Bethel School Board to fill three spots

Two incumbents on the Bethel School Board face challenges this fall while a third is running unopposed in Pierce County’s third-largest school district, which serves more than 17,000 students and covers more than 200 square miles.

The School Board is the most local form of government for many people in the largely unincorporated area in the southeast part of the county. The district is based in Spanaway and includes fast-growing communities such as Graham and Frederickson.

In the race for District 5, Elizabeth Satiacum, a former teacher’s assistant and board member at Chief Leschi Schools and member of a well-known Puyallup tribal family, is running against incumbent Brenda Rogers, a retired construction manager and former preschool director seeking a third term on the board.

For District 4, incumbent Joy Cook, a church office administrator seeking her fifth term, faces David Hamwey, a university computer network manager who also ran four years ago against Cook.

Incumbent John Manning is running unopposed in District 2.

THE RACES

There’s a new twist to the Cook-Hamwey race: Cook’s husband has accepted a job out of state, and Cook says if re-elected she plans to serve only until her home in Graham sells.

Cook says she has no idea when that will be, but she acknowledges that if voters choose her, it’s likely the board will name her successor partway through her term.

“If people think the district is moving in the right direction and they support the efforts being made, a vote for me is a continuation of that (direction) most likely,” Cook said. “If people feel the district is poorly run and that academic achievement has not increased, then they should vote for Mr. Hamwey.”

Hamwey, a former teacher, said the board needs new thinking. He said Cook’s 16 years on the board is too long and he vows to serve no more than two terms.

“It’s obvious to me that with (Superintendent) Tom Seigel and the board, their concentration is on facilities,” Hamwey said. He said he wants to emphasize academics and other issues, including textbook selection and review.

In the Rogers-Satiacum race, Rogers touts her record. She lists achievements during her time on the board: modest gains in academic performance, a move to four-year high schools and her work advocating for education with lawmakers.

Since Rogers joined the board, the district has added an online system that allows parents to check student grades and assignments. Rogers wants to continue improving the parent-school link.

“The board has to work to make our schools open and welcoming for parents,” she said.

Satiacum comes from the Quileute Nation on the Olympic Peninsula. Her father-in-law was the late Puyallup tribal leader Bob Satiacum. Her husband, Robert, has been involved in American Indian issues. She has been active in tribal canoeing.

And she made headlines in 2007 when she was the victim of a drunken driver just days after giving birth to her youngest child. The crash left her with a broken back and neck and launched her on a long road to recovery. Next month, she will celebrate 12 years of her own sobriety.

She said she was motivated to run for the board because her youngest child, now age 4, will start school next year.

If elected, Satiacum promises an open-door policy for students, parents and staff members.

“There needs to be a connection to the community,” she said.

MONEY TALK

Bethel absorbed state cuts for teacher salaries this year by tapping its reserve funds and increasing class size. But that leaves the district with little wiggle room, Cook said.

Outside of some additional help at junior highs, she said, Bethel classrooms are largely at the maximum staffing ratio allowed by the state.

Cook said an audit last year revealed the district was overstaffed on custodians. But she said changes in staffing caused complaints.

She wants to tell legislators that if more cuts are coming, they must treat school districts equally. A hit to levy equalization dollars – money the state gives to districts with relatively low property values – would especially hurt Bethel, she said.

Hamwey thinks the entire budget should be reviewed to find new ways to save.

“I’m not thrilled about cutting people’s salaries,” said Hamwey. “But I’m not opposed to freezing them.”

He said school districts “aren’t running lean and mean.”

“You need to put as much of the budget as you can into the classrooms,” he said. “I think they have been neglected.”

Rogers said she wants legislators who make cuts to understand that “they need to take ownership of the decisions they make, and not offload them onto the districts.”

She said Bethel can use tax dollars wisely by collaborating with community groups. She doesn’t want cuts to arts, social studies or career and technical programs.

Satiacum pledges to fight as hard for dollars in Bethel as she did for Chief Leschi when her older children attended the school. In 1992, she and other women drove to Washington, D.C., to argue against federal cuts.

She said she would also work to bring in more money from private foundations and business donations.

MORE ISSUES

Cook supports Superintendent Seigel, who has run the district for the past decade. She viewed his recent selection as a finalist for a Florida superintendent’s job as a positive because it shows that others recognize his talent.

Hamwey thinks it’s time to review Seigel’s performance and compensation.

As a former preschool director, Rogers is an advocate for early childhood education. She supports a district program that emphasizes intervention for kids having trouble in early grades – a program she said reduces student referrals to special-education programs. She also wants to explore offering alternative programs for students in the middle grades.

Satiacum believes Bethel’s several hundred American Indian students aren’t well-represented, and she wants to point them toward scholarships and other programs.

She said it’s also time for the district to have a discussion about symbols that can be offensive, such as Bethel High School’s mascot, the Brave. She said such symbols unfairly put American Indian kids on the defensive at school.

“It’s time to retire old stereotypes,” she said.

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635 debbie.cafazzo@thenews tribune.com