PCM School Board Election Candidates 2023

Name: Becky Bartelma

Age: 40

Occupation: Physical Therapist

1. Please introduce yourself and explain why you are running for school board.

I am a mother of three young kids: a daughter in first grade, son in preschool, and another boy of almost 1.5 years. My husband and I operate a third generation family farm with beef cattle and row crops. I work as a physical therapist at the rehab clinic in Prairie City. I grew up in a small town and attended a school similar in size to PCM. I’m running for the school board because I believe it’s important to be involved in the community and I would like to help influence the education of our community’s children in a positive manner. The decisions made there will directly affect the learning and educational experience our kids receive and have a lifelong impact.

2. What’s the best quality of PCM schools? What can the district improve on?

I like the fact that PCM is able to offer small class sizes to give students one-on-one opportunities and individual attention in the education setting. I experienced the benefits of attending a similar sized school district, which offers some advantages over larger districts while still offering resources that smaller districts might not have. PCM does a wonderful job of serving the community and the community strongly supports PCM.

Teachers/staff and parents need to have easier, more direct communication with school board members, whether that be routine rounding with teachers and staff and/or direct emails reaching board members. School board members are elected officials who serve the needs and interests of constituents. Since those needs are ever-changing and ongoing, open communication is essential.

3. What challenges do you see in public schools and how do you propose to address them?

Public schools have a limited budget but, unfortunately, the wish list is always long. Therefore, it’s important that we spend these funds wisely. Taxpayers worked hard for that money, so it needs to be spent as sensibly as possible. I would apply a small business owner’s practical, common sense viewpoint to budgetary matters.

A teacher shortage is also another serious challenge facing public schools. I believe improved retention of quality, experienced teachers is vital and is an attainable goal. That experience serves as both a great mentoring opportunity for teachers just entering the profession, but more importantly it serves our students.

4. Where would you like to see PCM grow?

Realizing that each student is different and their post-graduation paths will vary, we need to offer both AP courses and relevant apprenticeship and technical programs. One size doesn’t fit all, so having these options would benefit our students.

5. What is a parent’s role in the educational system?

Parents play an instrumental role in the education system. They know their children better than anyone, therefore parents deserve to be informed about all aspects of their child’s education. Parents should be in the loop and have an opportunity to weigh in prior to major decisions being made rather than after the fact.

6. What other school issues are you most passionate about?

The recent ‘22/23 academic report showed widespread low reading scores for our elementary students. One simple way to improve these scores is to put books in the hands of our kids. It’s an essential skill, so they need to be able to practice reading at home as well as in the classroom. We can’t expect kids to improve comprehension and reading skills when they don’t have reliable access to books, so we should make it a priority to make this as easy as possible. Currently, my 1st grader can’t check out books to bring home to read because she isn’t offered library. Both elementary schools have a library, we need to find a way to utilize these resources and allow kids access to it. It goes without saying that reading is a fundamental skill and PCM needs to address this issue.

I am also passionate that we, as parents and a school district, need to think big when looking at preparing our kids for the future. They should be ready for any path they want to take, whether that be directly into a trade, technical school, community college, the military, or a prestigious university. Let’s fully prepare them to fill future jobs in the workforce and guide them in a path that would allow them to think big.