When the Lisbon School board reorganizes Monday, Nov. 15, it will be without one of it’s longer serving board members.
Lisbon’s David Prasil announced back in May that he would not be seeking an additional term of office. He has served on the school board for roughly 36 years.
“It was just time,” Prasil said. “I’ve been talking about stepping down from the school board for a number of years.”
Prasil noted with grandchildren in Georgia and here in Lisbon, he wants to be more present at more of their events, and serving on the school board puts constraints on some of those visits, as he views the term as another job he’s doing in this community.
Prasil, a 1971 graduate of the Lisbon School District, chose to run for the school board in the 1980s because he had children in the school district.
“What better way to get involved in your child’s school district than to be involved with the board that helps shape the direction of the schools?” Prasil said.
Prasil notes his term on the school board hasn’t been a concurrent 36 years. After his first three terms as a board member, he stepped down for a year. The district had a hard time finding someone to run for an open seat, and other board members including Jeff Bohr went through the process of collecting the signatures to show Prasil he’d have support for another school board term. He filled out the remainder of Morningstar’s 3-year term, and then 4-year terms following that.
Over the course of those 36 years, there have been numerous accomplishments of the board and the district he is proud of.
There were pitched roofs for the building to help stop the leaks that were impacting the flooring in the Lion’s Den gymnasium. The building of the Andreas Student Center. The elementary and Lisbon Early Childhood Center addition and remodel. And the recent remodel of the high school, middle school and construction of auditorium and outdoor track.
“Our buildings have evolved over the years to what has been needed in our education currently,” Prasil said.
Along with the construction projects, Prasil noted the addition of new curriculum at the district including the recent career and technical education courses at the district have been just as important.
Prasil has heard comments from people who live in Lisbon or visit on occasions on all the recent changes to the building with the new remodel, especially additions to the exterior like the track and football stadium and outdoor playgrounds in the past couple of years.
With all of these additions and construction, Prasil notes that Lisbon has worked at keeping class sizes between 15 to 18.
“There are occasional classes that have been at that 20 threshold because taking classes down to 10 students to one teacher isn’t always as fiscally responsible,” Prasil said.
Prasil noted the coverage from the Sun newspaper has been one of the positives as well, that the district has seen excellent coverage over the years.
One of the big changes over those 36 years in teaching has been technology. He noted when he was at school, even calculators weren’t something that was in frequent use yet in the 1970s. Today’s students have benefitted with Lisbon’s integration of technology, first with dedicated computer labs in the Andreas Student Center and then with the 1 to 1 initiative that gave Lisbon students access to technology devices, throughout their school career.
When it came to that debate on the 1 to 1 initiative, Prasil remembers visiting with students in the Newell Fonda district when Lisbon was considering making a similar move, and how much the students relied on those devices and their connection to students.
“I remember talking to a student who had her knee in a brace from a previous injury, but had her laptop with her in a study hall,” Prasil said. “She indicated that laptop was her connection to classes she had missed and the information in those classes is right here. That was really eye opening and pushed me to my vote to allow the 1 to 1 initiative to move forward.”
When it comes to the challenges for the district, he said that early on with his time on the school board the challenges the district had were with funding from the state.
“There were a number of years the state was late in their funding for the district, and we had to borrow from the Iowa School Cash Anticipation Program for the cash flow problems that was causing,” Prasil said. “That continued to provide a struggle for districts to keep things within their budgets and not raise taxes too high on our residents.”
That was made even more challenging the year the state government took back money previously given to schools during a current fiscal year.
Getting information out about the impact of open-enrollment to the Lisbon community was also important. The district had to hold community meetings nearly a decade ago to explain the problem to residents within the district of what they were facing.
“It was a reminder for us as our school district we needed to be tooting our own horn to our accomplishments,” Prasil said. “We now give those who are new to the area or thinking of moving here a tour of the buildings and chances to see classes in session to see if this is the district for them. It’s one of those changes that’s happened in my time that schools have to treat the work they do more as a business and be more competitive as to what sets us aside from other districts.”
Prasil, who is a farmer in rural Lisbon, also served more than 35 years as a member of the Iowa National Guard.
“I had a friend who was in the National Guard towards the end of the Vietnam War who encouraged me to sign up for the guard,” Prasil said. “I was in college at the time, so that initial six years of service helped with college payment.”
After that first six years commitment, Prasil stuck around to make it an even 10.
“And at that point once you’ve done 10, it’s just ‘why don’t I do another 10 years?’” Prasil said. “At that point, I also couldn’t afford to quit.”
David and Kay Prasil have been married for 42 years, with Kay serving as a school teacher and now substitute teacher for a number of years. The couple’s three children have graduated from Lisbon, as well as two of their grandchildren.
Prasil’s reminder to the current board and future board members is to always base any decisions you make with the focus on what is best for most of the students in the district.
“I also remind any new school board members that it is going to take two to three years to get up to speed on a lot of the information covered at a meeting, including getting a handle on school finances,” Prasil said. “Pairing that with learning the standards for education and the additional offerings for Lisbon Schools, it’s a lot to absorb in your first terms.”
Prasil said he looks at service on the school board as a full time job.
And Prasil knows his longevity on the board means he remembers the last time the district has made an important decision, and he’ll always be a phone call away for members of the administration team to answer those questions or information on the school board.