Monday July 17, 2023
Monday July 17, 2023
NEW DOMINION PODCAST: Dr. Marci Catlett - Superintendent of Fredericksburg City Schools | WHY BEHIND THE WHY: An interview with Spotsylvania School Board candidate Alex Carlson
NEW DOMINION PODCAST
Dr. Marceline Catlett and the power of public education
Dr. Marceline Catlett is superintendent for Fredericksburg City Public Schools, a 42-year veteran of public education and a Fredericksburg native who gives us insight on the challenges presented by COVID-19's aftermath, how education in Virginia has vastly changed over the last few decades, and some heart-to-heart from Cori Roberts about how the turn towards testing failed him personally as a student. Not to be missed.
You can also listen to this episode by following this Spotify link.
For more on Catlett, see:
“City Schools - Moving Forward” 1/26/23
“Laying it on the line” 2/9/23
WHY BEHIND THE WHY
An interview with Spotsylvania County School Board candidate Alex Carlson
“The Why Behind the Why” is a Q&A with public officials and community leaders. Our aim is to give our readers an opportunity to get to know those who lead and shape the region in a more-personal way.
Today we speak with Alex Carlson, a candidate for Spotsylvania County School Board in the Livingston District.
Know someone we should interview? Want to be considered for an interview yourself? Write the editor at editoratF2S@gmail.com.
F2S: You have a long, fascinating name – Alexander Anthony Zuponeck-Carlson . There must be a story behind that.
Alex Carlson: There is. I was born in Chicago, and my mom was a Zuponeck. She wasn’t married at the time, but when she did marry it was to a man named Carlson. I wanted my kids to know their whole history, which is why I have retained Zuponeck. But I go by Alex Carlson, and that’s how most people know me.
F2S: You’re retired military. Tell me about that trek.
AC: I joined the United States Marine Corps at 18, right out of high school, and spent 26 years in the Corps. At the time, you could pick East Coast, West Coast, or overseas. We were at the tail end of Somalia, so I picked overseas . thinking I was going to some austere location...and got Hawaii.
Seriously. Hawaii was considered “overseas.”
That solidified my career in the military right there.
But the road wasn’t always so easy. I’ve done tours to Iraq, and spent one month in Afghanistan. I also spent time at 29 Palms in California, which isn’t exactly a tourist hot-spot.
I learned the importance of taking each duty station for what it was. So connection became an important issue to me. There wasn’t much to do around 29 Palms, so you build tight relationships with the people you are around. Some of my closest friends are from those days in California.
F2S: That’s an important life lesson.
AC: It is. We talk to our kids all the time about this regarding the school year. How each school year is just a chapter. So just take it for what it is, get the best out of it, and move on to the next chapter.
F2S: How did you get from California to Virginia?
AC: We’ve lived in Virginia for six years now. While stationed in California, I got orders to Virginia. I had really hit the pinnacle of what I had wanted to do in the military. I went from high school enlistee to retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 3. We just knew it was time to open a new chapter.
We liked this area for its proximity to the mountains and ocean, the job environment.
We purchased in Spotsy when we moved here, and we enjoyed the community that we settled into in Livingston. Once we got our feet settled, we decided to make that our next chapter.
F2S: What do you do professionally now?
AC: I work with a pro rugby club as a game day events manager. I’m also getting ready to go to work for a Canadien-based firearms company that specializes in precision rifles for mostly military applications.
F2s: So let’s switch gears and talk about your decision to run for school board. What motivated you to do this?
AC: This is a longish answer to a straight-forward question, so I would ask that you bear with me for a moment.
I’ve always been very engaged with my kids. My adopted father worked, and worked, and worked and provided everything. But what he missed out on was the connections. I saw it happen in the military, too. Mom gets the kids, and dad goes to work. I wanted to do it differently, and be more present for my kids in their day-to-day lives.
Early on I started volunteering at Livingston Elementary School, volunteering with the LES run club, dropping off supplies or treats for the teachers or kids., and volunteering with field trips at Post Oak Middle School.
In that process of connecting with my own kids and those in school, you begin to realize when talking with teachers and administrators there’s a lot of division on the school board. As things got more heated on the school board, I began chatting with other people, and I came to an interesting realization.
People want a board that acts mature and follows the code of ethics that is supposed to drive the board. They also want less partisan politics, and more actions around things that lead to student success.
There are a lot of nuances within that overarching framework, of course, but most people just want what’s best for the kids. And they are tired of the chaos. Who has 7 or 8 hours to go to board meetings and deal with that?
I concluded that we need to hit the reset button. And it starts with decorum, and remembering that it doesn’t cost anything to be kind. We also have to embrace the reality that we’re always under observation. If the board is misbehaving and acting poorly toward one another, it’s hard to tell the kids not to act that way.
We’ve got to set the standard at the top.
F2S: Were you recruited by anyone to run?
AC: We decided about a year ago we were going to do this. The most I was recruited was when I talked to parents who encouraged me to get involved with the school board.
There’s a lot of buzz about me pulling votes from this candidate or that candidate. I’m not tied to the Tea Party or any other party. I just want what’s best for the county.
F2S: In your discussions with parents and others, just how frustrated are they with the inability of this board to get along?
AC: A lot of parents don’t know what they’re going to do after this next election if it doesn’t lead to some real change.
I meet people who tell me that they don’t want their kids in our schools because of all the infighting at the school board. They’re ready to move, and homeschool their children because so many quality teachers are leaving. They’re frustrated with the fact that this board can’t make even basic things work, like having enough bus drivers to handle the work.
Instead of focusing on budgets and issues that directly affect our children’s future, we’re fighting about things we have very little control over most times. And the only reason we’re doing this is because we’re so wrapped up in whatever is being posted on Facebook every other day.
F2S: And how do we get to a point that the school board isn’t such a flash point?
AC: Treat others like they should be treated. And don’t untether yourself from your standard.
Being right is the drug that fuels an ego. That’s what school board meetings have become. I’m willing to fight for Livingston, and what they want. But before we start debating what we’re going to do, we have to treat others appropriately.
Listen first to understand.
In the military, you learn to turn the map and see where the strengths and weaknesses are in any plan. That only happens when people are listening. Right now we’re fighting Civil War style – you on this side and me on that side.
If I can help bring people together, and I do think I have the positive attitude and equanimity to not get involved in the infighting, then we’ll go a long way toward ending the chaos we’re now all living through.
F2S: Those are noble goals, but the reality is that we have a board majority that is uncommunicative with the rest of the board – and parents – because they deem them too liberal.
AC: When did we get to a point where being conservative or progressive were profanities? There are people who are progressive thinkers and I love it. The people are people who challenge our ideas and cultivate their curiosity to learn more. This is a good thing. Being conservative is about risk management and acting accordingly. That’s a good thing, too.
There’s a time to downshift and lower the temperature, and other times to push an issue. We need to downshift and get back to talking.
There’s a way to teach people to talk with one another. And that’s a skill that I believe I’ve developed over the years in my career. I want to bring that ability to our school board.
We have to develop a mindset that we’re going to collectively support one another better.
I am willing to take a look at a problem from 30,000 feet, and I’m willing to step back and realize that someone that I disagree with may have a better idea.
F2S: Some people have criticized you for entering this race relatively late. Why did you get such a late start?
AC: My wife went through breast cancer last year and survived it after three surgeries. Right when she was going through this third surgery is when I submitted my paperwork, and then we had to get through the last part of her recovery.
F2S: That was certainly a tough time for you. Has that experience influenced your approach to how the school board should run?
AC: Yes. It’s a reminder that you never know what anyone is going through on any given day. So it’s important that we choose to be kind.
I’ve seen far too many people pass away early, and I’ve been in tough places.
Everyone is beautiful. Just hear that person out. Let them finish their statement. Digest it. Turn on that be-kind switch and have a conversation with them.
I have friends in Washington State writing, and saying, “That’s your school board?” We’re national news. And it’s bad for all of us.
F2S: At the end of the day, what defines your campaign?
AC: For me, everything boils down to that code of ethics. That’s what I’m tethered to.
Everyone on the school board signs that document and agrees to live by it. I haven’t seen that kind of interaction. That’s what ultimately drove me to run.
The past couple of years have just been embarrassing.
We need to get back to the passion to make things better.
Just “do work.” Two simple words.
That’s what I’m all about.
While Mr. Carlson seems like a nice guy and nice guys are great, Spotsylvania's school board is in a crisis. While his focus is on board integrity and relationships, he offers us no glimpse at all in what he believes are the greatest issues and challenges that face our school division and his proposed solutions. Voters need and deserve to hear that. School board members affect every student and really every citizen, not just those in one voting district. There is a huge divide on this board and it boils down to the 4/3 majority. While some like to point out the bickering among board members, I maintain that the so called bickering is typically the only positive outcome from most meetings. Because the three members who make up the minority understand the issues and are trying to move real solutions forward, the only way they have a voice is to push back on Lisa Phelps, and prior to that Kirk Twigg, who are doing their level best to silence any dissent or answer real questions and concerns from their colleagues in the minority and the public. Phelps mutes her colleagues, times out speakers, and the four in the majority frequently get up and leave the dais in the middle of public comments. While, yes, that behavior is unethical, it also leads to a toxic atmosphere in which nothing moves forward for students, decisions are made in secret, and a political agenda is openly promoted and becomes policy with one quick public reading and a 4/3 vote, What the so called bickering also does is to allow the public at least a glimpse at what is going on behind closed doors and in secret decisions that appear to be allowing Phelps and Taylor to make every significant decision about topics to which the minority are rarely privy prior to meetings. This is the only way we, the voters in the Battlefield, Chancellor, and Courtland Districts have any idea about policy changes and decisions that affect students, staff, and the community at large. We in Battlefield, Chancellor, and Courtland have been silenced and have no voice, though our districts make up a significant part of the county. If not for the so called bickering, we would know even less. Many of us are thankful for the refusal of our board members, Cole, Daniels, and Shelley who, through their refusal to remain silent at meetings, allow us what little representation and knowledge we have. If Mr. Carlson seriously wants to serve our community he needs to be transparent as to what he sees are real problems and issues that face this board and what he proposes as solutions. Those questions have been asked multiple times on his campaign page and he appears to dodge them, suggesting private meetings with the citizens asking the questions. It is my belief that's not the solution. Private meetings allow for the opportunity to tell people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear, which are open statements as to where the candidate stands on every important question and issue that faces SCPS and what his proposed to solutions are. Nice guys are great but we need to know where exactly candidates stand and what his plan is to move our division forward. We have yet to hear that from Mr. Carlson.