Candidates focus on education at MPCSD forum

MT. PLEASANT — With Election Day just one week away, Mt. Pleasant Community School District Board hosted candidates running for House and Senate Districts that included Henry County Monday evening for an informal forum with a focus on getting to know the candidates and their stance on education related topics.

“We certainly appreciate you coming here tonight and sharing some of your thoughts on education as we go forward into the new legislative session,” MPCSD Superintendent John Henriksen said as he started the forum.

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Henriksen gave each of the candidates an opportunity to introduce themselves, then asked a handful of questions.

The only Republican candidate present at the forum, House District 87 incumbent Jeff Shipley’s introduction contained the basic information that he has served as a state representative for six years. Over the last two years the district he serves has included the Mt. Pleasant area after redistricting. Shipley’s background includes work in sales, marketing, and cybersecurity.

Shipley kept his introduction brief as he also shared only a little about his personal life including a recent marriage and his wiener dogs.

Senate District 44 Independent candidate Lisa Ossian kept her introduction tightly wrapped around the topic of education stating that she comes from a long line of teachers including her aunt and grandfather. Ossian comes to the senate race with 30 years of educational experience teaching in community colleges mostly focusing on history and literature courses. She shared that she learned many things in the public school system that made her the woman she is today.

As Tom O’Donnell, Democrat candidate for House District 87, introduced himself he shared his background in journalism and growing up in Slater with 13 siblings. O’Donnell took the opportunity to tie his introduction into education, as well, stating that his time spent living in an 1868 schoolhouse with his wife created a kinship with public education.

Like O’Donnell, House District 95 Democrat candidate Jeff Poulter shared that he currently resides in Des Moines County. The experience he shared with the school board included a long career with the United States Postal Services which included working up the ranks and jobs in various states across the country. Poulter stated that he chose to run for this seat because he feels voters should have a choice on the ballot and he did not want to see incumbent Republican Taylor Collins run unopposed.

Finally, Senate District 48 Democrat candidate John DaBeet told the MPCSD Board about his many years of experience as an economics professor and his role as the Muscatine Community School District Board President. Dabeet shared that he moved to the United States when he was 20 years old and public education has played a large role in his development as a leader in his community.

The informal forum allowed the candidates to speak on various education related topics such as priorities for the districts they wish to represent and education, why small businesses and manufacturers should support them, school safety, and school start date language in legislation.

While candidates disagreed on some level concerning most topics, the biggest dissension came as they discussed how to maintain safe school environments.

“In what ways can Iowa Legislature help improve school safety,” Henriksen asked the candidates.

Each candidate, aside from Shipley, stated they were against arming teachers as means to provide school safety, but offered a variety of different ideas.

Poulter suggested the state may need to provide school resource officers to protect schools along with other security measures.

“If we have to look at, you know, metal detectors coming into school, then that's what we have to do,” Poulter said.

With this, Poulter made his opinion clear that the state should find a way to fund these needed safety projects.

While O’Donnell agreed with Poulter that the state should make funding available for needed school safety, he questioned the appropriateness of metal detectors and school resource officers stating, “We can make our school fortresses.”

“They should be welcoming, especially in rural areas,” O’Donnell continued. “They are center to the communities. Making them a foreboding place with security guards, weapons, metal detectors, is abhorrent to me.”

O’Donnell’s suggestions centered on ensuring appropriate staffing so teachers and students could form relationships that allow for an adult to monitor for warning signs. He additionally touched on a need for laws to keep guns out of the hands of mentally unstable individuals.

Contrary to O’Donnell’s opinion, Dabeet said that he thought the state needed to work funding out for security systems and he was very much in favor of school resources officers as a school board president himself.

“For example, we have a great agreement between the school district and the local police, they provide us with police security at the high school and middle school,” Dabeet said.

In his experience this agreement has included the school paying 75% of that officer’s salary and the city paying the other 25%

Growing up with a father in law enforcement Ossian held firm that teachers should not be armed. She suggested finding creative solutions like O’Donnell, but not just in relational forms such as smaller class sizes.

“I used to keep a cactus on my desk, just in case, so I could throw it at somebody if I needed to,” Ossian said.

Other ideas Ossian thought could be worth entertaining included keeping wasp spray in classrooms as a non-lethal form of defense.

With experience under his belt, Shipley focused primarily on the action steps already made in legislature such as funding already available to schools for security systems and school resource officers.

Shipley provided insight on how legislation allows teachers to carry guns with them, but only with extra training. He emphasized that this law put the decision-making power into the hands of the districts.

“It is twice the amount of training that law enforcement is required to have,” Shipley said. “So, if you’re comfortable with law enforcement carrying a weapon I imagine you should probably be pretty comfortable if someone did get this new licensure.”

While the candidates offered differing opinions on most of the topics, they all quickly agreed that they would support legislative language that would place the school start date on the Monday following the Iowa State Fair consistently instead of a set date.

The whole forum is available on the MPCSD Spotlight YouTube page.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com