The four candidates running for two open seats on the Jamestown Board of Education were presented to the public Thursday night. The Jamestown High School PTSA moderated the “Meet The Candidates” forum that was livestreamed and open to the public to attend.
The candidates running are Frank Galeazzo, Nina Karbacka, Krysta Rives, and Gina Sink.
Frank Galeazzo cited his 20-plus years of experience in leadership and advocating for education for why he is running. He said his top priorities include giving students the best education that can be delivered and keeping finances under control, “Finding the funding, finding the finance management in a declining population where thankfully the school district has been able to do that for the past eleven years with no tax increase.”
Nina Karbacka, a retired music educator who has served for 6 years on the school board, said there are a lot of opportunities for the district to learn and grow after going through the COVID-19 Pandemic experience. She said a challenge will be engaging students as they return to the classroom, “And we have been working in that direction by hiring psychologists and social workers and literacy experts and community navigators to help to draw our students back in. I think we really want to see our students engaged in our school system.”
Krysta Rives, who is earning a doctorate in education, said she is running because she understands the challenges of under-represented learners. She said the district needs more diversity, “We have 37% of our students identifying as non-white and we don’t reflect that on our board, we don’t reflect that in the classrooms that they walk into every day. There is no representation.”
Gina Sink, who has 12 years of teaching experience, said one of the biggest opportunities for the district are the capital projects happening, “The increase in technology and replacing, maintaining the infrastructure, changing the classroom layouts, and things like that that will all contribute to the learning and things of the students as well as the possibility of the hybrid model continuing.”
The public will vote Tuesday, May 18th on the candidates for the board as well as the school budget and capital improvement plan.
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