PORTOLA - On October 4th at the League of Women's Voters Candidate Forum, after listening to presentations by Kelly Champion and Jesse Whitley, the session moved to candidates for School Board Trustee - Area 5, Coby Hakalir and Leslie Edlund. In Hakalir's opening statement, the audience learned he moved to Quincy from Chicago three years ago after spending over ten years working with the Chicago Association of Realtors' education foundation. In this capacity he observed public, private and charter schools throughout the city, saw how efficient schools prepared their students for success, and how poor schools failed their students. As for local the schools, where his daughter is a third grade student, he said, “I can't deny there are systemic problems in our school system. A viable and flourishing community requires a flourishing school system, where our children show up to school every day, have access to both after school and extracurricular activities, and can easily acquire the help they need in order to accelerate their studies.” In Edlund's opening statement she noted she has been on the school board for ten years and her kids were born and raised here. “I am running again because I am passionate about the Plumas Unified School district, I am passionate about public education, I believe in the mission and vision in Plumas Unified School District, and I get super excited to watch our kids develop and interact with their teachers.” Edlund's vision going forward concerns recruiting and retaining staffing, and making sure kids are returning from distant learning to a warm, welcoming school environment. In response to the question of what changes the candidates will seek to implement, Hakalir replied he would like to focus on reducing truancy rates by making school a place kids want to attend. Housing for, and retention of, teachers was also cited as important issues to be handled. Edlund agreed about teacher retention being a significant issue. Thus, the provision of good working environment and pay structure would be a priority for her. In addition, Edlund suppported opportunities for learning trade skills, taking advanced placement classes, and having online options. When asked how they would address the teacher shortage issue, Edlund re-emphasized the pay structure, and housing issue for staff. She mentioned, “We recently purchased a four-unit duplex in Quincy,” a spot she said one teacher is already living in. She also brought up marketing our community better, and recruitment events. Hakalir agreed about the housing situation needing to be addressed. He also spoke of bringing more local businesses into the community to help the spouses of teachers find jobs, as well. When asked what ideas they have to meet the needs of students, such as those looking to attend a trade school versus a four year college, Hakalir suggested opportunities for going into a trade have never been better and, since he claimed almost 80% of students aren't attending four year colleges, he asked what the board has been doing to help those students. Edlund replied there is already a robust career technical education program in place, including culinary, fire science, auto mechanics, and a new welding class. Asked about their opinion on policies regarding teachers' pay being evaluated on the basis of their students performance on standardized tests, Edlund does not agree with this idea. Hakalir, on the other hand, felt everyone should be evaluated on performance, and a teacher's performance should be based on how the students perform. When Hakalir was asked about an argument he was involved with on Facebook about the 8th grade curriculum, and what the issue and solution was, he said he didn't recall the situation. When asked about critical race theory, Hakalir replied that what works for other counties may not work in this county, and that students need to be taught history, but whether a single theory should be taught is uncertain. He said as a parent he wants to be consulted about what is being taught, and that the consultation of the parents is essential. Edlund’s response was that they do not teach critical race theory, and she believes they should be teaching an accurate, factual, and culturally sensitive curriculum. The last question was for Hakalir, asking how many school board meetings he has attended. He answered he has attended a number of them on Zoom, but not the recent one in Chester, or on Oct 4th, but he says he keeps in touch with staff and has a good grasp on problems and solutions for issues going on. In closing statements, Edlund spoke about her commitment to the district, from being a school volunteer, working with the parent cooperative organization, and after working with the school for many years she was asked to be on the board and continues to support the district. She volunteers in two second grade classes, attends sporting events, and does classroom visits. She is a member of the California School Boards Associations Delegate Assembly and enjoys going and speaking about how legislation affects our schools, stating “this is something that drives me because I want what’s best for our kids.” Hakalir, in closing, thanked the league and Edlund, and said he recently met with the new superintendent. He said it is time for a change, and every decision will be about what's best for our children. He encouraged anyone to reach out for any questions or concerns.