Archive: News

About 35 people came to Lansing High School Tuesday to meet the three candidates running for two Board  Of Education (BOE) seats, but one of the candidates may not have been who they were expecting.  After Gina Lord Shattuck withdrew from the race over the weekend the district announced it would accept new petitions until 5 o'clock Tuesday.  Saying that Lansing voters have a right to have choices, Mike Cheatham tossed his hat into the ring, turning in the required signatures within the new deadline.  "I am not Gina Lord Shattuck," Cheatham said in his opening statement.  But that was one of few humorous moments, as residents grilled the candidates on serious issues facing the district.


Sponsored by the Lansing Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO), 'Meet The Candidates Night' is a Lansing tradition.  This time the event was moderated by the League of Women Voters' Mary Berkelman, who solicited questions from people attending.  Each candidate had a set amount of time to answer questions, and three minutes for opening and closing statements.  After PTSO President Kay Thomas welcomed the audience, Berkelman explained the rules.  The candidates drew straws to set the order of opening statements.

Incumbent Christine Iacobucci opened first, saying "One of the things that strikes me about being a resident of Lansing is how much I care about the people who are here, and how much the Lansing community cares about our children."  In an oblique reference to her differences with Superintendent Mark Lewis she went on to say, "One of the unfortunate things that happens sometimes in the school district is that some outside people or issues can come into a community and create controversy where ordinarily that controversy wouldn't exist.  What I would like us to be able to do is to focus on educational issues, which I think this administration and school board and faculty and staff and families should focus on here."

Cheatham drew the middle straw.  He explained that he had decided to run after hearing on the news that Shattuck was not going to run.  He talked about his children, all of whom have gone through the Lansing schools, and gave a bit of background on himself (see interview on the Elections page).  "I am running for the school board primarily because I have a deep, deep interest in academics and curriculum," he said.  "It floats under the surface, kind of like permafrost.  We know that we're here for the purposes of academics, but it usually doesn't come to the forefront, at least at the school board meetings that I have attended over many, many years going all the way back to John Barney."


David Dittman thanked the PTSO for holding the debate.  "I'm a lifelong educator," he said.  "I think I have a feel for what we call academic excellence, and this district has demonstrated academic excellence in the past, and  I want to assure it (demonstrates) academic excellence in the future."  

Dittman went on to talk about the problems the district has had getting the community to accept last year's budget and the capital project that was defeated in February.  Dittman said he believes in fiscal responsibility, and was harshly critical of the process used to develop the capital project.  He promised to ask hard questions about how dollars spent are used to achieve academic excellence.  "I have been very saddened to see the school budget and the capital budget go down to defeat," he said.  "I think they went down for good reasons, because there was a disconnect between the amount that was in the budget and the ability of the voters in Lansing to pay for those things.  I would like to bring those voters into the process and help them understand what education is about, what the needs of the Lansing School system are, and how we might move forward from here."

Martha Laux asked the candidates how they would regain the voters' trust after the two failed votes.  Iacobucci said that she agrees that there is a problem with public trust.  She was critical of the process used to develop the capital project and said the district has to reach out to people and "sincerely welcome their feedback in a very non-threatening way."  Dittman replied that there is a disconnect between the voters and the budget issues on the capital and operating levels.  "I believe a signal is being sent to the school board to be more fiscally responsible," he said, adding that if school board reaches out to the community it would embrace bond issues proffered.  Cheatham challenged the notion that the budgets failed because of trust.  He said that the second budget vote last year showed clear support for the school system.  "I think this was an issue of lack of understanding," he said.  "I don't think the district did a very good job of explaining the needs of the capital project."

David Dubin asked how the candidates see the capital project process continuing into the future.  Elementary science teacher Sue Henne asked how each would deal with reports of poor morale among teachers and staff.  

Melissa Ferris asked each to identify the most important thing the BOE has to address in the coming one to three years.  Iacobucci replied that in this coming year the board needs to reconnect with the community.  "We don't really know why this distrust exists," she said.  "So we need to find out why, if it does exist."  Dittman said connecting a strategic plan to available resources is the board's most pressing task, saying that the current plan does not make sense to him because the goals expressed in it are too narrow.  "It should set goals and achievable results for all students, and then measure those results over the years," he said.  He added that the district Web site doesn't help community understand just how academically successful the school system is.  Cheatham kept on his theme of academic excellence.  "We need to make the reputation of this school system the absolute best in Tompkins County by all the various ways that you measure academic achievement," he said.  Like Dittman, he stressed setting goals and measuring benchmarks of their success.

Cheatham went on to suggest that the district should be actively recruiting families with school aged children to move into the district to fill vacancies in the elementary school.  "We have seats available," he said.  "We need to market and advertise how good we are."  But Iacobucci said she wants to keep it a secret to be enjoyed only by current residents.

District Network Specialist Roger Jagoda asked whether candidates would support camera surveillance in the schools and on busses.  Bruce Barber asked whether candidates would fund a CASS staffer to deal with the root of the problem of bullying in the schools.  Dan Konowalow complained of inequity between what farmers pay in school taxes compared to the share of homeowners, and asked what candidates would do to address that.  Iacobucci said that she is a member of the BOCES board which regularly communicates with local lawmakers.  Both Dittman and Cheatham supported replacing the school property tax with an income tax, which they said would be a fairer way to pay for the schools.

The evening was concluded with closing statements.  Dittman said Lansing has the resources within the community to create excellent educational programs, and that his training as an accountant and an educator will bring "something unique" to the Lansing school board, and promised to use that experience to create the best school system in the state.  Iacobucci said she would like to continue to serve the district for another three years, and that she is for educational excellence in a fiscally responsible way.  Cheatham concluded that he wants academics stressed, and repeated that he wants to see the seats filled in the schools.  "I think that shows signs of the degradation of the school district," he said.  He said he wants more advanced placement courses offered and a change in math and science offerings to make students more competitive in engineering and science.

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