Washington school board candidates answer questionnaire

The Southeast Iowa Union is featuring the candidates seeking elected office to city councils and school boards in the region. The Union will profile the candidates in various races throughout this week. Today, we focus on the candidates running for a seat on the Washington Community School District Board of Directors. The board will have four seats up for election on Nov. 5, only one of which has a contested race. That is the race for the District 4 seat occupied by Sonia Leyva, who is facing challenger Evan Young.

In District 1, Stephanie Ellingson has chosen not to seek re-election. Kelly Smith is the only person running for that seat. In District 3, Troy Suchan is running for re-election unopposed, as is fellow incumbent Eric Turner, running for an at-large seat.

The following candidates returned questionnaires.

Kelly Smith

1) What office are you running for and why?

My name is Kelly Smith and I am running for school board. I think Washington has a great district and I plan to serve and advocate for the educational needs of our students and teachers.

2) Have you ever held this office or any other elected position?

This will be the first community elected position, but since moving to Washington, I have been involved with several parent teacher boards contributing my time.

3) What are three challenges you see facing the community/school district?

As for challenges, I am just getting acclimated with the policies, procedures, and decisions made by our current board.

4) What is something the city/county/school district is doing well that you would like to build upon?

I believe that communication is key, and I feel we have that currently between administration and parents and plan to continue that.

5) Why should you be elected to this position?

I am running because I would like to contribute to my community.

Eric Turner

1) What office are you running for and why?

I am running for re-election as an at-large candidate for Washington Community Schools.

2) Have you ever held this office or any other elected position?

I have been a school board member at Washington for the past 14 years.

3) What are three challenges you see facing the community/school district?

The primary challenge the district faces is meeting the wide variety of needs of today's students so they prepared to learn each school day. The school district also has the challenge of providing all of its services from year to year with minimal increases in state funding. Washington schools will have a challenge in the near future to upgrade its facilities to meet the changing needs of the educational system.

4) What is something the city/county/school district is doing well that you would like to build upon?

Washington schools strength is providing a wide variety of learning opportunities for diverse educational needs of our students. The administration and staff do an outstanding job of evolving the teaching strategies and educational opportunities to meet the needs of our changing culture and student's needs.

5) Why should you be elected to this position?

I enjoy providing service to my community as a school board member. Education is such a valuable component for all individuals and I thoroughly enjoy playing a small role in helping with the process of educating the students of Washington schools.

Evan Young

1) What office are you running for and why?

I am running for school board to help continue to bring new solutions and build on the ones in place to help address the challenges faced by our schools. I am a firm believer that public education is a keystone in every community. It plays a huge role in how our community thrives now and into the future. I have two small children and my wife is a teacher in the district, so I have a personal interest in the future direction of the schools. I want every kid in our district to have the opportunities I want for my own kids.

2) Have you ever held this office or any other elected position?

I have not held public office before. However, I am currently serving on a committee at the Methodist Church here in Washington, where my father served as pastor from 1997-2004.

3) What are three challenges you see facing the community/school district?

The first challenge facing the district is the state of the facilities now and in the future. The administration and current board are working on a facilities plan for the next 10 years which is important as it lays a blueprint for the future needs in our facilities.

We all know we have some older buildings, we need to make sure we can maintain them and improve them as much as we can where it makes the biggest impact to the students and staff, while not overburdening the budget or the taxpayers.

The second challenge involves staff culture and engagement. The district has moved to do a survey over the next few years which is a great way to get a feel for how things are going and to see what improvements need made and to measure how that changes over time. The staff I believe is highly passionate about the kids and we should lean on their passion to guide future decisions. The educators are professionals doing great work every day and we need their voice in the decision making process.

The third challenge is somewhat tied to the second, and that is student growth. I want to ensure students and educators are empowered and engaged with the strategies and goals that are laid out to help our students grow both academically and in their well being, that we are sending them forth to make an impact on their world and communities.

4) What is something the city/county/school district is doing well that you would like to build upon?

The school district has been making sound financial decisions, operating on solid ground. They're handling changes in revenues from the ebb and flow of student enrollment form year to year and they've also decided to pay down the bond for the Stewart Building addition from a few years ago, saving taxpayer money. I want to continue this approach.

5) Why should you be elected to this position?

I want to offer another choice. As stated, the board is doing a good job working on solid ground. I want to continue that and help with solutions and measures to improve upon that. I also want to be sure the board has greater transparency and governance and to carry that into the future.