SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - School district board reform was touted as the major issue facing future Yk1 school board trustees by the majority of candidates at the district's election forum, Oct. 7.

Eleven candidates took part in the forum, except for Mildred Wilke who declined to participate, answering questions of which they had time to ponder before hand, as well as questions from the floor.

When asked what issues the future board would have to focus on, Terry Brookes, a Yk1 trustee seeking re-election, said board reform would be the big issue, but he decided to speak on a different topic.

"I was going to focus on board reform but based on today's newspaper I'd cause a lot of sparks," he said, referring too his uninvited visit to the Yellowknife Catholic School (YCS) board candidates forum last week, where he asked questions about board reform which irritated at least one Catholic candidate.

Similar moves by YCS candidates were not made during the Yk1 candidates forum.

Reanna Erasmus, a current trustee seeking re-election, said the decision to merge or not to merge the boards should include a good deal of parental input.

"The board represents parents and if parents don't want one board ... then it shouldn't happen," she said.

When asked if candidates would conduct a parental referendum on the matter if elected, eight candidates said they would be open to the possibility, with two saying no, and one undecided.

While it was generally agreed that board reform was going to be a major issue for the year ahead, many of the candidates were quick to voice other concerns, saying board reform should not overshadow other issues.

Declining enrolment, special needs programs, aboriginal education and territorial funding were all hot topics.

On the issue of homework, one candidate said he did not think it was necessarily useful. While most of the candidates said homework was essential to binding kids to their parents and teaching them self-discipline, Jay Butler eluded to two books he had read on the subject of homework, which concluded the practise was not supported by research, and he said he agreed with the findings.

"There's no conclusive evidence that homework is particularly beneficial in terms of grades and academic achievement, and that there's better things they could be doing with their time," he said.

"I would want to make sure we continue to pursue excellence in our schools and find ways to respond to declining enrolments," said candidate John Stephenson.

A question about the benefits of fundraising activities for children and board policies on the issue inevitably brought the topic of discussion around to the stalled Jiewa Park project at Mildred Hall School.

Candidate Blake Lyons suggested fundraising should be the domain of professionals.

"You have a group that has the contacts, has the information and can train people, because fundraising can be difficult for someone who isn't well versed in the topic," he said.

Candidate Mira Hall sited Jiewa Park as a failure for professional fundraisers, saying parent-driven fundraising was more likely to be successful.

"The board, or district, brought in professional fundraisers and it fell flat on its face and left a lot of people with hurt and bad feelings," she said.

Election day for both Yellowknife school boards and city council will be held Oct. 19.