The time to elect new school board members is coming up, and this year, there are an unusual number of people running for election. There are nine people vying for three positions on the six-member board. Nominees include incumbents Terry Curtiss and Deb Wegehoft, and new challengers Holly Heath, George Matulka, Brian Morgan, Karen Trussell, Melissa Van Galder, Steve Hopp, and Shana Brown.

The school board has a variety of jobs. According to Dr. Troy Unzicker, the most important responsibilities of a school board are to “employ a superintendent, hold him/her responsible for managing the school district in accordance with state law and the school board’s policies, identify and adopt educational goals for the school district, and engage the community in the discussion and support of student learning and achievement.”

Choosing new school board members, especially with so many people in the running, can be a hard decision. Dr. Unzicker also commented that the most important characteristic for a board member is “wanting to serve.” “The students and staff deserve someone who cares about them,” he commented.

There a variety of reasons as to why candidates run, why they think they would make a good candidate, and what they believe are the most important issues.

When asked why she ran, Holly Heath responded, “I decided to run because education is the most important resource we have and it needs to be valued.”

Shana Brown responded to the same question with, “I am running for school board because I feel like our school district is facing a lot of challenges right now and I want to be part of the solution.”

There are many issues that the candidates believe are facing our school. Karen Trussell, a former educator, was asked what she thought the biggest problems were and she responded with, “From my experiences within the schools, I believe the most important issues are staff morale, enrollment numbers, budget cuts, finances, and the maintenance of the school buildings.”

According to the applicants, the main challenge facing our district is funding. They all agree that there is no quick fix to this problem, but they all would like to be part of the solution. Facing problems like these will require able candidates. Each candidate brings something different to the board.

When responding to a question about why she thinks she would make a good candidate, Brown said, “I think I am a good candidate because I have experience dealing with the challenges that working in government brings. I understand that there are limitations to what you can do, how you can do it, and especially on the funding that you have access to. I believe that it is a citizen’s responsibility to be part of the solution, and because I have two children attending school in Alliance right now, the success of our schools in very important to me.”

Melissa Van Galder responded to the same question with, “I make a good applicant because I am willing to listen to all sides of a discussion or debate and make my own decision based on the information provided without biasing it with my own opinion.” This and many other qualities are important when choosing the right applicants.

Selecting the best candidates to fill the three open spots will be very hard, since there are so many wonderful applicants competing for the spots. Best of luck from the SPUD to all candidates.