Hopkinton School Board candidates voiced their opinions on everything from rising education costs to intelligent design – a theory that seeks to fundamentally redefine science to accept supernatural explanations being taught in some schools – at a recent forum.

On Sunday, March 2 more than 50 residents showed up at the Slusser Senior Center to hear six of the seven candidates make their case for election and answer questions from the crowd. Candidate Seth Shortlidge was not present at the forum.

All six candidates – Sam Delgado, Liz Durant, Karen Irwin, Kathy Trantham, David White and Peter Yunich – said they were impressed with Hopkinton’s school system, and most cited that as their reason for moving to town. All, however, also agreed schools can be improved and rising costs have hindered that improvement.

All candidates also agreed the budget needs to be more accessible to the public, offering ideas ranging from public forums to creating an annotated school budget.

“The school budget is the white elephant of our budget here in Hopkinton,” said Delgado.

Delgado, who served on other school boards and as a business administrator, said he has the experience necessary, even though he’s only lived in town since July 2007.

White, a 16-year Hopkinton resident, has two children, ages 14 and 10, in the town’s schools. Having served on other boards, White said there needs to be less importance placed on how much items cost and more on what students are getting out of their education.

Irwin, who is currently serving on the town’s Budget Committee, said her experience working with school budgets and finance will aid the School Board in getting the most value for taxpayer dollars.

Trantham, who has been living in town since 1996, said her job as an information technology professional at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord made her privy to the knowledge students may or may not have upon entering college. She also stressed character development in the schools as a way to teach kids about life.

“There’s a lot more to it than just ABCs and 123s,” said Trantham.

Durant has served on school boards in several districts prior to moving to Hopkinton with her family a year and a half ago. She stressed the need to better explain the budget to the community.

“We need to help the community to understand the bigger picture, why the budget is the way it is,” said Durant.

Yunich said quarterly forums with the School Board to make information more accessible to the public would be a good way to institute a better two-way dialogue with the community.

Questions from the audience focused on keeping taxes low, technology in the schools, the importance of arts and music programs, the state of the current facilities and whether students athletes should pay to play their respective sports.

Arguably the most interesting question centered on how the candidates felt about having sexual education and intelligent design taught in the schools.

Yunich, Trantham and Durant agreed students should have the opportunity to learn about all points of views on creation, including intelligent design, but no one idea should be pushed on them.

Irwin said she would like to get more input from the community before taking a stance on whether intelligent design has a place in schools.

“To me, Intelligent Design is a religious doctrine. I don’t feel it has a place in a public school,” said White, with Delgado agreeing.

Five out of the six candidates agreed that sexual education should be dealt with in school, but agreed parents bear the brunt of responsibility in that area.

“That is ... something I can honestly say I’m not comfortable with,” said Trantham about sex education in school, adding her conservative background would prompt her to teach abstinence.

Delgado mentioned that high school sexual education is appropriate, but the topic may be over the heads of elementary and middle school students.

Yunich, a retired publisher in his 60s, drew chuckles from the crowd upon being asked about sexual education.

“I’m trying to remember,” he said, feigning deep thought. He also pushed parental responsibility in the matter, but said the change in culture from his youth suggests a need to teach kids about sex.

All candidates agreed on the need for a long-term plan for the programming and funding for Hopkinton schools, as well as the role arts and music play in the development of students.

On Tuesday, March 11, Hopkinton voters will choose which of the seven candidates will fill two three-year seats on the School Board.

Voting takes place from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Hopkinton High School.