FORKS — Tony Dias, 47, makes no bones about why he’s running for a seat on the Quillayute Valley School Board.
“A lot of people call the [current] School Board the bobblehead board,” Dias said.
“They don’t question anything.
“So I thought maybe it’s time for a change of pace.”
Dias is challenging incumbent Sue Gibbs, 43, in the School Board primary election that concludes Sept. 20. Gibbs was first elected to the School Board in 1998.
Rick Gale has also filed for the election, although he hasn’t campaigned publicly and hasn’t returned numerous phone calls seeking comment.
The School Board election comes on the heels of a controversy-plagued spring at Quillayute Valley School District.
Controversies included student walkouts at Forks High School, raucous School Board meetings and loud calls from community members to fire Steve Quick, the embattled high school principal.
While Quick’s contract wasn’t renewed by Superintendent Frank Walter for this school year, Dias is making an issue of how the School Board handled the matter.
“The School Board did a very poor job listening to the public input,” Dias said.
“They wouldn’t answer the public’s questions.”
Gibbs has a different take on Dias’ criticisms of the board.
However, she does agree that the School Board could have handled the situation better.
“Some issues brought out specifically addressing [Quick] should have been heard in executive session, rather than in public comment session,” Gibbs said.
“If we had done that, it would have been easier to respond to people’s questions quicker.”