4 incumbents, 1 challenger outline visions for Dayton schools

Jan Underwood Yvonne V. Isaacs

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James Weir

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Jan Underwood Stacy M. Thompson

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Jan Underwood Joseph E. Lacey

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By Anthony Gottschlich, Staff Writer Updated 11:02 PM Saturday, October 10, 2009

DAYTON — Five candidates are running for four seats on the Dayton Board of Education this fall.

The Nov. 3 election pits four incumbents and one political newcomer in the race for a four-year term to the board, which oversees a district of 14,500 students in grades preschool through 12.

The winners will join three other board members in a job that involves setting district policies and goals, attending a few dozen or more meetings a year and hiring and evaluating the district’s superintendent and treasurer.

Among the top issues facing the district is its academic performance. While it improved in some areas on this year’s state report card, the district earned another Academic Watch rating, the equivalent of a D. Just one school, Stivers School for the Arts, earned an Effective, or B, rating.

The board also will have to find a new superintendent next year when Superintendent Kurt Stanic’s contract expires. Stanic joined the district on an interim basis last year.

Board members earn $125 for each official board meeting, including board retreats and training sessions that last longer than three hours.

The candidates

• Yvonne V. Isaacs of 4812 Northgate Court. Isaacs, 55, is seeking her third term. A customer service supervisor with NewPage Corp., Isaacs was first elected in 2001 with three others on a reform team known as Kids First. She’s the only one left.

“When I first got on the board, the school district had been in Academic Emergency for more years than I can remember and we implemented a reform strategy that I think has been quite effective in terms of bringing about growth in the district,” said Isaacs, who served as board president in 2007 and 2008.

“However, it’s certainly not where we want the district to be,” she said. “I have visions of this district really being one of excellence. I believe our kids can learn as well as anyone else, given the proper resources and accountability on the part of adults.”

If re-elected, Isaacs said she wants to help the district strengthen its gifted and foreign language programs.

“If we don’t help our children to become bilingual, at least in Spanish initially, we’re doing them a great disservice,” she said.

Born in Jamaica and raised in London, Isaacs has a bachelor’s degree in management and communications from Capital University. She has three grown children and one grandchild.

• Joseph E. Lacey of 161 Huffman Ave. Lacey, who turns 50 this month , is seeking his second term.

Among his first-term achievements, the certified public accountant said he influenced “a lot of small things” — convincing the district to write its annual report itself, rather than paying an outside firm, for example, and getting the board more involved with setting and understanding the district’s budget.

Lacey, a senior analyst for the Montgomery County Treasurer’s Office, said he’s also pushed the district to focus its dollars on teaching and learning. Earlier this year, for example, he was the lone board member to vote against hiring an outside public relations firm to help the district’s image and community relations.

He said one of his biggest decisions was the board’s hiring last year of Superintendent Kurt Stanic, who’s getting strong reviews from board members and community leaders.

“I can’t take credit for that all by myself,” Lacey said.

Looking ahead, Lacey said he wants the district to establish a neighborhood school system with school building boundaries.

“Right now, if a parent goes to pick a school, they’re just given a list of elementary schools and they can just pick one, and if they pick one across town, that’s it — we’re going to be busing a child across town for the next eight or nine years,” Lacey said. “That’s just not a reasonable way to run a school district.”

Lacey and his partner, Tony Ballis, have a 1-year-old daughter, Arianna.

• Ronald C. Lee, 66, of 247 E. Second St. When Lee retired from Delco in 1999, he immersed himself in community service, joining several city, neighborhood and community boards in the following years, including the city zoning appeals board and the Inner West Community Development Corporation.

“I decided I wanted to give back to a community that had been a good community to me all my life,” he said.

Appointed to the school board in November 2007, Lee became the district’s point person for its new school construction program, and he played a key role in requiring contractors to pay union wages. Since then, he seems most proud of the district’s new strategic plan, which calls for providing a high-quality education that prepares youth for college and careers; a safe school environment; excellent customer service, fiscal responsibility and a relationship with the community that fosters trust and support.

“I realized early on that a business has to function properly in order for its product to be what you want it to be, and that’s what the strategic plan is all about — accountability across the board,” Lee said. “As long as we stay focused and live up to the strategic plan, the district will right itself. I want to make sure that happens.”

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