Brenda Earl is going for her second run for an open Oswego Board of Education seat, citing the need for change as a reason voters should choose her, May 20.

Earl ran last year for the school board, finishing in fourth place. She said she is running on the same platform as she did last year. “What I’m seeing is the same old, same old,” she said. “We need change, we need a positive direction, we need to take care of the kids.”

Earl has a problem with the fact that programs are being cut. “The programs are needed. This day and age we need to offer programs to the ones who are special needs and the ones who are gifted,” Earl said. “The kids need to have the education they’re entitled to. I don’t think they’re getting that.”

She also believes that there are too many administrators in the school district who are getting paid high salaries. This is the first issue Earl said she would tackle if elected to one of the three available seats for the school board. “Something needs to be looked at structurally,” she said. Earl stated that if one or two top administrative positions were cut then that would save three or four members of the support staff, like bus drivers. “We trust our kids’ lives with the bus drivers, and they’re the first ones to get cut.”

Another contention Earl has is the district’s ownership of the education center which houses the majority of the administration. “I don’t think it’s necessary to have that big building on East First Street. It’s wasting taxpayers’ money,” Earl said. She noted that the education center is prime riverfront property and a hotel chain would most likely be willing to buy the property from the district. “If we have all those empty rooms in those schools, (let’s) move the administration into there,” she said.

Also concerning the subject of extra space, Earl wanted to know why the district still uses portable classrooms at the middle school and Fitzhugh Park is there is so much extra space in the buildings.. She noted her 20-year-old son was in a portable classroom when he was enrolled at Fitzhugh Park, pointing out the structures are extremely old. “It just can’t be environmentally safe for the kids,” she said.

Earl stated that she signed up to be on the reconfiguration committee and was never called back. On the issues of reconfiguration and declining enrollment, Earl said she would start by restructuring the schools in the district. “I don’t see closing a school, but I see moving kids around to balance things out,” she said. “Is the answer closing the school that only has 10 in a class? Absolutely not.”

The candidate believes her 29 years working at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will help her on the school board. Earl, who has since retired, said she dealt with many people, helping them with problems at the DMV. “At least I was there to explain to them the law and why they can’t do this,” Earl said. “I don’t see the school board doing that now. They’re just ramming things down our throats.”

Other experience Earl feels will add to her ability to serve on the board of education is the time she served on the state board for CSEA. Earl herself was a member of the union and served on the board for four or five years. She pointed out that the board serviced 255,000 people statewide with a multi-million dollar budget.

Earl said that if she had to choose two candidates to run with her she would choose current board member Dave White and Tobie McIntosh. She noted that White and her have butted heads over CSEA issues, but believes she can work with him. “At least he’s a fighter for the right reasons,” Earl said. From the conversations that she and McIntosh had, Earl would choose McIntosh to be a member of the school board.

As for her message to the voters, Earl said, “I am an everyday person. I am one of you ... I am not a “yes” person, I’m an honest  person. I’m a hard worker, if I set my mind to do something, it will get done.”