March 29, 2024

Seekonk School Committee Candidate Meet in Forum

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Seekonk town election is April 3rd. The two candidates for one open seat on the Seekonk School Committee met in a televised forum at TV9 studios.  Kyle Juckett and Bernie Luger answered fifteen questions from local media on a range of subjects. Michael Dressler was the moderator.

Juckett, who has three children, ran for school committee in 2022. He praised the teachers in the district and vowed to support them. “We need to make sure they have the tools they need to provide the education to our kids for a very transparent curriculum,” Juckett said. “I want our parents to be involved in the educational process.”

Luger, who has two children, touted his experience in education and administration and said that would be a benefit to the committee. “I believe the school board should be representative of the community that it serves and as a parent, I’ll bring unique perspective and be an advocate for our families in the district.” Luger said.

The candidates were asked if books should be removed if parents feel they contain inappropriate subject matter for their children:

“I’ve never asked to ban books,“ Juckett began. “Libraries should not be banning books,” Juckett said. He cited MA state law that parents be notified when books regarding sexual education and human sexuality issues come into the classroom as curriculum.

“Ultimately the community is represented by the school board and having a review process that ends with them is appropriate when people have legitimate concerns about what is inside the school building,” Luger said.

Regarding the oversight and transparency of information being provided to the public about the costs of school expansion projects:

“I think there is a lot of transparency regarding costs,” Luger said. “It has to be accounted for and explained.”  “These are not always small numbers and so being responsive to our community is important.”

“When projects are done start to finish, it needs to be transparent,” Juckett said. He noted that we have to understand what we’re walking into, and that a review should be conducted when a project is finished.

The candidates also addressed how to improve school safety:

“This is one topic I think everybody can agree on. The safety of our children is paramount,” said Juckett. As a police officer, he hopes use his professional experience to offer insight and assist the district, possibly by creating a subcommittee devoted to school safety.

“At the end of the day, there is nothing more important than our children’s safety. Seekonk schools needs to keep its kids safe.” Mr. Luger noted that there are policies and programs currently in place to keep parents informed.

  

The forum will air throughout the month on TV9.  To view on demand in its entirety, go to http://cable9.dyndns.org/CablecastPublicSite/show/8646?channel=7

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