Seven candidates seek election to board of education

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Four positions on the Poudre School District Board of Education are up for election Nov. 1, but two districts have just one candidate seeking the volunteer job.

A common theme among all candidates is that they want to return their services to the district that has provided their children with a good education.

A candidate forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, is scheduled for Oct. 11, 7 to 9 p.m., in the board meeting room at the Support Services Center, 2407 Laporte Ave. The forum will be rebroadcast on PSD's Channel 10.

Although candidates run by geographic district, board members are elected by all voters, regardless of which district the voter lives in. Following are profiles of all candidates, starting with the contested races.

District D

Incumbent Jana Ley, 51, Fort Collins, has served on the board since 1999. She has three sons who have attended PSD schools. The youngest is a senior at Poudre High School. Ley, who moved to Fort Collins in 1976, works at Creekside Garden Center.

Ley has served as vice president of the board for the past six years. If re-elected, one of her goals is to create a strong foundation to support the work of the new superintendent, Jerry Wilson.

Ley said she has seen the board improve the way it works with district residents, and she wants to continue that trend. "We're communicating with folks better than we ever have," she said. "I hope to make it better and better."

School board members go through a steep learning curve once elected, Ley noted, adding that her experience can benefit the district as it faces big questions such as closing older schools.

Ley said she personally opposes closing neighborhood schools, but she will listen to the public. "I don't always vote my personal opinion," she said.

Robert "Bob" Long, 44, Fort Collins, is running against Ley for the District D seat. Long is a state certified real estate appraiser and owner of Professional Valuation.

"I just have a passion for children and Poudre School District, and I want to support the district in providing excellent education for kids," Long said.

Two of Long's children are graduates of Rocky Mountain High School, and one attends Dunn Elementary. Long has volunteered with the district for 16 years.

The candidate said he believes the district can do more to improve communication with other sectors of the community. "A lot of people feel they don't have good lines of communication with the district and board," he said.

Long is also concerned that the district not make a hasty decision about closing older schools in the heart of Fort Collins. That issue needs to be separated from the decision about where to build new schools in growing neighborhoods, he said.

District E

District E has three candidates. Ernest Cienfuegos-Baca, 36, Wellington, is the youngest. A senior employment specialist with the Larimer County Workforce Center, he has two children, ages 4 and 11.

As a bilingual Latino community leader, Cienfuegos-Baca said he will add insight to the board and connect with people who feel they lack a voice in the educational system. "I was blessed to get a good education, and I want the same for our kids," he said.

Living outside Fort Collins and his age will also bring a fresh perspective to the board, he said. "Parents in my age range are those who primarily use the schools," he said. "And it's important that the board has representation from a rural community."

New board members are tentatively scheduled to take office Nov. 14. Cienfuegos-Baca said all candidates should attend the upcoming public meetings on options for building one or two new elementary schools and whether to close older schools. "It's going to be the new board that makes that decision," he said.

The former owner of Seven Oaks Academy, Larry Neal, 61, is semi-retired. He has two daughters who attended Poudre schools. Neal is a 1965 graduate of the military academy at West Point with a degree in engineering and a Vietnam veteran.

A resident of Fort Collins since 1990, Neal said his experience in private education and business management make him uniquely qualified for the board. "I've seen the benefits of partnerships between the school district and private enterprise," he said. Neal has also served on three state commissions dealing with childcare and early childhood education.

Neal said he has made no judgments on closing older schools, but he can weigh the options and make a choice. "I've managed my businesses in times of expansion and times of contraction," he said.

Dr. Bruce Smith, 58, Fort Collins, has four children who are graduates of Poudre High School. An ear, nose and throat specialist, he moved to Fort Collins in 1979. "The school made a covenant to take care of my kids, and they did," he said. "I feel grateful...I feel it's time for me to serve."

Smith said he wants to work through the school board to make sure youth are prepared for whatever comes in the next couple decades. If elected, he would be the first physician to serve on the board, he said, and he would want to tackle health issues such as childhood obesity.

He could also make the difficult decision about closing schools, Smith added. "I know how to make Poudre school system work for all kids," he said. "The school board reflects the soul of your town."

Listening to people is important, he said, so that the school board's actions reflect the values of the community.

District C

Jim Hayes, 58, is unopposed in District C. He is a contracts and risk manager for The Neenan Co. and has lived in Fort Collins 20 years. Hayes said he has been heavily involved in school activities the past eight years, working in classrooms, coaching soccer and softball and serving on a parent advisory board.

"I feel like it's time to give a little more back to the district," he said. With daughters in third and eighth grades, he said, he can be a practical voice on the school board.

Hayes has served on the district's boundary committee the past year, studying what neighborhoods should be served by various schools. "I have a good background on the issue of school closures," he said. "There's no single solution that will please all the stakeholders."

District F

Appointed to the board in May, Nancy Tellez, 62, is the only candidate seeking to fill the remaining two years on the District F term. Tellez has two children who are graduates of PSD.

The Fort Collins resident taught for 31 years in the district and is currently a supervisor with the student teacher licensure program at Colorado State University. Poudre School District has been her life-long passion, Tellez said, and serving on the board is an opportunity to continue to contribute.

Tellez said she would prefer not to close schools in older neighhoods, but the board has to take into account the needs of all students. "Perhaps people in the community can suggest alternatives we've not thought about to distribute students in an equitable way, make use of our buildings and control costs," she said.

As a board member, Tellez said goals important to her are closing the achievement gap and maintaining a broad-based curriculum.