Stories indexed with the term ‘Dale Leslie’

Voters on Nov. 6 will need to decide one seat on the seven-member board of trustees for the Ann Arbor Public Schools. The two candidates – incumbent Deb Mexicotte, first elected to the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education in 2002, and Dale Leslie, former local businessman – appeared at an Oct. 9 forum organized by the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area.

Leslie is concerned with the leadership on the board and believes his business experience he brings would be a great asset to the board. He worries that today’s teenagers are born in the 21st century, while the people leading them were born in the previous century.

Mexicotte, a three-time board of education president and trustee since 2003, pointed to her track record of leadership and dedication to the students of the district. She highlighted the achievements of the district, while acknowledging she would like to continue with the work of focusing on student achievement.

The candidates answered eight questions selected by a league committee from a pool of questions submitted by league members and the general public. Topics included the role of technology in the classroom, the importance of class size, and customer service. The forum was moderated by Rosemary Austgen, a league officer.

Information about both Leslie and Mexicotte, including brief answers to six questions about their background and approach to the job, can be found on the League of Women Voters Vote 411 website. Both candidates also have campaign websites – daleleslie.org and debmexicotte.com. The school board trustee is elected to a four-year term to serve on the board, which sets policies, adopts district budgets, and approves large expenditures.

The Oct. 9 candidate forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network, and will be available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. The full schedule of candidate forums this week is on the league’s website. The forums are broadcast live on CTN’s Channel 19 starting at 7 p.m.

Information on local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website. The league’s Vote411.org website also includes a range of information on national, state and local candidates and ballot issues, and a “build my ballot” feature. [Full Story]

Both candidates running for the board of the Ann Arbor Public Schools met with top district administrators for an informal question-and-answer session held at the the Balas administration building on Aug. 28, 2012. This kind of information session is regularly hosted by the district before each school board election. This year, Dale Leslie and incumbent Deb Mexicotte will be on the Nov. 6 ballot.

After brief introductions, Leslie and Mexicotte were given a chance to ask the administrators any questions they had about the district and its operations.

Leslie took advantage of the occasion to talk about his campaign. He said he is familiar with the district, and made several criticisms – about the quality of instructional materials, the elimination of police liaisons in the high schools, and board’s goal setting.

Mexicotte responded to Leslie’s critique of the board by contrasting the goals that the board had set for itself internally with those it set for the district as a whole. Mexicotte had no informational questions of the administrators. She was first elected to the board in 2003 and currently serves as president of the board. Most recently, she was re-elected in 2010.

This year, the board seat that Leslie and Mexicotte are seeking will be for a four-year term ending in December 2016. The other six members of the AAPS board, whose terms continue at least through 2014, are Susan Baskett, Andy Thomas, Simone Lightfoot, Christine Stead, Glenn Nelson, and Irene Patalan. [Full Story]