Sturm, Kesner, Olson for Canfield schools

Question: What does a school district do for an encore when year after year it is rated as one of the best in the state of Ohio? Answer: Try to be even better.

That’s the message from the three candidates for Canfield school board who appeared before members of The Vindicator’s editorial board and a reporter. The fourth candidate in the Nov. 3 general election, Barry Tancer, who did not participate in the interview process, is an incumbent. Because Tancer was a no-show, he cannot be considered for the newspaper’s endorsement.

Fortunately, the three who did meet with us — Adrianne Sturm, president of the board, and Brian Kesner, both completing their first four-year terms, and Craig Olson, who is running for public office for the first time — impressed us with their knowledge of the system and their commitment to not only maintaining Canfield’s excellent academic rating but ensuring its fiscal viability.

Sturm and Kesner are in the enviable position of being able to run on the district’s record of success. School board members get the credit when things go right and the blame when they go wrong. And things are going right in Canfield.

The lone challenger in the race, Olson, a small business owner, is unstinting in his praise of the district’s academic performance, but one of the reasons he’s running is to make sure that all students have the same opportunities.

He told Vindicator writers that the “average” student should have the same chance to succeed educationally as one in the “honors” program, and that all should be encouraged to achieve their personal goals of further education or entry into the workforce.

In response, the incumbents, Sturm and Kesner, pointed to the myriad programs and initiatives that are in place and said students can always get assistance before and after school.

“We are on the cutting edge at all times,” the school board president said.

Challenges looming

But there are challenges looming that every district in the state, even the best-ranked ones, will have to confront. The incumbents realize that the board must act before the hammer falls.

For instance, even though the Canfield schools system is fiscally sound today, with a $4 million to $5 million carryover, it is “very vulnerable to state and federal cuts,” Sturm told The Vindicator.

“By the end of the fiscal year it looks like we will eat into the carryover,” she said.

However, the board has not asked voters for additional revenue since a 6.9-mill levy was approved in 2002. The board has been told the system will be able to operate with that levy for about two more years before decisions will have to be made.

“The five-year forecast is scary” given what’s going on in Columbus and Washington, Kesner said. He noted that Canfield does not have an industrial base like other districts and so has to be creative and careful in the way it manages its money.

Both incumbents had high praise for the administration, teachers and staff and said that Superintendent Dante Zambrini has provided the leadership necessary to keep the system performing at the level residents expect.

It is unfortunate that the third incumbent in the race, Tancer, did not come in for an interview. We would have been interested in hearing his opinion on the many issues the board will have to deal with in the future.

However, we have no qualms about endorsing the re-election of Sturm and Kesner and the election of Olson.