Medical Lake schools board candidate plans to learn on the job

Lifetime Medical Lake resident Leo Spilker believes learning on the job is the best way to prepare for leadership, a strategy he intends to use in the race for Medical Lake School Board, District 1.

Spilker, who spent 28 years working as an attendant at Eastern State Hospital, has been involved in the local branch of the Washington State Federation of State Employees as vice president and secretary in the 1990s. He said during his time at those posts, he found the best policy was listening to more experienced members before voicing opinions or making decisions.

“You just don’t go in and go, ‘Oh, well, I know everything,’ ” Spilker said. “You’ve got to go in and learn a lot, and you have to learn by what the senior people are going to tell you.”

His opponent, incumbent school board member Kelly Fouts, has served on the board since 2004 and is an employee of Avis car rentals, operated out of Spokane airport, according to the Medical Lake School District Office. She did not return multiple requests for comment and did not submit candidate information to the Spokane County Elections Office.

Spilker said he has not yet researched many of the current issues in education, such as the recent changes in K-12 funding made by the state legislature this summer, Common Core curriculum requirements or any possible policy changes by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. However, he does intend to meet with retired teachers and former school board members he knows in the community, such as a friend from his softball team and his father, who he said was a school board member in the 1970s.

One issue Spilker said he sees in the current school management is punctuality at school events.

“I used to be a referee (for) baseball and basketball,” Spilker said, “I’ve been at basketball games, and they were starting at 20 minutes after 4. … Well, you got grandparents that are showing up at 20 minutes ’til 4 and their grandkid is first and hits a home run and the grandparent shows up and misses it and it’s their first home run ever, and they miss it, and then they complain.”

Spilker graduated from Medical Lake High School and is a member of the alumni association. His career at Eastern State Hospital began his senior year in high school, when he began working as an attendant.

“I started before Mount St. Helen’s blew up,” he said.

After graduation, he enrolled at Spokane Community College for a year, but left school to work full time. He retired in 2008.

Spilker, who retired in 2008, said he spends much of his time now babysitting his two grandchildren.