Jim Grossnickle offers a Ph.D. in plasma physics to a district struggling with exceptionally low math and science scores.

“Renton is underperforming Seattle now in math and science, and the Seattle district doesn’t have a good reputation,” he said.

Grossnickle is the first candidate to challenge a school director incumbent in years. All of the current board members were appointed or ran for their positions unopposed.

With Grossnickle’s oldest son about to enter kindergarten, he started looking into the local schools about a year ago.

“I was concerned that the district was not doing what they could be,” he said.

Instead of moving a few blocks from his Bellevue home or transferring his children into another school district, as some of his neighbors have done, he decided to get involved.

“I find it really distressing that we’re losing parents who are concerned about education,” he said.

A year ago he joined the Parent Teacher Student Association at Hazelwood Elementary.

Grossnickle lives just within the Renton School District in Newport Hills, so most of his community involvement is in the Newcastle and Bellevue area.

An accomplished scientist, Grossnickle advocates for traditional math instruction over the district’s modern methods, which make up the old and new curriculum.

Parents are also frustrated by the board’s lack of transparency, he said.

“The public needs to know how the decisions were made and why the decisions were made,” he said, adding that board meetings rarely host much discussion.

Parents are not pleased with how the district has responded to problems either, he said.

“There is a perception out there that the district isn’t recognizing and attacking their issues. They’re only focusing on what’s going well,” he said.

With expected budget cuts next year, Grossnickle favors saving programs which keep kids focused on school over small classroom sizes.

“If you have to bump up two or three kids per class to save academic programs, then you have to do that,” he said

Saving the fifth-grade band and orchestra program and building a healthier athletic program are some of his priorities.

“All kids need an outlet,” he said. “The (football) program at Lindbergh doesn’t have enough money to give all their kids helmets for their fall practices.”