Ark Valley News - Candidates see needs in district

Candidates see needs in district
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: October 28, 2021

Attracting and keeping teachers and staff. Setting up the special-education cooperative. Transparency.

Those are just some of the responses candidates for the Valley Center school board gave when asked the question: "What do you see as the biggest issue facing the school district?"

Eight candidates are vying for three open seats on the school board in this fall's election. The candidates are Spike Anderson, Larry Hall, Tenille Holmes, Mike McCormick, Sara Osterman, Richard Ranzau, Lisa Robles and Juanita Michelle Vann.

The top three vote-getters will win four-year terms that will start in January.

Election Day is Nov. 2. Early voting has already started.

Anderson pointed to staff retention as the biggest issue for Valley Center.

"The biggest issue is trying to keep and attract great teachers and staff," Anderson said. "We need to be creative when trying to fill our teaching positions because most schools across our country are facing this same issue."

Hall said the biggest issue is the special-education cooperative.

"The biggest challenge is the uphill battle that continues with setting up the new special education co-op and the time it takes away from Dr. Gibson and administrative staff," Hall said. "If the budget allows, we could seek out more staff to help take some of the weight of this off their plate."

Holmes mentioned three areas of importance.

"Consistency, transparency and teacher retention," Holmes said. "Our community wants clear information. We need to provide that with open communication. Retention, we need to assess why teachers are leaving, offer experienced teachers incentive to stay and new teachers incentive to part of our district."

McCormick said the district has several needs to address.

"We are entering a new accreditation cycle we need to prepare for, evaluate testing scores and make plans to assist in recovering any lost ground due to the pandemic years," McCormick said. "We need to address the issue of gaining and retaining more quality teachers as shortages continue and also continue to plan for the growth we are anticipating in our district in the near future."

Osterman said COVID is the biggest issue.

"The biggest issue currently is the COVID-19 pandemic, and the extra time and energy our staff and administration have to spend to try to take the right steps to keep our students in school," Osterman said. "Having the community's support means a lot. They are under a lot of additional stress and are only trying to do the best they can for our district."

Ranzau pointed to student achievement.

"The problem is low student achievement per the state standards," Ranzau said. "That means we need to be laser focused on those things that directly impact student performance. This will require everyone working together to find solutions that actually work. Politics and ideology must be put aside."

Robles said the focus should be on education.

"It is tempting for some to push school children into social topics that many adults debate," Robles said. "I recommend that we focus on the basics of education and make sure enrichment is age appropriate. Let us not try to make everyone think the same."

Vann said supporting teachers and students while catching up what was missed during COVID shutdowns is important.

"The biggest issue I see right now is how do we help teachers and students feel supported while filling in the gaps that were missed during COVID," Vann said. "I don't know that there is one answer but it is imperative that as a board they feel supported in our conversations and deeds."

The candidates — except for Osterman, who was out of town — participated in a two-hour forum Oct. 14 at the high school, where they answered several questions from the moderator and the audience. That video can be seen online on the Hornet Studios YouTube page.

There was not enough time to get to a handful of questions posed by audience members.

The News asked the candidates to answer those questions in writing. Visit http://www.arkvalleynews.com/web/isite.dll?1634827564355 for Election 2021: USD 262 Candidates Q&A.