Presidential Candidates Take Questions on Membership, Engagement

by Jay P. Goldman

The three AASA members who are vying for the association’s presidency spent an hour answering questions during a candidates forum at the AASA national conference on Saturday morning.

About 15 conference attendees turned out to hear the views of the trio:

•  Clark J. Godshall, superintendent of the Orleans/Niagara BOCES in Medina, N.Y., for the past 12 years;

•  Rodney P. Green, superintendent in Central Bucks School District in Doylestown, Pa., for one year; and

•  David K. Pennington, superintendent of Ponca City Public Schools in Ponca City, Okla., for nine years.

The three candidates answered posed questions from a moderator before taking a couple of harder-edged questions from the floor — including what the president would do about the disengagement members apparently feel about the current presidential election process, and what AASA ought to do to attract the many young educators entering the superintendency who are not joining the membership ranks?

On the latter point, Godshall suggested using colored badges at future conferences to identify nonmembers to encourage closer networking. Green said he wanted recruitment of young members to be seen as a top priority of the Executive Committee. Pennington wants AASA to use retired members in every state to serve in a formal capacity to recruit for the association.

Balloting in the 2013 election opens at 8 a.m. EST on March 4 and continues until 11:59 p.m. EST on April 12.

For the presidential election, ballots will be distributed via e-mail to all eligible AASA voters for whom the association has an e-mail address. Voting forms will be mailed to those without an e-mail address, and any e-mail bouncebacks or e-mail undeliverable will be mailed a paper ballot. Once a member’s ballot has been cast, the voter is not entitled to vote again.

The election results will be posted on the AASA website on April 16.

The top vote getter will serve a year as president-elect beginning July 1 before beginning a 12-month term as AASA president that runs until June 30, 2015.

(Jay P. Goldman is editor of both the Conference Daily Online and AASA’s School Administrator magazine.)

VIDEO: 

AASA Presidential Candidate Clark Godshall on His Platform [1:41]

AASA Presidential Candidate David Pennington on His Platform [1:44]

AASA Presidential Candidate Rod Green on His Platform [1:39]

Related Story: Three AASA Veterans Vie for Presidential Post in Election