Meet The Candidate

Stanley TSielby h# announced his candidacy for a position on the Ann Arbor Board of Education in the June 10 election. He submitted the following statement: "I am currently serving as president of Ann Arbor Parent Teacher Organization Council and chairman of the school board's Advisory Committee on Building and Sites. I recently served as chairman of the positive voters' identification committee of the Citizens' Millage Committee in 73. "As a lifelong resident of Ann Arbor and with the perspective gained from my involvement with the school system in recent years, it's obvious to me that Ann Arbor has changed considerably. Today we are dealing with a more urbanized community and with children of many different backgrounds, abilities, and levéis of aspiration. We must work toward the full development of the potential of each child. Just as it is necessary to seek new techniques in order to meet this goal, we must continue to employ those means which we know have been and continue to be successful. Many children have been overlooked by the school system. The newly organized alternative school is headed in the right direction toward meeting the needs of some of those young people where the more traditional settings had failed. There is a crying need for better coordination between grade levéis in the system and minimum standards must be established. "Many of the problems currently facing the Ann Arbor [ school district could have Ibeen prevented by better I long-range planning. The I board has taken the necessary Ifirst step in hiring the U-M I of School Services to Isupply data and make recomI mendations for the best use of Ipresent facilities, future [building and site needs, and limproved curriculum planIning. In addition, the school I board has recently appointed Ithe Building and Sites ComImittee to study the Bureau's I report, evalúate its data, and Imake any additionál recomImendations it considers Ineeessarv. "We currently hear much of teacher accountability. Certainly, teachers must be held accountable, but so must administrators, parents, and students. Discipline has become an emotional and controversial term. As parents, teachers, and administra tors we have failed our students when we have not held them accountable for their actions. In our desperate attempts to understand, we have too often set no limits at all. How often have we said, "The kids can handle it," and backed off from the responsibilities rightfully ours as adults. We should work together now to decide what are reasonable expectations - both academically and behaviorally - and not allow incompetence or indifference at any level to prevent students from receiving the best possible education. "We have a tremendous investment in our school ings. Thèy must be betterl utilized into the evening hoursj and twelve months of the yearl for adults as well as childrenl Taxpayers cannot afford to letj such a vast investment stand! idle. "As a member of the board,! I would work at the state levell and through the school! boards' association to find anl alternative method of f 1 ing our schools. The pressure on the property tax continúes! to strain the pocketbooks not only of senior citizens on fixed incomes but also all but the most affluent families in our community. A more equitable means of meeting the growing needs of our schools is required. It's important that the board perform its rightful function of policy making and leave the job of administering the school system in the capable hands of Supt. Harry Howard. "As a member of the school board, I would work toward this system achieveing the excellence which the rich resources at its disposal would warrant." Bielby, 39, a senior engineer-J ing technician at U-M, lives at 1325 Ardmoor with his wife Nancy and three children. He has served three years on the Eber White School PTO Board, five years as a baseball coach for Recreation Department Summer League, chairman of PTO Candidatesl Night '73, Cubmaster, Pack 5; and Institutional Representative for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.