Six candidates, four positions
Dawn Van Keulen
First off, I’d like to say thank you to The Minneota Mascot for your wonderful coverage of our school and for providing this opportunity for the candidates to communicate with our community.
1. Why did you file to run for the School Board? I am so proud of the improvements we have made at MPS over the years I’ve been a member of the board. I have been very involved in the current (as well as the past) building projects as a member of the building committee and as the Board Chair. Since the project was reconfigured into a two-summer renovation, I thought my experience and knowledge of all the details that have gone into the construction project would be of value. I also wanted to lend my experience overall to the school and the board. With four open positions, I felt having some consistency would be beneficial. New members are great and bring fresh enthusiasm and ideas, but experience is also important. Our voters are lucky to have some great people willing to serve from which to choose.
2. Do you feel the facility will be in good shape following next summer’s renovations? When I walk the halls, I’m absolutely amazed at the transformation that has taken place over the past 5 years and I’m excited to see this current project through to completion. When dealing with a 50+ year old building, there are always things that pop up which need attention, but I feel like we’ve made massive improvements which will make MPS a premier learning environment for many years to come.
3. What areas need the most attention in the Minneota schools .... educational progress, facility, etc. We have made massive leaps forward on our MCA scores, which are a measure of academic success. Five years ago, we were well below the state average, today we are not only above it, but we are at or near the top of the list of ALL area schools. This is something our community should be incredibly proud of. We have made facility improvements, our athletics continue to represent us well, we have low teacher turn-over, we have high-quality, dedicated teachers and administrators… things are going very well at MPS. One area we will need to focus on in the near future is the nation-wide teacher shortage. Finding and retaining quality teachers has become more of a challenge than it has been in the past. Another area where we can still make improvements is on our ACT scores. I brought back an idea from a conference to start a program called On to College from John Baylor, which is designed to help prepare our students for this important test. Our results are moving in the right direction – but we can always do better. Lastly, I’d like to see us bring more College Now opportunities to our students. They shouldn’t have to go to SMSU or elsewhere to get college credits. The new state mandated requirements make accomplishing this even more difficult, but we are working with our dedicated teachers to build this program for our students.
4. What area will you be the most concerned with as a member of the board? Complacency… When you’re hitting it out of the park in so many key areas, it’s natural to relax a bit. I hope that MPS will keep up the intensity and continue to improve in every area. We have opportunities to build programs such as the arts, FFA, FIRST Robotics and Mock Trial. I want to see MPS provide a wide variety of opportunities for all of our students. Lastly, I want to make sure we are helping all of our students prepare for their future as graduates of MHS. Four-year college isn’t the only option for success out there so we need to make sure our students are introduced to great career opportunities in the trades for example. I’d like to see more depth developed in our STEM programs toward this goal. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve on your school board and please remember to VOTE!
Larry Buysse
1. Why did you file to run for the School board? It is exciting to see the educational progress we’ve made. We have a second phase of remodeling happening next summer. I’d be willing to serve as a board member to see this work continue.
2. Do you feel the facility will be in good shape following next summer’s renovations? Yes. It will be greatly improved.
3. What areas need the most attention in the Minneota schools .... educational progress, facility, etc. Maintaining the high educational progress and complete phase two of the remodeling of the locker rooms.
4. What area will you be the most concerned with as a member of the board? Financial stability of the district.
Tom Skorczewski
1. Why did you file for the school board? With having such strong ties with the community and the school, I feel that my passion lies with helping the school continue in a positive progression. Having my own children in the Minneota School District, ranging from pre-school to the tenth grade, it was a great time for me to run for a seat on the board. I’m fortunate to be able to experience firsthand the policies, procedures and the educational experiences that are given to our students.
2. Do you feel the facility will be in good shape following next summer’s renovations? Watching the renovations over the past five years, I feel the facility is and will be in good shape. It’s propelling our students, staff and community forward for success. There has been updates to the safety and security of our children by allowing our faculty, family members and students to feel secure while attending Minneota. Many changes have already been made to the elementary and high schools to improve the classrooms for the children to continue their education in an updated environment. We are very fortunate to be in a community willing to invest so much in our school and students.
3. What areas need the most attention in the schools ... education progress, facility, etc? I feel strongly there always needs to be open communication between our students, faculty and parents. It’s important to be able to openly discuss with our students and parents the areas they could improve and areas they are excelling in. Giving consistent praise and recognition for the outstanding work the students and faculty do allow students and faculty to aim for success and always give their best efforts academically and athletically. I look forward to visiting with administration, faculty students and other board members to get their first-hand input with ongoing issues or concerns.
4. What area will you be the most concerned with as a member of the board? I would like to see the classrooms and facility provide the best environment of our students so they have the ability to flourish and grow. We have the advantage of being in smaller class sizes so students are able to get the focused attention and one-on-one educational experience. As parents, we hope they receive this. Keeping our children and teachers on the same path and direction will enable those things to happen. I’d like to see our school and community maintain and increase the number of students attending.
5. (Question asked only to Tom Skorczewski). Do you feel there’s a conflict of interest if you’re on the board and your wife is the financial advisor for the district? Not at all. Tara Skorczewski and I are professional and dignified individuals who in the end only thrive for goals alike. As any matters that deal with myself or Tara, they would be handled separately, professionally and privately. We both want what is best for the children.
Jeff Buysse
1. Why did you run for the School Board? After being on the board my first term, I have learned a lot about our school. We have an excellent Staff and Administration. Being on the Building and Grounds Committee, I would like to be a part of the final phase of the remodel of the locker rooms. Starting in junior high, I would like to see a program that would help students plan for life after high school be it trade school, the work force, military or college.
2. Do you feel the facility will be in good shape following next summer’s renovations? We continue to look at the building for needed improvements. After starting the remodel project this past spring, more needed repairs were discovered. It has been a long process but I feel that after next summer the major areas of the building will have been upgraded and should serve the district well for many years. Hopefully these improvements attract new students to open enroll or families to move into the Minneota District.
3. What areas need the most attention in the Minneota School? All areas of the school need constant attention. However, this is a school and academics are the first priority and I want to promote a safe, positive environment for our student to learn in. Our school MCA test scores have improved tremendously over the past five years. We can be very proud of how hard the Teachers, Students and Administration have worked to achieve these high results. School safety is another area that our district has made improvements and more are needed.
4. What area will you be most concerned with as a member of the board? We have many positive areas to be proud of. Our academics, athletics and fine arts are achieving at a high level. I would like to see this continue. We have attracted students from outside our district to open enroll to Minneota. We are very fortunate to have the tuition agreement with the Ivanhoe school district. That has proven to be positive for both districts. This added enrollment helps our distract fund many of the programs that we offer. A drop in enrollment would be a concern for the district.
Doug Spanton
1. Why did you run for the School Board? I am running because it offers me a chance to serve the people of the Minneota School District. It also offers me a chance to do my part in insuring the Minneota Public School can continue to offer a high quality education to all students. We have shown a great deal of improvement in our test scores and have done much to improve our facility. I would like to be a part of the process to continue in that process.
2. Do you feel the facility will be in good shape following next summer’s renovations? Yes, the facility will be in good shape after next summer’s renovations. That being said, there a a number of issues we need to face. There are a couple roof areas that need attention and our parking lot needs attention. We hope to be able to complete these projects with our long-term facility maintenance fund that we get as part of our state aid. Additionally, four years ago we decided to go with a laptop for each student and now most of them need to be replaced. The average lifespan of those devices if our years and it would be nice to get into a rotation so we could do some each year. These are just a few of the larger examples of projects we need to do. There will always be things that come up each year but barring a natural disaster, which no one can predict, we feel very comfortable about the condition of our facility.
3. What areas need the most attention in the Minneota School? My answer is all of them. We need to stay focused on everything and continue to strive to offer the best curriculum. We need to motivate our students to perform and to motivate the administration to motivate our great teachers. We need to continue to make our facility as safe as possible for our students and staff and perform the maintenance needed to keep it in great shape. This is an ongoing process and we can’t afford to sit back and say we’ve done enough.
4. What area will you be most concerned with as a member of the board? As I stated previously, I need to be concerned with all areas. However, I do feel I will focus the most attention on our finances — since they are the driving force behind operating the school. We have only so much revenue, which is based solely on enrollment numbers. The more students we have the more revenue we have, so it’s imperative we pay attention to our expenditures. We need to be prudent in how we spend our money and we need to make sure we have a balanced budget. Then we must stick to it.
Abby Thostenson
1. Why did you file to run for the School Board? I filed for the School Board because I wanted to learn more about the school system as I have two children in elementary and one child in the evening ECFE program. With young kids I want to make sure that they have the best opportunities and tools they need to be successful in life.
2. Do you feel the facility will be in good shape following next summer’s renovations? Yes, I believe the referendum that was passed last year (2017) and the work that has been done in 2018 and that will be done in 2019 will put the facility in good shape for years to come. Just like any renovations there will be the minimal maintenance up keep to keep our facility in good working conditions.
3. What areas need the most attention in the Minneota schools .... educational progress, facility, etc. I think all areas of the school need attention; we can’t just focus on one area because they all play a role together; continuous improvement process.
4. What area will you be the most concerned with as a member of the board? One of the main areas of focus I will have is that the school’s primary job is to prepare the students for their future and making the transition from high school to whether it is a college degree, a technical degree or any career. And also to be a purposeful citizen is the ultimate goal. Another area of focus will be to learn and understand the school system. I will also pick to be on the committees I have a desire to learn about and I believe my knowledge as a Project Coordinator will be helpful.