Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

Two candidates seeking a Bartlesville Public School Board of Education seat field questions during a debate.

Incumbent school board member Scott Bilger and challenger Jonathan Bolding had the opportunity to discuss their difference on Thursday evening at the Bartlesville High School Fine Arts Center auditorium. The debate was organized by Bartlesville High School debate students with the support of Public Education Advocates for Kids (PEAK), a local non-profit.

Introductions came first. Bilger said he is a Phillips 66 attorney who has been a board member since 2010, serving as president for the last six years. Bolding said he is a local realtor and long-time resident of Bartlesville.

Throughout the debate, the candidates were asked to share if there was ever a time where they put aside their political/personal beliefs to do what is best for public school students. Bolding said he was not sure if there had ever been a time where he had been involved to that degree.

On the other hand, Bilger pointed to the district's involvement in the teacher walk-out in March 2018. Bilger said he believes firmly in the Oklahoma Legislature's ability to handle the state budget and problems as they arrive, but he also believed they were not doing the job back then. 

Bilger said they had seen 10 straight years and a declining budget. He said it was time for someone to be the adult in the room, so BPS, its teachers and its students, took the ball.

Pictured right: Incumbent school board member Scott Bilger shares experiences and accomplishments during his tenure on the BPS Board of Education.

Each candidate had a chance to share their vision for Bartlesville Public Schools as well.

While new buildings and facilities are great, Bolding said what is happening inside the classroom is the most important objective and that there needs to be balance. As a school board member, Bolding said his task would be to identify what is needed to help fund and provide resources going into the classroom, counselor offices and programs for children. He said one of his biggest goals will be to empower parents to direct their children's education. 

Continuing on the track that BPS is currently taking to become a destination district for teachers and students of parents that may come to take jobs in Bartlesville is in Bilger's sight. Bilger said COVID-19 has left everyone with issues, and the district has hills to climb and hurdles to get over. However, Bilger would challenge the audience to check the track records of the two candidates before them and ask which one has the better record as a problem solver.

Pictured right: Challenger Jonathan Bolding expresses concerns regarding what he believes to be a decline in the Bartlesville Public Schools system's classrooms. Bilger retorted Bolding's claims and asked where the information was coming from as there had not been assessments (specifically with reading proficiencies) in two years due to the pandemic.

The forum is one of a series of public discussions and panels that PEAK has organized since 2017 to help parents and other community members to better understand the issues facing public schools and how they can be addressed.

Keri Bostwick was the mutually agreed-upon moderator for the occasion. Bostwick has been a longtime local school teacher and is currently a higher education administrator and member of PEAK.

Guidelines for the forum were modeled after the rules followed by debate students in formal competition with help from Trey Cabler, advisor to the BHS debate team.

The school board election is Tuesday, April 5.

Any resident within the Bartlesville Public School District can vote in this election.