With the 2022 election just one month away, residents will be faced with a choice between two candidates for one available seat to represent Warren on the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee.

The two candidates are Kyle Jackson and Jarrod Hazard, who have both been profiled over the summer, which is available for viewing here (Nancy Jackson, also profiled, dropped from the race over the summer).

This piece will launch a weekly Q&A series running each week up to the election to give candidates a chance to answer a few pressing questions to help inform voters and provide insight into each candidate. Given there are only two candidates in this race, each was given a 250-word limit for answers.

Answers are direct quotes from candidates, with edits only for spelling or grammar.

This week’s question:

“Public schools have faced increasing pressure from parents regarding curriculum that is being taught to students. How much influence do you believe parents should have when it comes to what kids learn within our public schools?”

Kyle Jackson
Research shows that parental participation improves student achievement. Parents are encouraged to communicate with educators, attend open houses, and parent/teacher and school committee meetings. Parents can participate by volunteering in schools and joining PTOs. My father, the late Rick Jackson, was a teacher at Warren High and Mt. Hope High. He and my mother, Debbie, supported my brother and me academically and in extracurricular activities. Their involvement benefited both of us. This support is crucial.

I believe parents should have a right to talk with teachers to request an accommodation when they have a specific concern. This has always been a part of our schools and should continue. However, RIDE sets state curriculum standards to ensure that all students receive the same high-quality education statewide. Generally, parents should be aware of what's being taught and engage in conversations with their children about their family values at home.

A long-held belief in our country is that education should prepare young people to think independently; I agree with that. It's what children do naturally and is part of their development. School has always been a place for children to build academic skills while at the same time developing social and emotional skills. We want young people to succeed in careers and life and to engage in ideas that are different from theirs. I believe that we, as parents, are partners with our school educators in contributing to our own children's development while ensuring a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all students.

Jarrod Hazard
Parents must participate in the education of their students; not just because it is a right as a parent, but because it is requested by the schools that parents be involved. Indeed, the school system elicits parent participation in their child's education specifically by way of back-to-school nights, parent/teacher conferences, school committee meetings, etc., designed precisely to get parents engaged in their child’s education.

Several years ago, while sitting in the Hugh Cole School cafeteria attending kindergarten orientation, the administrators of BWRSD explained what was necessary for our children to be successful. One of the first things that they said was that parent involvement was crucial.

When a student has disciplinary issues or excessive absences, parents are contacted to help get the student’s learning back on track. For nearly a year, parents were instrumental in helping in the education of their children, many while balancing their own work-from-home schedule, during the lockdown phase of Covid-19.

The objective of any good school district is to produce well-rounded students who are not only proficient in reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also knows the facts and figures of history and the sciences as well as aspects of the arts, both fine and technical. The facts and skills must be taught initially, and later in education, the tools of analysis, accurately examining both sides of an issue must also be taught. This examination process is what we should strive for in the critical thinking portion of our curriculum. I want to and, if elected will, focus on academics and accountability which will lead to excellence in our schools.