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Keokuk, IA – The Keokuk School District is facing many challenges.
Reduced state funding, escalating expectations connected to the federal No Child Left Behind law and declining enrollment.
Incumbents Mike Beaird, Chris Lindner, Mark Pfaffe, and Sandy Stark want to continue working on them as members of the school board.
Newcomers Barb Carlson, John Davis, Cheri (Harmon) Kelly and Gary Seyb want to bring their own perspectives to the discussions.
Chris Lindner is a local farmer who joined the Keokuk School Board in October 2009.
His appointment came after he just missed being elected to the panel one month earlier.
Lindner considers himself a straight-forward thinker who use common sense when making decisions.
He says, for example, money that went to pay raises should have gone to classrooms.
"(I) don't like pay raises right now because we are in a hurt," says Lindner, "some of the teachers, administrators don't like me saying that but right now, if we can improve the curriculum and get back to being a top school, that would be great."
Lindner says he also opposed the idea of purchasing iPads for school board members.
He says a better use of money would be to expand the industrial technology program to keep up with the needs of local industries.
"I think that might bring in some of the kids who are dropping out," says Lindner, "if they have a class they might enjoy. Not everyone wants to go to a 4-year college or a community college so we have to give them a bunch of avenues."
Lindner says he also wants to work on employee morale and see the district's multi-million dollar construction program reach completion.
Fellow incumbent Mark Pfaffe, who was appointed to the Keokuk School Board earlier this year, did not respond to Tri States Public Radio's repeated requests for an interview.
Gary Seyb says he got in the race to make a difference in the lives of Keokuk's children.
"There is an old saying out there, it's easy to make a buck, it's hard to make a difference,'" says Seyb, "I don't want to be on the school board to sit and say I am on it. I want us to move forward and I want to be a part of the positive emphasis within the Keokuk School District."
Seyb is a Lieutenant with the Iowa Department of Corrections, a Lieutenant Colonel with the Iowa National Guard and a trainer with the Jackson Township Fire Department.
These are professions that stress accountability, which Seyb feels is needed within the district.
He believes that starts in the classroom.
"If a student is struggling with a certain subject," says Seyb, "I think the best way to deal with that is not to necessarily provide extra credit for them to bring their grade up, but to work with them on what they don't understand so their knowledge increases, not just their grade."
Seyb says students will step up to the challenge if they are being held accountable for their efforts and actions, both socially and educationally.
He says he would consider statutory requirements and seek public input during budget discussions, adding that he would also look for ways to reverse enrollment trends if elected.
Sandy Stark has been looking at enrollment trends and helping to craft the Keokuk School District's budgets for the last quarter century.
In fact, she is the only candidate to have won a school board election. The other three incumbents were appointed to their current posts.
Stark, who works for an insurance company, continues to run for two reasons.
"For the children and for the Keokuk community," says Stark, "I love being involved with our youth and I also feel I have an open mind to listen and figure out what is best with our kids."
Stark says the biggest challenge facing the Keokuk School District is its standardized test scores.
They have been below acceptable levels especially with the older students in the district.
"If kids don't want to take the test," says Stark, "there is not a lot you can do about it. They have done various things, in the school, to get them to do their best. We just keep working on it and working on it."
Stark, like most other candidates, wants to see the district do more to keep students who live in Keokuk from open enrolling into another district.
She says Keokuk also needs to do a better job of promoting itself to show off its strengths.
Sandy Stark, Gary Seyb, Mark Pfaffe, Chris Lindner, Cheri (Harmon) Kelly, John Davis, Barb Carlson and Mike Beaird are all looking for the opportunity to serve.
The top 4 vote-getters during Tuesday's election will receive 4-year terms on the Keokuk School Board and the responsibilities that go with them.