City Council Candidates take a ForHHS2 Survey

As you know, ForHHS2 is an organization concerned about overcrowding in the existing Harrisonburg High School. We support the building of a second high school as soon as possible because we think this is the best option for our community.

With City Council elections just two months away (November 6, 2018), we are interested in the positions of City Council candidates on building a second high school. Last month, we asked each candidate to respond to questions to help get the word out about each of their positions on a second high school for Harrisonburg and their thoughts on overcrowding.

During the first week of September, we are going to publicize their responses to the questions listed below. We want to promote civil discourse about this issue so that community voters can better understand each of the candidate’s positions.

We are publishing the responses by the candidates in the order they were received. We encourage you to contact each candidate if you have any questions or want more information about their positions:

Frank McMillan, frankmcmillanforharrisonburg@gmail.com
Chris Jones, chris@votechrisjones.com
Carolyn Frank, carolynwfrank@gmail.com
Paloma Saucedo, friendsofpaloma@gmail.com
Sal Romero, sal4council@gmail.com

As a group, ForHHS2 will not advocate for any candidate; we are a fact-reporting entity. As we stated in our request to the candidates, “As an organization, we will not endorse specific candidates; however, individuals in ForHHS2 may choose to express their support.”

We want to thank each of the candidates for responding to our questions and encourage everyone to register to vote no later than October 15th and cast your ballot on November 6th!

1. Describe your background in education, Harrisonburg City Public Schools, and public education.
2. Do you think Harrisonburg needs a second high school?
3. Give reasoning for your answer to Harrisonburg having a second high school.
4. When would you like to see a second high school open in Harrisonburg?
5. The current City Council voted to fund a second high school to open in 2023. What are your suggestions to alleviate overcrowding at HHS through the opening of a second high school?
6. Even though Bluestone Elementary is more than 50% larger than our other city elementary schools, our middle schools are near capacity and will become overcrowded during the tenure of our newly elected city council members. How will you address our city’s educational growth while still supporting the other needs of our community?
7. How familiar are you with the work completed by the Space Study Committee created by the Harrisonburg City School Board?
8. Please summarize your knowledge of the Space Study Committee and their recommendations.
9. Please summarize your knowledge of our group, ForHHS2.
10. Is there anything you would like the public to know in particular to public education within the city?

Check our web site or our social media feeds for the first candidate’s responses starting tomorrow (Monday, September 3, 2018). We will post a new candidate’s responses each day.