Copyright Lewiston Morning Tribune
Two candidates vying for Pullman School Board District 4 open four-year seat promise more collaboration with community members and other local institutions. They also share a desire to make the school board more transparent in decision-making, address staff and teacher morale, and support the public school mission. Previous director, Nathan Roberts, did not run again. Deena Bayoumi, 45, mother of two elementary school students, recently worked for the Community Action Center coordinating the Mobile Farm Stand in Whitman and Latah counties. Recent federal cutbacks have ended that position. Hannah Martian, 26, works at the Neill Public Library Youth Services Director. She is also working on a Ph.D. in education at WSU. Bayoumi wants a system where school officials don’t overlook under-represented students. “I genuinely believe that in a community as diverse as Pullman, to be truly successful we need to ensure that every student is able to access resources and support they need to succeed in the future,” she said The daughter of Egyptian immigrants who moved to Pullman for a WSU education, Bayoumi said she experienced feeling “isolated” at times in schools that sometimes didn’t acknowledge other cultures and ethnicities. Martian, who works with children in her role at the library, believes district patrons might appreciate her decision-making because she doesn’t have kids. “I have a unique perspective because I was a substitute teacher and I worked in a library,” Martian said. “I know a lot of teachers and I bring in an unbiased viewpoint without a kid in the district.” Both Bayoumi and Martian want decision-making to be more transparent. The board’s decision this spring to drop Wendy Trager’s athletic director position was an example of failing to make decisions — popular or not — in an open way that parents and patrons could understand, Bayoumi said. Martian said the incident highlighted the need to do a better job of caring about teachers. “It’s hard to get teachers and administrators who are passionate about what they do and the work they’re doing. I think that it’s a real shame they let her go,” Martian said. Bayoumi saw the Trager episode as a missed listening opportunity. “I’d never seen that many people come out for a single issue before,” Bayoumi said. The board should have taken time to hear the people. But, that’s the same behavior school official leaders often show parents of kids with special needs or dual language challenges, she said. “The board has self-imposed policies that put up a wall between themselves and their constituents,” Bayoumi said. Martian, who also is an author, said she will bring a similar philosophy to school governance that the library takes to dealing with book content concerns. Minor children need a parent with them when they sign up for a library card. After that, the child gets access to the library. “It’s not our role to censor or police anyone from knowledge they are trying to access,” Martian said. Similarly, board members need parents to sign off on how the school board goes about its mission to provide a high quality education. Bayoumi looks forward to working with parents during a time of budget scarcity. She said cuts are coming but there are also places where the budget needs to add services. For student health and school safety, the district should add a districtwide clinical psychologist and ramp up resources for adolescent mental health, she said. Both candidates said they recognized the other was someone they could support if elected. Ferguson can be reached at dferguson@lmtribune.com.
