OCEAN PARK — An incumbent on the Ocean Beach School District Board of Directors is seeking another term in office, but will have to overcome a challenger to do so.

Anna Taft, 42, has served on the school board since first being elected in 2019 and is seeking another four years on the board. She graduated from the district’s alternative school program in 1999 and is the parent of a student currently attending OBSD schools. She owns Taft Plumbing with her husband, has volunteered and coached youth sports for more than a decade, and previously served on the boards of the Boys & Girls Club of the Long Beach Peninsula and Peninsula Youth Sports.

Mark Mansell, 62, is also running for the seat. Mansell and his wife moved to the peninsula in 2019 after he spent 30 years in education, which includes nearly two decades as a superintendent in small Washington school districts — the largest being La Center, which he retired from in 2016. He has been heavily involved with the Peninsula Lions Club since moving to the area and currently teaches at Eastern Washington University as part of their doctoral program.

Both candidates agreed to participate in a questionnaire with the Observer, and their written answers can be seen below.

Chinook Observer: Why are you running to serve on the Ocean Beach School District Board of Directors, and what makes you qualified?

Anna Taft: I seek reelection to the school board because my only objective and my only agenda is to serve all the kids in our district. My voice as a parent with school-aged children and as a lifetime community member is an essential one. My experiences as a graduate of the district, a parent of students in the district, and a business owner in the district provide me a unique and necessary perspective to guide board decision-making.

I have worked diligently for the past four years to serve all the kids. My experiences are unique and my perspective is necessary. I am more committed than ever to this job and to the reality that we are one community and one district.

Mark Mansell: I was encouraged to run because I have more than 30 years of experience as an educator, with two decades as a school superintendent in small districts like ours. My experience in creating high quality learning environments, school finance, facility maintenance, levies and bonds, personnel management, and engaging stakeholders in support of public schools can be of great value to the board. I am also highly involved in volunteering in our community in many organizations that are supportive of our students. With my experience, involvement and commitment to public education, I will bring a new level of inquiry and new ideas to the process of the school board representing stakeholders.

CO: What is the single most important issue facing the school district, and how, as one of five board members, would you try and go about addressing it if elected?

AT: Community understanding and involvement. Our schools will be most successful and effective when the entire community is interested in, fully supports and is actively engaged in the welfare of our children. My commitment as one of five board members is to ensure that we continue to work hard to engage our students, our parents, our teachers, staff and our community.

This takes dedication and effort using face-to-face discussion, attendance at group meetings and ongoing outreach. We need regular and sustained communications with the community to build trust and the enthusiastic support to provide the essential resources needed to ensure our students are supported in all areas, including a strong curriculum, essential staff training, critical educational materials and facilities that are safe and in good working order.

MM: I believe the most important issue facing OBSD is diminished public confidence in the current direction of the district. To reverse this, the board’s top priorities should be to balance the budget, reprioritize spending to improve student achievement, work to create a broadly supported facility improvement plan that people can support and afford, increase stakeholder engagement (e.g., students, parents, teachers/support staff, and the broader community), and establish clear benchmarks of success for the superintendent to achieve. As a member of the board, I will focus on the above areas and believe that in doing so we can begin the process of rebuilding broad community trust in our schools.

CO: With a clear majority of OBSD students not meeting grade-level standards during state testing last school year in science, math and English Language Arts, what role can the board play in helping to improve learning outcomes in the district’s schools?

AT: Low test scores are a serious issue that we should all be concerned about. Low scores are afflicting school districts across the country, and we need to work hard to bring scores up after the extraordinary challenges of Covid. However, I struggle with the narrative that test score data and statistics should be the only focus. We need to focus on the whole child and address their social, emotional and academic needs. Our teachers and schools are working hard to make sure each child is met where they are in all these areas. Test scores are only one factor and do not show who our kids or teachers truly are. The kids aren’t little test scores and statistics.

Sure, test scores are important, but let’s be real. Many of our kids face big challenges taking tests when they don’t have a home or an adult they can trust or aren’t able to get to school at all. 17% of our students are houseless students and close to 70% are low income. That kid who didn’t do well on the test may not have had breakfast or dinner or a bed to sleep in the night before. We can’t fully address test score issues without having kids in school. As a board member I want to help provide the resources and support the full range of activities necessary to help improve learning outcomes for our students (including their attendance and overall well-being).

MM: The board plays an essential role in setting the focus of the superintendent, who is charged with leading this work. In my time of attending board meetings over the past year, I have not observed any significant conversation about student achievement and/or work by the board to establish clear goals for the superintendent performance to be measured against. What gets measured, gets done. What gets rewarded, gets repeated.

Focusing on how to create the environments for teachers to teach and students to learn should be the foundation of what the board does. My commitment is to refocus the conversation of board meetings on student achievement, setting expectations for the superintendent, and measuring results.

CO: Do you believe it’s the district’s responsibility to ensure the safety of its students and staff in the event of a major earthquake and tsunami event? If so, how can the board address present safety concerns — particularly at Ocean Park Elementary and Long Beach Elementary, where there is no easily accessible high ground?

AT: Clearly, the district has the responsibility to ensure the safety of its students and staff in all circumstances, including natural disasters. This is why we, as a school board, supported the recommendations of the community-led Facility Advisory Committee and placed a tsunami-safe elementary school solution on the ballot for the community/voters to decide.

Although that solution was not approved, that ballot effort has now qualified the district for substantial earthquake/tsunami funds from the state. This would not have happened if we hadn’t taken that action. Now, we as a school board and community must focus on earthquake/tsunami solutions that protect our children and staff. Solutions that will work and do not close our existing elementary schools should be our focus.

MM: Student and personnel safety is job #1 as a school district and is essential for teaching and learning to be maximized. Having a meaningful dialogue with all stakeholders about the array of options to maximize safety is essential. That said, it is not just a school district responsibility to develop an earthquake and tsunami safety strategy, but rather it’s a community responsibility to have this conversation with the school district being central to the discussion. It can’t simply be a district responsibility alone, because it will take a community to decide what is the best plan and how to pay for what solution(s) are decided upon to implement.

CO: What role should parents and guardians have in determining what their students are taught in the classroom? Do you believe they should be permitted to opt their students out of receiving instructional material they are uncomfortable with, or to have a say in what literature is allowed in school libraries?

AT: Yes, I believe parents should have a say if they are uncomfortable with something their child is learning. Parental input is important. I am an advocate for parental voice in regards to their child’s curriculum. However, I do not believe a parent should be able to choose what is available to the rest of our students in a library. Washington state law and direction from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction guides the opt-out process for everyone. Teachers should be able to teach with resources, not restrictions, due to a parent’s personal belief.

MM: I believe a student’s parent(s) or guardian(s) is/are their first teacher. Their voice and input are essential to keeping the public in public education. Having passionate teachers creating high-quality learning environments that will help our students learn how to think independently and gain the ability to think critically is also required. In my career as a teacher and a school leader, we always created options for students whose parents or guardians expressed concerns about different learning experiences and/or instructional materials used by teachers.

So, my answer is “yes,” parents and guardians should be given the opportunity for alternative options for their students when they have concerns on instructional materials used. The district has clear policies on how instructional materials (in the classroom and in our libraries) are chosen, reviewed and updated. The board must ensure these policies are followed and adhered to.

CO: Simply put, why should voters elect you to serve on the school board?

AT: I should be re-elected because I am in this for the kids. Everything I do and all the decisions I make are based solely on the needs of the kids of our district. I have the voice of a parent with students actively in school and the history of living in and supporting this community my entire life. I have business management experience that directly applies to strengthening the school board.

I am committed to taking the lead on community and stakeholder engagement, curriculum choices and the safety of our students and staff. I will give my absolute best to get every child in our community the rich education they deserve.

MM: I have the knowledge, skills and ability to add real value to the needed diversity of thinking on the board. I bring decades of real leadership experience in schools and communities that can change the conversation at the board level to improve student success, engage stakeholders, establish clear and achievable goals, as well as provide greater return on the investment made by the taxpayers.

The bottom line is, if as a voter you think the district is on the right track relative to student achievement, fiscal management, supporting teachers and staff, and facility maintenance/upgrades, then re-elect the same board members to office and let them carry on as they have. But if you believe we need a change of thinking at the board level with an expectation of creating a new level of excellence in our schools, then we must start by changing the board.

I have spent my entire professional career as a teacher and school leader improving schools. I will bring that expertise and skill to the board and together we will produce the type of leadership our community is wanting, and our students need. The choice in this election could not be clearer. That is why I am asking for your vote! Please mark your ballot for Mark Mansell for school board director position #1.