Endorsements for Mon and Preston BOEs

The Primary Election is just around the corner and everyone is gearing up to cast their ballots — by mail or in person. This year, COVID-19 derailed our tradition of interviewing all candidates for whom the primary is their deciding election. We were only able to meet with the Monongalia and Preston County boards of education, but you can find information about all the races in the Voter’s Guide in today’s edition.

For the Mon BOE race, you can’t go wrong with any of the three candidates. Nancy Walker and Ron Lytle are incumbents, while Micah Weglinski is new.

None of three candidates support charter schools in Mon County. Each expressed concern about redirecting public education funds to charter schools where teachers don’t have to meet the same certifications. As Lytle put it, charters wouldn’t be better than Mon’s schools. Weglinski suggested public schools may have to mimic charters’ flexibility, though, as coronavirus has interrupted education as we know it.

Lytle and Weglinski both oppose creating a Bible elective class in schools. Walker said she hasn’t heard much feedback from the community, but what she has heard hasn’t been favorable. Lytle said any class on the Bible could only teach the facts of its history rather than preach religion. Weglinski acknowledged kids can be forced into “elective” courses due to scheduling conflicts, which wouldn’t be fair to a student who doesn’t want to take the class.

Any of the three — Walker, Lytle or Weglinski — would serve our county and our children well.

For the Preston BOE race, incumbents Pam Feathers and Bruce Huggins appear on the ballot with newcomers Jeanne Dreisbach and Peter Liga.

Because of the way the district races are set up, Feathers and Dreisbach are almost guaranteed to join the board. Huggins and Liga, however, face a head-to-head race.

None of the four fully support charter schools. All expressed concern charters would divert funding from public schools; focus needed to remain on institutions built to serve all students, rather than a select few. All candidates support the creation of a Bible studies class in Preston schools, although Feathers, Huggins and Liga emphasized the course should be elective.

All candidates were fairly middle-ground on the topic of school consolidation. Feathers said she is not a fan of consolidation, but she doesn’t like huge class sizes either. Dreisbach noted it isn’t cost effective to have so many schools — particularly when some are bursting at the seams, while others have only a handful of kids in each class. Huggins said it is the board’s duty to do what’s best for the entire county, so consolidation may have to be looked at in the future. He also said he went through two consolidations and both were positive experiences. Liga said the board must first consider the students, then cost and finally the logistics of transportation.

Feathers and Dreisbach will both make wonderful members of the Preston BOE, and we hope Huggins will reclaim his seat. While Liga had great ideas for updating facilities and saving energy and costs, his experience and priorities are not well-rounded enough for us to endorse him.

That said, we wish all candidates the best of luck in the June 9 election.