For the second time in less than a week, candidates running for the Denton school board fielded questions from a local organization.

Three of the four candidates running — Place 1 candidate Sheryl English and Place 2 incumbent Jeanetta Smith and contender Tony Puente — answered questions in a forum hosted by the Greater Denton/Wise County Association of Realtors Inc. on Wednesday. Place 1 incumbent Curtis Ramsey said he was unable to attend the meeting because he was ill after arriving home late Tuesday from a meeting in San Diego.

Forum topics included campus accountability ratings and their effect on homebuyers, school finances and programs that better prepare students for the future.

English, who is a real estate agent with a company in Coppell, told forum attendees that she knows the role school districts play in a buyer’s decision when purchasing property.

“When we show people property, one of the first things they want to know about is our school district,” she said.

English said buyers are concerned about the district and its campus accountability ratings. Denton residents pay more in property taxes than nearby cities such as Lewisville, she said, yet the accountability ratings are lower.

As a trustee, she said, she would look at what districts like Lewisville are doing to earn higher accountability ratings and find a way to improve ratings in Denton.

The district has good schools, she said, but when it provides more high-performing campuses, homebuyers have more of an incentive to purchase homes and businesses in the city.

“That’s a win-win for everybody,” English said.

Accountability ratings released by the Texas Education Agency for 2008 showed that Denton had three exemplary schools, a point Smith made at the forum.

Ratings also showed Denton with 11 recognized and 12 academically acceptable campuses. TEA ratings showed that Lewisville in 2008 had 23 exemplary, 21 recognized and 15 academically acceptable campuses.

Smith expressed her support for programs such as early education and advanced technology, which make for more well-rounded students. Providing programs for children to attend school prior to kindergarten, she said, allows them opportunities “to be successful in life early on.”

It’s important that students get started on the “right foot” with early education programs, because without the programs, she said, they run the risk of starting school behind their peers.

Teaching students to be successful early only “snowballs” as they become older and start to take courses that prepare them for the 21st century, Smith said. She said she would like to continue with providing programs such as those at the LaGrone Advanced Technology Complex, which prepares students for life after high school, whether they choose to enter the work force or college.

Those courses, she said, provide them opportunities for college credit and certifications.

“We’re just trying to do our best with keeping it with technology and making sure our students are well-trained and have the best opportunities,” Smith said.

Puente said, just as real estate agents are concerned with decisions buyers make when purchasing property, how a district handles its finances also is taken into account. The district operates with “rural” and “archaic” methods in regard to budgeting and finance, he said.

Puente said the current finance staff is overworked and understaffed, and if elected to the board he will advocate modern methods of budgeting and more staffing in the department.

Making such changes, he said, will allow the district to be better stewards financially.

“The last thing that we want to become is a DISD — that’s Dallas school district,” Puente said.

Members of the association’s government affairs committee questioned candidates for 50 minutes. The committee also met with candidates running for the Denton and Corinth city councils.

Kara Phelps, an association official, said the committee will make recommendations to its board of directors about candidates it wishes to support. The board will receive the recommendations at its next meeting April 16, she said. To collect funds for any candidate the group wants to support, Phelps said, the board will send recommendations to the state real estate political action committee.

BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com.