need to advocate that the school committee and the town council meet on a quarterly basis instead of one time before the budget is set because they need to talk about the needs. The town council needs to understand where the school's coming from because they don't. They just get a number, and here you go, deal with it. That needs to change.

Kristi Walston [R]: The schools have been level-funded by the town council for the past four years. I have discussed with council members to determine what their concern is. We have a million dollars surplus every year, and it's not being used. Funds are not being appropriated correctly. There's a leadership or a management issue going on there. We need to prioritize staffing, paras, bus drivers, educators, and resource officers. We need to do what's best for every school and make sure that the budget is supporting the kids and our educators.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Kristi, did you read my notes? Yes, we need to prioritize our teachers, staff, paras, and the office staff that keep the buildings going - and the custodial staff, buses, drivers, monitors, and property maintenance. We are rebuilding, essentially. We're building an entirely new school, and we're remodeling two of our schools, so building maintenance has been an issue in this district for some time - before we moved here seven years ago, it seems. Those are things that should be done every year, and if we have a million-dollar surplus every year so we're being level funded, maybe we can put some of that money to better use. I like what Tim was talking about - asking the department heads what they need.

Angela Goethals [D]: I agree with what Tim was saying, and, in addition to that, extending the idea of what budget season is. There seems to be a flurry at the end of the school year -every year - with budget meetings and the release of the budget. We need to start having those conversations right away every time. There could be increased transparency in our budget meetings. The school committee and the town council could be more collaborative, but the community members are often not aware of what the budget items are and why. The town council representing the town could do more to allow people to understand why this money is needed and bring the larger community into the conversation so they understand.

Joseph Jackson [R]: One of the biggest parts of the budget is the teachers because teacher retention is extremely important. Mr. Nero talked about getting coaches in to raise those test scores, and you've got a surplus. It's something to look into. Teacher retention is extremely important because nobody should be leaving the school building in June wondering if they're going to have a job in September [as] many of our teachers and specialists do. You [have] to prioritize that in a budget. These folks work hard, and they should have peace of mind at the end of the school year. Other than that, things mentioned by other candidates include bringing in the department heads. It's a collaborative effort, and it's like what we do with the community, except instead of listening to the taxpayers, we’re now listening to the people in the school. What do we need to maximize our educational abilities?

Peter Nero [D]: The process is the most important part of this when the superintendent develops a budget. When I used to present my budgets, I used to make sure that we usually did it in a workshop, so [there] was [an] open discussion about it, we gave everybody a taste of it, and everybody would come back the next week. We'd have all our area content experts, program supervisors, or department heads there. Any questions that went beyond - the superintendent's pretty smart, and I was pretty smart - but you don't know the answers to everything because you have so many things going on. Process and transparency are the most important parts.

Corey Fyke: How do you think the history of slavery and racism should be taught in Westerly schools?

Timothy Killam [D]: I'm not sure how to answer that question. You're doing this to me every time. I'm not sure how to answer that question. I don't remember how it was taught back when I was in elementary and high school. I don't have a good answer to that question. Should it be taught? Yeah, it should be. Its history should be taught.

Kristi Walston [R]: I believe history should be taught. It should be taught with full accuracy and non-biased. What happened, happened. We can't learn from our mistakes, and if we sweep history under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. Not only that, it's offensive to act like it didn't. History is very important in educating our country as to where we came from and where we're evolving.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: The history of slavery and racism should be taught in its entirety - from the very first slavery, which did not happen in this country. I would hope that it's taught with a proud declaration that we're the only nation in the world that fought a civil war to end slavery. That's important. It's important that it's noted that slavery still continues today. Unfortunately, today, it's a very harsh reality for many people, and there are more people enslaved today than there have been in all of history. It's very ugly, but it needs to be taught.

But I would ask that we teach it in such a way that our children are not feeling guilty for the sins of their fathers and that children aren't made to feel bad like they've been oppressed and that they're only made to be oppressed. I would want children to feel like they have a future and not be bound by the past.

Angela Goethals [D]: History should be taught responsibly and compassionately. The lessons that we've learned from history and the ways that we've seen the struggles from the past manifest in our world today, there's an important comparison between the horrifying fact of slavery as it has evolved in this country with Jim Crow, racial inequities, and systemic racism. It needs to be taught openly. As parents and educators, we need to be willing to have these difficult conversations with our kids.

Joseph Jackson [R]: Slavery and racism need to be taught in their inglorious entirety because, as a wise man in a movie once said, we cannot learn by forgetting. This country has a history of making mistakes. Every country does. We learned from them, we changed, and that is what we need to focus on. It was never right. We fought a civil war to change it. Going forward, what you do is you point out that there are still people enslaved all over the world, and it's part of our duty - either as citizens through social media pressure [and] hopefully not military action because Lord knows we've got enough of that already - to bring the same freedom that we enjoy to the darkest corners of the globe.

Peter Nero [D]: Good quote. I'll give you another one. “Those who do not learn from history will repeat it.” I almost became a history major, but I didn't want to correct papers, to be honest with you. We can't deny that it happened, and there are some people out there who are deniers. There are some people who deny the Holocaust, too. We can't deny that it happened, but the most important thing is, How do we teach our children that this happened? We can't feel the guilt for it, to be honest with you unless you carry some prejudice yourself, but our responsibility as a school is to say these events happened in history. Let's discuss it, and let's understand that moving forward, this can never happen again, even though it still does, and it's happening right now all over the world, I should say. But that's our important part. Those who don't want it from history are doomed to repeat it.

Corey Fyke: We live in a time when every child gets a trophy, and the Westerly Sun is filled with a large percentage of each grade's students making the honor roll. Do you think there's grade inflation in Westerly? Why or why not?

Kristi Walston [R]: I honestly am not sure. I cannot give an accurate answer to that. Grade inflation and Westerly? I think things are not being graded thoroughly because we're not checking punctuation or spelling. How can you grade that? I've talked to math teachers who say, “We're just checking it off.” And I'm like, “How are we confirming accuracy?” I tested my daughter at the end of last year to see where she stood. She was at 50% of her grade level and going on to the next grade. That being said, I don't think we're reviewing or grading things properly. That's just my opinion, but as far as grade inflation goes, I don't know about that.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Our daughters are pretty young, and our oldest has just entered first grade, so this is actually the first year she's going to have what I would consider grading - the ABCD system that I'm used to because I'm an old person. Is there great inflation in Westerly? I wonder this myself. I would like to know, but I can't say for certain whether there is or there isn't. I can tell you that we have good teachers who are capable of teaching, and we have good students. But it's possible.

Angela Goethals [D]: That seems to be a question that could almost only be answered anecdotally by each individual family. If that is happening, it's doing a disservice to our kids for sure. I agree with Crystal. Our educators are phenomenal. Our kids are brilliant, and the combination of those two would make grade inflation completely unnecessary.

Joseph Jackson [R]: A large part of this stems from a topic that I'm too well known for at this point, which is the RICAS scores because we have a very high percentage of the student body graduating. According to the state, according to RIDE's numbers, only 35 to 40% of them are proficient at grade-level reading, writing, and math. Is there grade inflation, or is there a problem with the RICAS test? I can't speak to either at this time. I don't think there's grade inflation, but if there is, the RICAS scores have to be where that concern is coming from. If we bring those up again, maybe this whole thing will go away. I don't think having a lot of honor roll students in the newspaper is a bad thing, though, unless you can prove it is.

Peter Nero [D]: At the end of every quarter as a superintendent and principal, I hit a button, and the D and F report would come out, and you wouldn't believe how many Ds and Fs. I can tell you there may be some kids in the inflation area, but there are a lot of kids who are not. You can base scores against RICAS. It comes down to the fact that we have kids who work really hard. I'm assuming this question came from a person years ago. It's like the people talking about [how] kids aren't tough anymore. Listen, I got a helicopter wife. My son's 31 years old. She talks to him every day. Can you leave him alone for a little bit? The bottom line is that a lot of it has to do with the parents themselves. The demand that they put on their kids to get good grades in school and the fact they don't really view the test scores that come from RIDE as important. That especially happened in my last few years as superintendent. Some parents did not want their kids taking the test, and we had to find alternative ways. What's important to them is when they open up that report card and see the grades.

Timothy Killam [D]: I do not think that there's grade inflation within the district period. I think I'm the only one sitting up here that's had a student go from K through graduating Westerly High School, and I'll tell you, he worked his butt off. I have a junior in high school now. He's at that level where you can be on the honor roll. They both worked very hard, and you know what? They weren't always on the honor roll. When they were struggling, the teachers would reach out and say, “Hey, I see him having an issue here. Let's work together.” They always tried hard to help them get their grades up but made them work to do it. So I don't like the question. I almost feel like it's accusatory toward our staff and teachers, who are fantastic in this district. I would never believe that they would do that.

Corey Fyke: What do you think the role of digital tools should be in elementary, middle, and high school?

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: There's a dinger. I'm a little old school. I like pens and paper, and penmanship and cursive are important. Students are going to need to use [digital] media, but it needs to be limited. They shouldn't be using it for - they don't really have anything where they do hours of it at school, but limited timeframes and limited access to the internet, especially. I don't think that anyone in elementary school needs to be doing this. It should be middle school and up. That's an age break I would like to see. Especially now, with the superintendent campaigning for “Wait till eight” because that's just for a cell phone. But really, that's not much different than all the other devices, is it?

Corey Fyke: I will point out that digital tools run the gamut from iPads for learning aids all the way down to the smart boards that most schools have. The smart board is the new chalkboard. So think of it in terms of a range, like a spectrum. That's just my editorial. Sorry about the editorial.

Angela Goethals [D]: I appreciate the point of clarification. Honestly, I think that digital media or tools inside our classrooms maybe ought to be limited to those that can't be expressed in any other way or can't be communicated in any other way, particularly with our youngest learners who are play-based learners already. They are tactile, they are learning in different ways. Those digital tools while I don't think that there is no place for them, if we lean too heavily on them, they take away the magic of our kids' education, of the collaboration inside the classroom, and of the real, as you were saying, pencil and paper, things of that nature. So I would say digital tools if there is not a better way to express or communicate a point.

Joseph Jackson [R]: I think there has to be a happy medium because kids are on electronics; it feels like 24/7 as it is. If they're going to school and all they're getting is electronics, then I think it's a problem. There's got to be a mix. Take, for instance, math class. These kids need to be able to take a piece of paper and a pen and do long-form division the way we did when we were younger. Having the computer do it for them, or do half their thinking for them, or God forbid, everything as a multiple guess test. How much are they really learning from that? So yes, the tactile thing is definitely very important. The more kids do by hand, the more thorough the education is going to be. At the same time, everything in the professional world, unless you're in a labor trade, is probably going to be on computers. There has to be some of that also to make sure they can do both sides.

Peter Nero [D]: I'm a former technology teacher, so you know where I'm going to fall on this. I was a great drafter, great at mechanical and architectural drawing. One day, my department head came in, gave me an AutoCAD - this was in 1989 - plugged it in, looked at my counterpart, and said, “Throw the drawing boards away,” and all the skills that I learned to do that.

What I'm going to say is this. I remember when the superintendent said to me, “Peter, I want to add this to the curriculum.” I said, “Catherine, the curriculum is already this big. If I put that in there, what am I going to lose in there?” With the technology, a lot of what you lose is cursive writing and everything. My doctor gave me a prescription, and it looks like a third-grader wrote it. To be honest with you, I can't understand it. There's got to be a happy balance. Kids need to know basic things, but again, they're growing up in a world that's different than the world I grew up in. The first computer that I saw for NASA when they showed it on TV was as big as this room. Now, we're carrying it around in our hip pockets. There's got to be a happy medium between traditional learning and the computer assisting in the pursuit of the curriculum.

Timothy Killam [D]: It's an easier one. Crystal, you spoke to my heart when you said cursive writing because my oldest son went through the entire district, and he did not learn cursive, which drove me crazy. My now junior in high school, he learned it, I believe, at State Street School, and I don't know which teacher it was that pushed it, but it was such a big deal. He writes everything in cursive. I'm a pen-and-paper person. The Chromebooks served their purpose. We needed them during Covid. I would be happy to see them go away. I can't stand them. I like the pen and paper, but I do understand that we have to have that happy medium, that balance in between. Some of these devices are needed. My youngest son didn't talk until he was almost six years old, and the special ed team between pre-K and kindergarten realized that an adaptive device was necessary to help him learn. There needs to be that balance, but I think there needs to be a lot less dependency on digital.

Kristi Walston [R]: I agree pretty much with everyone here. There needs to be a good bridge between modern technology and traditional education. Based on discussions that I've had with educators here in our school district, I feel that this is taking place. I would like to see less technology use, especially the Chromebooks at the elementary level and probably even at the fifth-grade level in middle school. My own child has not had access to tablets and phones and all these things at home, and at the middle school, she has had access to things where I've had to have discussions with the principal regarding apps that I don't feel like she should be using, especially not during school hours. That being said, we need to allow the teachers to educate and use the technology in the way they need to. But again, it needs to be limited or minimized throughout the day, especially since we're talking about an anxious generation on devices and things of that nature. We shouldn't be, as a school district, contributing to that.

Corey Fyke: We've reached the point of the program that we like to call the lightning round. Yes or no. Would you support a no phones policy during school hours, including lunchtime?

Timothy Killam [D]: Yes.

Kristi Walston [R]: Yes.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Yes.

Angela Goethals [D]: No.

Joseph Jackson [R]: Yes.

Peter Nero [D]: Yes.

Corey Fyke: Should the school committee raise the funds to pay for the balance of the high school's turf?

Kristi Walston [R]: Definitely no.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Pass.

Angela Goethals [D]: Pass.

Joseph Jackson [R]: No.

Peter Nero [D]: No.

Timothy Killam [D]: No.

Corey Fyke: Is there sufficient mental health staffing in the Westerly schools?

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: No.

Angela Goethals [D]: No.

Joseph Jackson [R]: Pass.

Peter Nero [D]: No.

Timothy Killam [D]: No.

Kristi Walston [R]: No.

Corey Fyke: Is the bullying of students identified as LGBTQ+ a problem in the Westerly schools?

Angela Goethals [D]: Yes.

Joseph Jackson [R]: Pass.

Peter Nero [D]: Pass.

Timothy Killam [D]: Yes.

Kristi Walston [R]: Yes.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Pass.

Corey Fyke: Will adding more technical classes at Westerly High School stop the flow of students to Chariho?

Joseph Jackson [R]: Yes.

Peter Nero [D]: Yes.

Timothy Killam [D]: Yes.

Kristi Walston [R]: Yes,

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Yes.

Angela Goethals [D]: Yes.

Corey Fyke: Do you oppose regular DEI audits for the Westerly schools?

Peter Nero [D]: Can you define DEI for me?

Corey Fyke: Diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Peter Nero [D]: No.

Timothy Killam [D]: No.

Kristi Walston [R]: No.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Pass.

Angela Goethals [D]: No.

Joseph Jackson [R]: No.

Corey Fyke: Should elementary school children who are significantly below grade level in math be held back?

Timothy Killam [D]: Yes.

Kristi Walston [R]: Yes.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Yes.

Angela Goethals [D]: No.

Joseph Jackson [R]: Yes.

Peter Nero [D]: No.

Corey Fyke: Do you oppose mandatory summer school for middle and high school students who fail more than one class?

Kristi Walston [R]: No.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: No.

Angela Goethals [D]: No.

Joseph Jackson [R]: No.

Peter Nero [D]: No

Timothy Killam [D]: No.

Corey Fyke: Do you endorse the policies of Moms for Liberty?

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: Pass.

Angela Goethals [D]: No.

Joseph Jackson [R]: Pass.

Peter Nero [D]: No.

Timothy Killam [D]: No.

Kristi Walston [R]: Yes, for parental rights. Other than that, I would pass.

Corey Fyke: Does Westerly need self-contained behavioral health classes in the middle and high schools?

Angela Goethals [D]: Yes.

Joseph Jackson [R]: yes

Peter Nero [D]: Yes

Timothy Killam [D]: Yes.

Kristi Walston [R]: Yes

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: yes

Corey Fyke: Closing statements.

Peter Nero [D]: I'm a 47-year public educator. Twenty years as a teacher and 27 years in all levels of administration, including writing curriculum. I retired two-plus years ago because we just built two new schools. It was the end of Covid. I needed a break. I've had that break. I'm refreshed. I'm ready to work. In Cranston, we had nonpartisan board members. In North Stonington, we had a partisan school board, four and four. We still worked things out. We need to work. Who is elected needs to work as a team to not micromanage how the district is run but to give top-flight education. My motto as a principal and superintendent will always be, “Every day, children walk through that door with their teachers. It's in pursuit of academic excellence and nothing else.”

Joseph Jackson [R]: If I'm elected, I have two daughters in this school district. I'm going to fight for them to get the best education possible and fight for your kids to get the best education possible. I'm going to listen to what the parents and even the non-parents in the district have to say. My background as a CPA comes in very handy when working on budgets and going over those with the superintendent. I'd just like to thank the League of Women Voters for hosting this forum.

Angela Goethals [D]: I want to thank my fellow candidates for sharing your thoughts tonight. I want to thank everyone here for sharing part of your evening with us and everyone watching at home and to the League of Women Voters. My great-grandmother was a suffragette, so I know wherever she is, she is smiling at me, sitting up here. I believe in building bridges. I think there are bridges to be built from the school committee to the town council. I believe there are bridges to be built between any of us who happen to be sitting up here. I believe there are bridges to be built in our own thought processes as we digest information, hear from experts, hear from our community, hear from our families, and build policy around those things. I'm an actor. I have been [one] for my whole life, and actors are collaborative creatures. They're creatures of community, and that is something that I hope to bring to this body if I am lucky enough to get your vote in November.

Crystal Dawn Jackson [R]: I'm just a mom. I'm a mom who cares a lot, and I like people. I like listening to people. I've always felt from a very young age that civic responsibility starts with the individual and that we have to step up and take our place. This is my time to do so. I'd like to know what your concerns are, and I hope that you bring them forward and that we see people in this chamber more often for the town council and for the school committee, [not] just when hot topics are discussed. I thank everyone for their time tonight and for the League of Women Voters for putting this on.

Kristi Walston [R]: Thank you, and that goes out to everybody. As a school committee member, I would listen to what the parents have to say. I would advocate for parental rights and help guide their children. We're here for the parents. We're here for the educators. We're here to help give more transparency in the budget. I'm hoping that my business administrator background can support that. I definitely want to advocate getting our education back to focusing on basics and subjects and proficiency in the RICAS scores. I want to push back on any directives coming from RIDE that are non-academic. I want to make sure that we have safe and secure schools and that there's transparency in the school committee and the budget. The district needs to be more effective with its leadership. Please vote for Kristi Walston as a birthday present today, come November 5th.

Timothy Killam [D]: I want to thank the League and the Town of Westerly for letting us use this space. I had the honor of serving the Town of Westerly on the school committee for two years, and I'm not done. I want to be here again. I want to continue the important work that I couldn't finish when I left. I've had students in the district for 15 years now and have many more to go. I stay involved as much as possible. I've been on multiple hiring committees for the district. I've chaired the special education committee. Tonight, I want to thank everybody. It was great to get to know each one of the candidates a little more. I would like to be honored to work with everybody up here because it's about parking your politics at the door and working together for the best of Westerly Public Schools. That's why all six of us are sitting up here. We want to work hard to grow this district.

1. See more about “parental rights’ here: How to Fight the Right’s Moral Panic Over Parental Rights