Watch State School Board Debates to Learn About Candidates in the Republican Primary

In March and April 2022, the Hinckley Institute, Utah PTA, KSL, and others hosted state school board candidate debates that are available to stream on YouTube.

We’ve created a guide of time stamps for you to watch and listen to the responses of candidates who will appear on the Republican primary ballot for Seat 4 and Seat 11.

Scroll to the bottom for questions you can ask yourself as you listen to the candidate responses to help you determine how well each candidate’s response aligns with an equity mindset. We encourage you to listen to all responses available from each candidate.

Utah State School Board Seat 11 Debate: Cindy Davis and Kim Delgrosso

https://www.youtube.com/live/cz6AVT_FjPY?feature=share

April 21, 2022

Kim Intro: 2:15-3:37
Cindy Intro: 3:42-5:02

Question: What’s your assessment of public education:

Cindy: 5:20-6:36
Kim: 6:40-8:11
Cindy Rebuttal: 8:22-9:02
Kim Rebuttal: 9:07-9:37

Question: USBE recently decided to give LEAs control regarding gender identity. Do you agree or disagree with this decision?

Kim: 10:15-11:38
Cindy: 11:41-13:12
Kim Rebuttal: 13:16-14:04
Cindy Rebuttal: 14:08-14:45

Question: Should USBE be concerned about SEL?

Cindy: 15:10-16:20
Kim: 16:22-17:45
Cindy Rebuttal: 17:50-18:50

Question: What qualifies you to manage the large USBE budget?

Kim: 19:20-20:56
Cindy: 20:11-22:13

Question: Concerns about UAN (Utah Afterschool Network) funding and contracts:

Cindy: 22:54-24:03
Kim: 24:13-25:15
Cindy Rebuttal: 25:19-26:01
Kim Rebuttal: 26:04-26:29
Cindy Response: 26:40-27:20

Question: Because this is a partisan race, how does (or will your) your political affiliation inform your decisions on the board?

Kim: 28:10-29:00
Cindy: 29:01-30:10

Question: How will you work with local school boards, administrators, and teachers?

Cindy: 30:44-31:51
Kim: 32:40-33:59
Cindy Rebuttal: 34:02-34:56
Kim Rebuttal: 34:59-35:38

Question: Concerning Kim Delgrosso’s comments about being “anti-trans:” 

Kim: 36:20-38:04
Cindy: 38:31-39:37

Question: What specific rule, policy, or resolution has USBE passed that you felt helped or hindered student success in public education?

Cindy: 40:47-41:53
Kim: 42:10-43:43
Cindy Rebuttal: 43:47-45:04
Kim Rebuttal: 45:09-45:24

Question: How do you plan to build bridges or compromise with fellow board members?

Cindy: 45:40-46:55
Kim: 46:58-48:23
Cindy Rebuttal: 48:28-49:28
Kim Rebuttal: 49:30-50:44

Question: How will you maintain accountability to parents?

Kim: 51:20-52:41
Cindy: 52:44-54:23

Closing Statements: 

Cindy: 54:39-55:45
Kim: 55:49-57:23

Utah State School Board Seat 4 Debate: Melanie Mortensen & LeAnn Wood

https://www.youtube.com/live/YfHfR0E7HHQ?feature=share

April 13, 2022

Melanie Intro: 5:01-5:55
LeAnn Intro: 7:27-8:23

Question: What’s your assessment of public education?

Melanie: 12:08-12:57
LeAnn: 13:00-13:55

Question: USBE recently decided to give LEAs control regarding gender identity. Do you agree or disagree with this decision?

Melanie:17:20-18:11
LeAnn: 18:12-

Question: Schools may now pivot to online learning only if the governor, senate president, house speaker, and state superintendent of public instruction jointly approve. Do you agree with this new process? Why?

LeAnn: 23:14-23:55
Melanie: 27:55-28:57

Question: Lawmakers considered but didn’t pass bills that would’ve required greater transparency of curricular content in order to allow parents a greater say in what being taught. What is your personal philosophy on these issues? What is the best way to involve parents in their children’s education in the public school system?

Melanie: 33:12-34:25
LeAnn: 34:30-35:39

Question: Lawmakers are proposing a change to the Utah Constitution in order to allow income tax revenue to be spent on things other than public and higher education. In effect, this would open up education to the competitive process by which all state programs compete for funding. Do you agree or disagree that the state should no longer use income tax funds almost exclusively for education?

Melanie: 39:06-40:10
LeAnn: 40:12-41:26

Question: How do we maintain a healthy number of teachers in our system? What would you do to help make sure we have enough teachers? What do you believe is the root cause of our teacher shortage? What can we do to solve the issue?  

Melanie: 45:20-46:27
LeAnn: 46:29-47:39

Question: Please tell us what you know about the Department of Justice agreement with Davis School District and what your thoughts are on it?

Melanie: 51:17-52:14
LeAnn: 52:17-53:37

Question: We are spending almost $7 billion on K-12 education, but student performance is worse than ever. Why do you think that is, and what would you do about it?

Melanie: 57:14-58:14
LeAnn: 58:17-59:38

Question: What is your definition of critical race theory? How will you enforce consequences for those who teach it?

LeAnn: 1:04:04-1:05:10
Melanie: 1:08:51-1:09:51

Question: What specific policies, rules, or resolutions do you support that USBE passed last year?

Melanie: 1:13:13-1:14:26
LeAnn: 1:14:29-1:15:44

Question: You manage the largest state budget item. What experience do you have with finances?

Melanie: 1:18:13-1:19:12
LeAnn: 1:19:15-1:20:08

Closing Statements:

Melanie: 1:23:40-1:24:24
LeAnn: 1:24:27-1:25:28

Questions to ask as you listen to candidate responses:

Why are they running for school board?

What kind of relationship do they have with the local community? How do they plan to cultivate relationships that are representative of the students their district and precinct serve?

What are some pressing issues in education for the school board? What are their stances on these issues?

Which issues are most important to them?

Try to educate yourself on the complexities of each issue. Who are they advocating for? Who are they centering? 

Do they support social emotional learning?

Do they have equity in mind? Are they advocating for students of color? LGBTQIA+ students? Disabled students? 

In Utah’s recent legislative session, some very important equity-based bills were passed, such as the ethnic studies bill, which commissioned a committee to come up with a plan to integrate ethnic studies into the core curriculum from kindergarten to 12th grade). Do they support these efforts for student safety and inclusion?

How will they measure the achievement of the school board’s goals and objectives? How will they ensure that goals consider each and every student, including those who have historically been underserved? How will they assess the impact of board goals on historically marginalized communities?

How will they ensure the board has adequate input from stakeholders before making decisions?

What is their stance on the role of school board members in advocacy? What issues are important to them? How have they and how do they plan to express their advocacy?

What board responsibilities do they prioritize? How would they ensure the board prioritizes these responsibilities?

How would they emphasize inclusion, access, and equity on the school board? In the district? How would they ensure a safe and inclusive district for each and every student and family, from the whole district to the school and classroom level?