By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Four challengers are seeking one of two school board six-year terms, for which the incumbents, Hussein Berry and Patrick D’Ambrosio, are seeking re-election.
The school board hopefuls are Ned Apigian, Steve Durant, Angie Hammock-Isaacson and Redhwan Saleh.
In the past month, residents have packed two school board meetings, concerned whether books, especially those on LGBTQ+ topics, should be removed from school libraries.
While some contend certain books are inappropriate for children and may be in conflict with their cultural beliefs, others defend the need to provide books for children who may have questions about their emerging sexuality and need a reliable and discrete information source.
The school board serves a dual purpose: It governs the Dearborn Public Schools and Henry Ford College.
Berry and Saleh did not respond to a request for information.
Ned Apigian
Why are you seeking election to the school board?
As a two-term former Dearborn Heights city councilman, the experience is more than adequate background and is based on similar if not identical issues. Both positions deal with major budgets, unionized employees, contracts, pensions, disputes, building issues and other employees.
I was also employed as an architect for the Detroit School District, an experience that no present board member or candidate has, so I can be a very useful asset to a school system with 37 buildings, and would have useful insight into the future planning of any existing buildings and new programs.
What is your position on book-banning?
The short version of my personal view is that any and all material of an overt unnecessary sexualization of our students needs be avoided in our instruction, and stopped where it exists.
This does not mean issues dealing with the LGBTQ+ community, unless it deals with overt unnecessary sexualization. I do not want to know who you are and what you do, do not tell me, I don’t need to know, I don’t care. The issue goes beyond books. The problem is for the superintendent, who runs the school and his so-called new process he has developed to solve the problem. We only can evaluate his solution then, when it is up to the board to approve or reject his solution and fire him, if we don’t like it.
Religious universities will make some exceptions, because they exist on a moral basis and they are not entirely secular. Public libraries in great American metropolises would more than likely not exclude few if any books if published. Small cities may be more discerning as to the content some books. Rural communities are a lot closer to the public and their cultural and traditional norms, and I believe this is the problem we have here in the Dearborn public schools.
Patrick D’Ambrosio
Why are you seeking re-election to the school board?
My experience as a business owner, Henry Ford College advisor and a fundraiser for Dearborn charities leads me to run for re-election to the Dearborn school board. During my first term on the board, I worked closely with the faculty, staff and administration in DPS and at HFC to improve opportunities for all our students. In particular, I have focused on the needs of our special education students in DPS.
At HFC, I believe strongly in the need to promote our career and technical programs, which provide important pathways to successful careers for hundreds of HFC students every year. I want to give our children and grandchildren every opportunity Dearborn has given me and my family.
What is your position on book-banning?
Because the Dearborn board of education serves the community and residents of the district, we take seriously all constituent concerns. The Dearborn Public Schools, under the leadership of the superintendent, have established a clear and fair process to review any book in our school libraries about which someone raises a concern.
We have professional media specialists whose job is to choose books for our libraries that are age-appropriate and fit with our curriculum. They are reviewing the collections in the schools to ensure they are appropriate and not out-of-date.
The district has strengthened the review process while also laying out a clear process for parents to challenge books they feel are inappropriate. As has always been the case, parents have the right to opt their children out of books they feel are not appropriate, while maintaining other students’ right to access books for their education. The board supports the revised process as presented by the superintendent.
Steve Durant
Why are you seeking election to the school board?
I wanted to run for school board because I feel we need a board member that has both experience in the classroom and children in the district. I am an advocate for all our children in this community. I hope to bring the voice and knowledge of an educator, parent and community advocate.
I love this city, its arts, people, youth, programs and its schools. I hope we can strive to become a school district where teachers want to stay to teach and even bring their own children into this district.
What is your position on book-banning?
Reading is very important. I think all students should be encouraged to read. Books are a window to view other people’s perspective or a door to awaken enlightenment. I trust the educational professionals to stock our school libraries with age-appropriate content.
Angie Hammock-Isaacson
Why are you seeking election to the school board?
I am looking to be elected because I am a mother who cares. I want more parents and students to feel comfortable coming to school board meetings, have a voice, an opinion and feel like they are being heard. No one wants to attend a meeting where parents and students feel unwelcome or that they are an inconvenience being there. The board right now does just that: They treat and talk to parents and students so condescendingly and make them feel like they don’t matter.
What is your position on book-banning?
I wouldn’t call it book banning – I would call it removing inappropriate books. This is a school library, not a public library. The patrons are mostly under 18, and I do not believe books with explicit pictures, details or words need to be in our school libraries.
Do the kids see worse online? Yes, but that is our job as parents to protect them and limit what they see.
Let me make this completely clear: I do not care what sexual orientation is for anyone. Love is love, and you are who you are. I accept people for who they are and do not judge anyone based on their sexual preferences. I do think that if the book would be rated R, and the kids couldn’t see it at the movies, and if we cannot say the words in a school board meeting without being told it is inappropriate, or if my kid can’t read it to me without feeling uncomfortable or feeling like they are saying bad words, it should not be in our school library.