HASLETT - The Foundation For Haslett Schools held a "Meet The Candidates" forum on Wednesday, October 8th to introduce the candidates running for Haslett School Board in the November 4th General Election.

All seven candidates gave a brief introduction of themselves. They were then asked two questions each randomly selected. At the end of the event, audience members were able to ask candidates questions as well.

Chris Coady was asked: “In your role as a board member what can you sense will be your biggest challenge?”

Coady replied, “transitioning to a new board and there being at least 3 new members of the school board starting in January, in the middle of the school year its going to be a challenge for all of us and I know everyone is up for that challenge.”

Karen East was chosen to answer a question written by an audience member: “Have you reviewed the budget past or present for the Haslett School District and if so, what change or questions or areas would you focus on?”

“I have not done the type of detailed review with the budget that you would do as a board member. I have followed it generically over the last couple years, but one of the areas I think we have to pay a lot of attention to is the fact that while Haslett was once upon a time spent at a higher level than just the floor, the states done a lot to rise the floor so that Haslett is now the new floor. There are many districts in the area that are spending quite a bit more than we are able to on education. So we have to spend some time analyzing that issue and being vocal about it with our elected representatives,” said East.

Steve Cook, Director of Finance for Haslett schools explains how important this forum is. “Well I think it's important for all of the community members to understand who's running and what their about and I think this was a good opportunity for the people who were here and also those who were watching on TV or can watch it later. They get a chance to know the people their going to possibly be voting for and to understand where they stand on certain positions and potentially what they may be as a board member in the future,"

Four candidates are running for the two 4 year term seats. While the other three candidates are running for the two 6 year term seats.