Q&A with NR-S School Board candidates

With the upcoming primary elections drawing ever closer, it’s time to begin hearing from local candidates about the issues that matter to residents of Eddy County.

This is the second in a series of articles the Transcript is publishing ahead of the primary election on Tuesday, June 11, and the New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board election on Tuesday, June 4.

This week, NR-S school board candidates were asked to answer relevant questions about themselves, the district’s priorities and student achievement.

Leann Drake is running unopposed for the former Sheyenne district seat and Todd Allmaras is the only candidate on the ballot for the at-large district seat he currently holds.

There is competition, however, for the single open seat in the former New Rockford district.

Joseph Newman, Reece Thomas and Matt Pfeiffer have officially filed for election to the seat. However, Newman told the Transcript on Wednesday that he is no longer seeking election to the school board.

New Rockford resident Preston Meier has waged a write-in campaign for the open seat in the former New Rockford district.

Here are the candidates responses to our questions:

Q: Introduce yourself to voters who might not know you – What is your background and why do you have an interest in being on the New Rockford-Sheyenne school board?

Pfeiffer: I'm Matt Pfeiffer. I live on a farm just outside of New Rockford. I was born and raised here, educated in this school system and graduated in the class of 2006. Now I have three young children – my oldest is just finishing kindergarten – and I just want to get involved and help the school any way I can.

Meier: I graduated from NRHS in 1993. I received an education degree at NDSU and my first jobs were teaching Spanish and H.S. Science. After returning to New Rockford in 2005 to farm, I served on the brand-new NR-S school board when our current district was newly created. I have worked as a substitute teacher at NR-S for nearly 20 years. I want to help make our school the best it can possibly be.

Thomas: I have been a long-time resident of the New Rockford community and attended New Rockford Elementary and High School. I have been serving in the North Dakota National Guard for 17 years and working for the Department of Defense. I am interested in running for school board to assist in helping make decisions regarding our youths’ education and safety.

Allmaras: I was born and raised in the New Rockford community. I am a graduate of New Rockford High School. Apart from a few years of college, I have resided in the community my entire life. I have always had a desire to see our community and its residents thrive; but in a small community this will not happen without participation and effort from within. I have and continue to serve on numerous boards and organizations throughout my years here. Specifically, my interest in the school board grew from a desire to have a more involved participation in my children’s education.

Drake: My name is Leann Drake. I grew up in the Sheyenne area and graduated from Sheyenne High School in 1981. I have an early childhood/elementary education degree and a master's degree in special education. I have 28 years of teaching experience. I was previously on the Sheyenne School Board in the early 2000s. I feel strongly about education for all students and believe that rural schools can offer excellent education for their students under strong leadership of the administration and school board.

Q: What do you see as the top three priorities for the school district in the next three years?

Pfeiffer: Finances, Enrollment, Teacher Retention

Meier: We need solid long-term leadership in the superintendent position; we need to continue to assemble a great teaching staff through recruitment, retention and staff development; and finally we need to provide a more meaningful learning experience to secondary students.

Thomas: My number one priority is our students' safety, both mentally and physically. My second priority would be researching and assessing the turnover in staff the past couple years. My third priority would be to see that the budget is balanced and monitored closely to prevent any burden that the local taxpayer may incur.

Allmaras: 1) Continued awareness and improvement of student outcomes. We need to attempt to improve our graduation rates. Maybe we as the district can do more to assist with this; but it also takes participation from home and there have certainly been struggles with that at times. 2) Food service budget and making sure every child is properly nourished. I know that some are going to read this and be surprised, but there are students that show up at school hungry just about every day. 3) We need to continue to work hard at staff retention and filling vacant positions. We are going into the next school year in a pretty good spot but we have needs in CTE, shop/ag and music. I am hopeful that we will have these programs back at high functioning levels within the next three years.

Drake: The top priorities are getting strong leadership for the school to help guide teachers and staff in providing safe and high quality educational experiences for all students while being fiscally responsible.

Q: What attributes and behaviors are essential for school board members?

Pfeiffer: Honesty, respect and a sense of financial responsibility.

Meier: Board members need to be willing to sacrifice their time, they need to be inquisitive and speak up with questions or comments. I think it's helpful to be guided by a "philosophy of education." My philosophical priorities are classroom instruction, budget discipline and a valuable student experience.

Thomas: Transparency is a must have for board members. Parents, students and the community should be allowed to express thoughts, issues, or concerns freely at meetings to better make aware board members of how the school is being operated.

Allmaras: Time and an open mind.

Drake: School board members need to be able to understand financing and school budgets while being supportive of school staff and administration in regards to student education and with implementing school policies regarding student expectation and behavior.

Q: How does a school board balance the need to provide a quality education with the need to respond to the local taxpayer burden?

Pfeiffer: That's the hard question school board members have asked themselves forever in small communities like ours. Everyone wants their child to have the best experience possible at school, but nobody wants their taxes to go up so sometimes hard decisions have to be made. I won't pretend that I have the perfect answer to that question because I don't believe there is one.

Meier: Taxpayer considerations should be a top concern. The question implies that quality necessarily improves with increased spending, and I'm not convinced that is true. I've heard it said that student achievement is inversely proportional to spending. While that is likely not an absolute rule, it should provoke discussion about the value of a given expense.

Thomas: That would require working closely with the business manager and the board as a whole, keeping our students' education and safety at the forefront.

Allmaras: Educational requirements and standards are predominantly set by state and federal guidelines. These requirements infrequently see a reduction in the level of service or scope. Funding does accompany these standards and requirements, but not at the level to totally facilitate them. There are items that we have little to no choice in funding and our only source of local funding is via property tax.

Drake: A school board needs to look at overall funding and budgets when determining where and on what the money will be spent. Prioritizing needs versus wants and researching best practices is required to get the "most bang for your buck."

Q: As a board member, where would you look to make budget cuts if necessary, and are there any areas you would never consider cutting?

Pfeiffer: Obviously, the hope is to never have to make any budget cuts but the taxpayer can't be looked at as a bottomless checkbook either. I don't have enough intimate knowledge of the school's budget currently to identify one sure area to cut back, but I would say that staffing is an area I would never like to make cuts. We need to have good experienced teachers in our school system who offer quality education and programs, and they deserve to be compensated for that.

Meier: My experience is that education is first and foremost a relationship business, and that students do best with in-person instruction from classroom teachers. That has to be the core priority. So I would focus cuts outside the classroom, giving consideration to areas including administrative structure down to transportation.

Thomas: I think there are positions that could be looked at and maybe consolidated, but also there are positions that are taking on too many additional responsibilities and duties. It will have to be a balancing act to be fair with and not to overwhelm the staff and create disruptions to education.

Allmaras: There are few items that I can see any appreciable fiscal gains that could be made by budget cuts. Budget shifts are sometimes items that are considered but they are not without impact to someone or some group of students. Many of these fiscal matters and thoughts are easy to throw out comment on, but upon investigation and research become much more involved and complex with the result bearing very little fruit. However, that does not mean that these sometimes-uncomfortable conversations should not occur.

Drake: I can not honestly give you an answer on budget cuts at this time as I don’t know the status of the school's finances. I will say that if you want students to have a quality education it starts with a strong teaching and support staff. I will also state that appropriate extra- curricular activities are also important for providing for a well-rounded educational experience.

Q: What can be done at NR-S to improve student achievement and ensure everyone who graduates is ready for college or to successfully enter the workforce?

Pfeiffer: That's hard to say. I think the core curriculum (math, science, history) is probably doing fine but it could be improved if we could figure out how to retain our teachers better. The teacher turnover recently has been troubling. That being said, not every kid wants to be a doctor or an engineer and they need to know that it's okay to work with your hands. The world needs welders, carpenters, and mechanics just as badly as doctors and it would be nice if we could give kids more access to the trades like that in school so they know college isn't the only option after high school.

Meier: That's complicated. We've seen quite a few secondary students leave our school in recent years, which shows they aren't receiving enough value to stay through graduation. We need to discuss and prioritize things we can do to better serve all our students. Curriculum offerings and vocational opportunities will need to be examined.

Thomas: By implementing tailored academic programs and career exploration opportunities. I think, if possible, try to add some trades classes in basic electrical, plumbing, etc. That would be beneficial for students who do not want to pursue an extensive college education. This may entice students to interact and give them a look at future occupations.

Allmaras: I feel the school and staff make significant efforts to ensure that students are ready for the next phase of their life once they graduate. The addition of a student engagement coordinator a few years ago really gets students thinking about the future at a much earlier age and gets them into job shadow programs once they have made some decisions on potential career interests. The Choice Ready program that is being used in the school is a very good tool in helping students make informed decisions on their future adult life. Again, parental and adult involvement plays a very large part in student outcomes. Be an involved parent, be an involved community member and it will show on a child.

Drake: NR-S needs to provide a safe learning environment with strong and consistent expectations in regards to behavior and academic requirements to prepare students for whatever continuing education or workplace environment they may choose.