March 29, 2024

Challengers oppose reconfiguration timeline; support Berg rebuild in forum

Newton school board election set for Sept. 8

When Newton Community School District Board of Education board candidate Josh Cantu was asked about reconfiguration during Thursday night’s Newton school board candidate forum, he didn’t mince words.

“We had a bunch of churn during the spring because we didn’t understand state funding,” Cantu said. “We still don’t understand state funding. We should be cautious about this. I believe the plan, as it’s laid out, has a need for additional teachers to support additional classrooms, and I think without understanding what the funding might look like (in 2016-17), it’s very risky to just march forward without understanding those details.”

Cantu, along with fellow challenger Ann Leonard and incumbents Donna Cook and Bill Perrenoud, are the four candidates vying for three seats on the Newton Community School District Board of Education in the Sept. 8 election. Only one of the candidates will not be elected to the board, and the 60 people who attended Thursday’s public forum were able to get to know the candidates.

The Newton Daily News and the Jasper County League of Women Voters co-sponsored a moderated forum. The event was held in the Newton Council Chambers, located inside City Hall.

Each candidate made a brief opening statement, followed by questions written on note cards by either league officers or others in the audience, and then a closing statement.

Jasper County League of Women Voters Treasurer Linda Kirchoff served as moderator.

Perrenoud, who is running for a second term on the board, touched on reconfiguration more than once. He said keeping children at four K-4 neighborhood schools and one grades 5-8 campus will allow siblings to attend the same schools as each other for longer periods of time than in the current K-3, 4-6, 7-8 arrangement. He also said it will reduce busing costs.

Cook was first elected to the board in 2004. She reminded the audience that she voted against reconfiguration in both 2010 and 2015, and she said the cost savings promised by those who proposed and/or voted for the 2010 change were never realized in any communicated way.

Cantu, Cook and Leonard all pointed out how important collaboration has become since the district last reconfigured in the summer of 2010, with Cook calling it an “unintended consequence.” Perrenoud said he will do everything he can to ensure collaboration and a team teaching atmosphere remains in place after reconfiguration.

Cantu said teachers and students are going to be thinking about reconfiguration instead of focusing on teaching and learning.

One of the audience questions regarded the new administration facility, known as the former Hy-Vee West building, which was purchased by the district almost a year ago. The question called out the district for spending money on an administration building instead of on students.

Cook and Perrenoud both pointed out that the building was purchased and is being renovated with money cannot be used on teacher salaries or many other educational expenses.

Perrenoud, in response to a question about the cost of getting Emerson Hough going as an elementary school again next fall, said it would be minimal. Cantu said he feels that’s a reason to go slowly with reconfiguration, to study those costs further.

Cook said there were few permanent changes made to the ground floor of Emerson Hough, although the second floor was modified significantly to accommodate the programs housed there. Leonard said she doesn’t want to see other schools gutted for supplies and equipment in order to make Emerson Hough usable as an elementary school.

Not all of the questions were tied to reconfiguration. One question addressed what the candidates feel the biggest need is in safety, another dealt with pros and cons of a magnet school; another addressed free preschool and another addressed the value of having the Heartland AEA housed at Emerson Hough, and how much effort the district should make to continue to have Heartland in an NCSD building.

“We should continue that partnership, as we value their resources,” Cook said.

Both Cantu and Leonard used the word “leverage” several times, referring to either maximizing resources, or using strong school/community or school/industry relationships. Leonard said her buzzword for the night was “collaboration,” noting students, parents and teachers need to feel like they are all partners in the educational process.

“We have to connect with teachers,” Leonard said. “If we don’t connect with them, they will leave, and there goes a valuable resource.”

Board member Nat Clark, elected in 2011, decided not to run for re-election this year. Incumbent board president Sheri Benson and board members Robyn Friedman and Travis Padget are in the middle of their four-year terms, which don’t expire until 2017.

The only polling place on Sept. 8 will be the Jasper County Community Center, 2401 1st Ave. E. Polls are open from noon to 8 p.m. Voters can vote absentee at the Jasper County Courthouse through Sept. 4.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com