Q&A: Rob Hardy, Candidate for Northfield School Board

Five candidates are vying for your support to be elected to the Northfield School Board, which has four open seats this election.

They are:

• Dan Cupersmith
• Rob Hardy
• Ellen Iverson
• Anne Maple
• Noel Stratmoen

Patch asked candidates to respond to a series of questions. Below, you will find responses from Hardy. Responses are written by the candidates and have not been edited by Patch.

In the coming weeks we'll run more Q&As and video interviews for candidates who are on Nov. 6's ballot in Northfield-related races. You can also find out more information about the candidates by checking out our election guide for all election-related stories.

Rob Hardy

Age: 47
Family: wife Clara and sons Will (NHS ’10) and Peter (NHS ’12)
Education: B.A., Oberlin College (1986); Ph.D., Brown University (1991)
Occupation: freelance writer and editor

Why are you running for a seat on the Northfield School Board? What do you offer the board and district?

I’m running to a seat on the school board because I want to serve my community, and education is an area in which I feel I am exceptionally well qualified to serve. I have been a teacher and a school board member in the past, and have been involved in education for over twenty-five years (I taught my first class as a junior in college, in 1985).

As chair of the board of the Cannon River STEM School, I helped to guide the school through its crucial first years of operation, when it had to prove that a small start-up school could deliver innovative programs and academic excellence in a climate of severe financial constraints. I helped the school win a School Finance Award from the Minnesota Department of Education in my first year as chair, and saw the school through two successful financial audits.

Northfield has a long and distinguished tradition of educational excellence. I want to help to continue that tradition, and to help prepare the district to meet the opportunities and chalenges of the next four years.

What’s the most pressing issue facing the district?

Education funding. In recent years, the state has increasingly relied on budget holdbacks to balance the state budget on the backs of our schoolchildren. At the same time, there are significant inequities built into the education funding system which favor wealthier districts and make our public education system less truly democratic. Public education should be the realm in which the American ideal of equal opportunity is most clearly a reality. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Not because teachers aren’t doing their best to give every student an equal chance at success, but because there are such massive socioeconomic inequalities built into the system.

What is something you think the current school board has done well?

Because the education funding system has provided so many challenges to schools, I think the board has done a laudable job of maintaining the excellence of Northfield’s schools during very difficult economic times.

What is something you think the current school board hasn’t done well?

I’m going to decline to offer criticisms of the current board. If I’m elected, I will have to work closely with most of the current board members, and would prefer to start with and to maintain a collegial relationship with them. I think a common criticism of the board is that it’s a “rubber stamp” for Dr. Richardson. When I served on the board of the Cannon River STEM School, most of our votes were unanimous to support recommendations of the executive director. This was not a “rubber stamp,” but rather the result of a long process of working together to reach a decision that was in the best interests of the school. This is how I prefer to work. If I’m elected, I will listen, ask hard questions, research every issue before the board thoroughly, and work with all stakeholders to reach the decision that’s best for the schools and the taxpayers. I will not put my own personal agenda, or any individual agenda, before the best interests of the schools.

What would you have tried to do differently?

I think my answer to the previous question also covers this.

Why should constituents vote for you on Election Day? What makes you a better choice than your opponents?

For me, the relevant questions are: Who understands the role of a school board member the best? Who can work best with other members of the board to ensure that decisions are made in the best interest of the schools and the taxpayers who fund them? I’ve served on a school board before, and received board training from the Minnesota School Boards Association, and I’ve lived in this community and worked with these schools since 1991. I’ve worked with the traditional public schools, with the two charter schools in the district, with homeschoolers, and with The Key and the Northfield Skateboard Coalition. I have the experience, the commitment, and the knowledge to hit the ground running on day one.  

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