Curtis Hrischuk
Non-Partisan | North Carolina
Candidate Profile*
Conservative (Conditional)
*Additional information appears below for educational purposes; however, only data received prior to the candidate deadline was considered during Panel Evaluation.
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Curtis Hrischuk
Party
Non-Partisan
Election Year
2022
Election
Primary
Race
Durham Public Schools Board of Education, District 1
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, Ph.D., 1998
Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, M.Sc., 1995
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, B.Sc., 1987
WORK & MILITARY
(Candidate did not provide)
AFFILIATIONS
Ratio Christi, Director
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
(Candidate did not provide)
Race
ENDORSEMENTS*
*These endorsements were received after the deadline and were not considered in the Panel Evaluations and are for additional educational purposes only.
CONSERVATIVE (2)
*Durham County Republican Party
*Stand For Health Freedom
OTHER (2)
Better Board Better Schools
North Carolina Grassroots Government PAC
SELECTED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS
- Statement of Organization - 2/24/2022
- 48-Hour Notice - 4/12/2022
- Disclosure Report - period of 1/1/2022-4/30/2022
- Please note: The following information was received by iVoterGuide after panel evaluations occurred and is for additional educational purposes only.
- Disclosure Report - period of 1/1/2022-4/30/2022 (filed 5/9/2022)??
- $600.00 contribution from Durham County Republican Party
- $100.00 contribution from Triangle Republican Women
- Disclosure Report - period of 1/1/2022-4/30/2022 (filed 5/9/2022)??
OTHER INFORMATION
Director of Ratio Christi.
Party Primary Election Voting History for Curtis Hrischuk during time of resident in district and/or at current address:
- affiliated party: Republican
- no voting history
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not be a resource for instruction or services in the school.
Agree
Topics related to a students health are the responsibility of the parent.
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
Science has shown that a fetus has all the DNA information and organs at a very early stage to become a human being.
ECONOMY
School districts should be able to use taxpayer money for lobbying the state legislature.
Disagree
School districts are given a budget for education purposes. There are mechanisms to make their needs known to the legislature so lobbying seems like an inappropriate use of those funds.
What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?
A well functioning society requires a common education to provide a common culture. If a child is too young to benefit from learning then this becomes state funded daycare which would eliminate Pre-K. At the other end, state funded college would be sufficiently abused that I don't support it.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
At school, students should be able to speak freely and civilly about matters of conscience and faith, including Christianity.
Strongly Agree
Schools should be safe zones that allow people to speak freely about all topics, not just faith. For example, atheists should be able to discuss their faith too.
School districts should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Strongly Agree
I believe that schools should be politically neutral and teach all sides. This discrimination is a form of political activism which is not neutrality.
Students should not be allowed to pray in school.
Strongly Disagree
Students of all faiths should be allowed to pray in school.
HEALTHCARE
Under what circumstances (if any) should a government, school, or employer be allowed to require vaccinations?
I would be in favor of requiring vaccination under the following extreme and rare conditions: 1) If there is a national plague with a very high rate of spreading (i.e., every sick person infects 10 other people) and the plague has a very high death rate for all age groups, sex, medical conditions, etc. (i.e., 5% of all people who contract the disease would die). 2) The vaccine had been sufficiently tested by the FDA and CDC using their normal processes. 3) There were no other treatment that could mitigate the disease, like antibiotics, steroids, etc. Under these circumstances, I would expect that everyone would want to take the vaccine and it would not need to be forced on people. COVID-19 and its variants do not meet this criteria.
EDUCATION
When should parents be restricted from speaking in school board meetings?
Civil discourse should always be allowed.
Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): Mathematics, Information Technology, Science, Political Activism, Personal Finances, Gender Identity, Physical Fitness, American History, Critical Race Theory, Language Arts, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Sexuality, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning
Vocational Learning (this shows that the material being taught is of practical use -- not all students need to go to college), Personal Finances, Language Arts, Mathematics, American History, Information Technology, Science, Physical Fitness, Art & Music, Foreign Language
American civics education should emphasize our nation's founding principles of liberty and equality.
Agree
America is an aspirational ideal that we need to strive for. We should teach the founding principles and the instances that did/did not reflect those principles.
Before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) or Social Emotional Learning (SEL), they must opt-in with written parental permission.
Agree
Comprehensive Sex Ed is the parent's responsibility so I don't think it should even be taught. I consider Social Emotional Learning to be an unvalidated experiment so I would not support it being used until there was sufficient proof that it was helpful in educating students.
The loss of local control in education is too high a price to pay in exchange for federal dollars.
Agree
. I would not accept federal dollars if I was being asked to violate my principles. I don't think the local school board ever loses control of what is being taught. It may be that they are just not imaginative enough to interpret what is required in exchange for the federal dollars
I support the teaching of curricula (such as the 1619 Project, No Place for Hate, Second Step, etc.) that emphasizes slavery and racism as the foundation of American history.
Strongly Disagree
First, as a scientist, I think these projects are academically dishonest and arrive at false conclusions. Secondly, they are totally unbalanced -- teach those good aspects of American history but also teach those negative aspects. Third, racism is not defeated by a different form of racism so the entire movement is wrong.
Parents are the ultimate authority in their child’s education and should be able to freely pursue whatever educational options they deem best for their child.
Agree
This assumes that the parent is looking out for the good of the child which is true in almost all cases. However, allowances need to be made for those parents which do not care about their child (e.g,. drug addict, mentally ill).
What is the function of the local school board?
It is responsible for several things, such as "establish a vision for the community’s schools that reflects a consensus of the board, community and district staff. The school board has a wide variety of additional responsibilities, such as adopting a balanced annual budget and issuing interim financial reports, adopting the school calendar, negotiating contracts with employee unions, approving curriculum materials and closing or constructing schools. What philosophy of education do we want our local schools to have? What should our students know and be able to do when they graduate? How can schools best educate students who come from diverse backgrounds? These are some of the types of questions that a school board must ponder when trying to establish a vision."
Do you support the National School Board Association's characterization of parents who speak out at school board meetings as "domestic terrorists"?
No
Not at all. School board and educators are not co-parents of their students. Neither are they federal agents.
Who should have the authority to set curriculum and determine resources used in those curricula?
School board or their delegates. This should reflect the community values of the parents and focus on non-political or ethical matters. This curriculum needs to focus on education and not indoctrination.
Who has the ultimate right to control the education of children in public schools? (a) parents (b) teachers (c)school boards.
Parents.
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a believer in Jesus Christ and hist teachings, living out those principles daily. A summary would be the Nicene Creed.
I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.
Strongly Disagree
Female students who dope with testosterone are not allowed to compete with other females. Yet, a male who claims to be a woman has done this but with natural testosterone instead of synthetic testosterone. This is just another form of doping.
Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?
Teaching children about unhealthy touching so that they can protect themselves is the responsibility of everyone and that includes the school system. Educating children about the act and morality of sex is the responsibility of the parent. Learning about the biological aspects of sex is part of teaching biology which would be high school material.
If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- Physical and emotional health outcomes; contraceptive methods; consent; abstinence; sexual orientation and gender identity; human anatomy/the reproductive system; abortion methods and side effects; stages of pregnancy and fetal development; sex acts and pleasures of sex
1) human anatomy/the reproductive system 2) stages of pregnancy and fetal development 3) side effects and mental health consequences of abortions
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.
Agree
No healthcare diagnosis or treatment, whether mental, reproductive, or otherwise, should be given to a child without first receiving written consent from the parent.
Strongly Agree
No school official should be involved in the sexual transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.
Strongly Agree
We don't let children vote or drive a car because they aren't mature enough to make such a decision. Sexual transitioning with hormone blockers or surgery will leave the child sterile or mutilated. This is considered a crime in Texas which will likely expand.
EQUALITY
I support the teaching that an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race, is inherently racist, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Strongly Disagree
This is itself a racist belief. Two wrongs don't make a right.
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No
A candidate's personal moral values should not be relevant when considering a candidacy for elective office.
Strongly Disagree
If someone is a liar then why would you trust anything they say in a campaign.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
Did not answer
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I’ve benefited from public education greatly, having earned four degrees in engineering and technology: B.Sc., B.Eng., M.Sc., Ph.D. I’ve taught in universities for a while. I am passionate about public education. I’ve worked in huge organizations and always found ways to solve problems and get things done. For the last 12 years I’ve led a critical thinking club at NC State that was open to all students. Many students haven’t yet acquired the skills to think through hard problems. In some cases they had really hard questions that they thought they had only thought of and they were alone in a struggle to answer those questions. This club helped the students to become grounded. I confess that it is not for everyone but it is useful for those that came.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
Under what circumstances (if any) should schools be allowed to require vaccinations?
I would be in favor of requiring vaccination under the following extreme and rare conditions: 1) If there is a national plague with a very high rate of spreading (i.e., every sick person infects 10 other people) and the plague has a very high death rate for all age groups, sex, medical conditions, etc. (i.e., 5% of all people who contract the disease would die). 2) The vaccine had been sufficiently tested by the FDA and CDC using their normal processes. 3) There were no other treatment that could mitigate the disease, like antibiotics, steroids, etc. Under these circumstances, I would expect that everyone would want to take the vaccine and it would not need to be forced on people. COVID-19 and its variants do not meet this criteria.
I support mask mandates.
Disagree
I am a scientist and have read the scientific journal articles related to this. It is a scientific fact that the cloth masks are ineffective at stopping transmission of COVID-19. Masks are harmful to the development of children. However, the school board may be required by law to abide by the local health authorities guidelines. In such a situation a plan would be put in place to get back to normal and minimize 'mask' time.
