A forum presented by the Alliance for Good Government that covered four of the six school board districts that are facing elections Oct. 2 was not only sparsely attended by the public, but by the candidates as well.

The forum was held Wednesday for school board districts 2, 6, 7 and 8 and Thursday for districts 10 and 15. The group invited all candidates for each seat to present their platform, answer questions and gain the endorsement of the group.

Endorsements given Wednesday night included incumbents Elizabeth “Beth” Heintz for District 2 and Roanne Tipton for District 6. In addition, Dan Ferrari beat out incumbent Willie “Coach” Jeter for the District 7 endorsement. Jeter was filling the unexpired term of Jody Palmer. Peggy Seeley received the endorsement for District 8. In District 2 Elizabeth “Beth” Heintz’s opponent, Beverly Richardson Kiefer, was not present but did appear later in the event while the group was privately deliberating their endorsements.

District 6 candidate Cindy P. LeBlanc was also not there.

District 7 candidates Willie “Coach” Jeter, who is filling the unexpired term of former school board member Jody Palmer and then Judy Palmer, faced off against “Dan” Ferrari in answering questions, giving an introduction and qualifications and speaking about why they would like the job.

It was the only district with two candidates present for the forum.

Daniel Zechenelly, incumbent for District 8, is not running for re-election. Instead, three candidates, Richard “Glynn” Ellis, James Lyle and Peggy Seeley are vying for his seat. Seeley was the only one present and received the endorsement of the group.

Questions asked of each candidate included issues of the budget, School Board policy and the special education system and alternative schools, among other topics.

In answering a question regarding the current system of 504 special needs evaluations, Heintz said it was indeed a slow process and as a parent of a special needs child, she felt it could be improved.

When asked about St. Tammany School System’s non-participation in Race to the Top, Jeter said he was not familiar with the subject. He did agree with the need for discipline and the alternative school system.

His opponent, Ferrari, said he was not willing to settle for being the third best system in the state. Louisiana is last in the country in education. He advocated raising the bar for the system

Tipton was asked about the positive behavior support system currently used. She replied that she thought the FISH philosophy was very effective with good feedback, but “there is always room for improvement.”

Seeley stressed the importance of advocacy for children. She said that School Board members should be “watchers for our children.” She also said she would to see an additional eighth hour in high school for those who either need help, want an extra elective, correct a previous failure or catch up on a requirement.

Coverage of the second forum held Thursday will appear in Sunday’s edition of St. Tammany News.