The Mount Vernon-Lisbon Unit of the League of Women Voters of Linn County held a school board forum for Mount Vernon school board candidates Wednesday, Oct. 15. More than 30 were in attendance to the event locally, and the event was also livestreamed on the MustangVision YouTube Channel.

Candidates for school board in Mount Vernon include Rick Elliott, Maggie Hartzler, Tim Keegan, Kara Stineman and Mehrdad Zarifkar. There are three total seats open for the board in the Nov. 4 election, with Keegan and Elliott’s names appearing on the ballot. Carol Woods-Boren with the LWV reminded people when filling out ballots for a write-in candidate – you need to fill in the bubble alongside the write-in name slot.

“Your spelling doesn’t have to be 100 percent accurate, just enough for them to know which of the three you intended to vote for,” Woods-Boren said.

What do you see as the purpose for public education?

Hartzler said the purpose of public education was to prepare students for the real world, but that it is also important that schools are caring for the whole being of students.

Keegan said that he viewed the purpose of public or private education as the same thing, in preparing students for what comes in the real world.

“The social aspect you gain at schools is just as important as traditional learning,” Keegan said.

Stineman said that the purpose of education was to meet the needs of the community.

Zarifkar said that so many students do learning online, he viewed the important thing was teaching students how to be critical thinkers and use logic, to focus on how to interpret data better.

Elliott said that public education offers a structure for students to learn to be good people.

How would you differentiate yourself from other candidates?

Keegan said he takes a view of things from 10,000 feet and asks a lot of questions at meetings to make sure he understands what is being discussed.

Stineman said that she, like other members, comes to this with different strength and weaknesses.

“I like to have as much information as I can to make the best decision possible for our students,” Stineman said.

Zarifkar, who is currently a student in law school, said while he sees the usefulness of formal education, he also has seen the success that can come when someone follows their passions and activities.

Elliott joked that he’s old, with varied experiences.

“We’re lucky to have five great candidates running for these seats,” Elliott said. “I like to think I lower the volume in discussions.”

Hartzler said she draws on 20 years of experience as a counselor at Tanager Place, and that for her moving to Mount Vernon was a choice made because of the schools.

“I’ve seen what happens when kids struggle with school,” Hartzler said.

In regards to reductions in funding how will you prioritize the resources the district has for students and how would you continue to attract promising educcators to the district?

Stineman said that reductions in funding are hitting all school districts, not just Mount Vernon, and that it’s a matter of prioritizing those resources that the district has to best benefit the most students.

Zarifkar said the importance is in promoting the good things happening in the district as much as possible.

“We need to be sharing more of our wins as a district and what makes us unique,” Zarifkar said.

Elliott agreed with Zarifkar, that marketing the good things is important. As for attracting quality teachers, Elliott said that came from supporting the teachers currently in the district.

Hartzler said she is not scared of reviewing budgets if that’s what is asked for her to do. She said the importance of continuing to invest in kids in the district will have ripple effects throughout the district.

Keegan said the important thing in attracting teachers is making sure that current teachers feel appreciated and want to come to work in the community.

How does your background shape the way you interact with parents, teachers and students?

Zarifkar said in learning law, they’re encouraged to look at different sides of an issue, to identify their own bias and find the real concerns.

“For instance, if someone was advocating for guns in classrooms, I’d be more interested in addressing where there fear is coming from in addressing that issue,” Zarifkar said.

Elliott said his experience working with students as a teacher and a coach help him with interacting with students, and his 40 years working at Mount Vernon Construction help him find ways to explain things at a more basic level to work with adults on a number of issues.

Hartzler said that the most important thing for teachers and students is that they are seen and heard and feel cared for.

“My background as a counselor is in listening, and I do a lot of listening to people’s perspectives,” Hartzler said.

Keegan said the most important things he’s learned as a board member are to be available to have tough discussions with community members. Being approachable, being trustworthy and asking good questions also help in any of those conversations.

Stineman said for her it’s the same she does as a nurse – listen, hear people out and make sure they are seen and heard.

How do you approach complex problems with competing needs?

Elliott said that the most important thing he does is go to Gary’s Foods every Sunday to pick up the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

“It’s where I hear about a lot of the issues important to the community on an individual basis,” Elliott said.

Hartzler said that the work of the board is on tackling issues with complex and intermingling needs. Her mindset is always setting students first.

Keegan said that a lot of the issues that come to the board have been sifted through by administration.

“A good administrative team works to make the issues presented easy to understand,” Keegan said.

Stineman said she would research an issue as much as she can whenever she can before making a choice and stick with her values to make things right.

Zarifkar said that it would require looking at all sides of the problem before he made a decision.

If you chose a topic to champion, what would it be?

Hartzler said one of her concerns at the moment is screen time for students at the middle and high school levels especially.

Keegan said that keeping an eye on the finances of the district remains one of his top goals, as is making sure the district is focused on what makes them a school of choice.

Stineman said she feels the district is doing a good job and doesn’t have an area she’d see improved.

Zarifkar said he worries a lot about technology as well, but more that students need to differentiate when to use certain programs.

“I had a co-worker who had no fortune in his fortune cookie the other day, and instead of googling the answer, he asked ChatGPT to look that up,” Zarifkar said. “ChatGPT is not a search engine.”

Elliott said the most important thing to tackle for the district is the health and wellbeing of the students at Mount Vernon.

“We have a lot of challenges as a community – affordable housing, daycare solutions, staffing our district,” Elliott said.

How would you prioritize stakeholders concerns in any issue you’re addressing?

Keegan said that he doesn’t rank the priority of stakeholder concerns, they all play a role in any decision he makes.

Stineman said it depends on what the issue pertains to.

“If it’s a decision impacting curriculum, I’m going to teachers who it impacts most first, and then others,” Stineman said. “If it regards money spent by the district, I’m going to listen to taxpayers first.”

Zarifkar said as long as policies being passed are not counter to state or federal policy, he is okay with discussing with multiple people to get their take.

Elliott said that when it comes to policy issues, in the past 10 years the policy the district is addressing is coming from Des Moines and a lot of it oversteps local rule.

Hartzler agreed with Stineman’s approach – talking with the people impacted by the policy the most.

As a school board, how would you make LGQBTIA+ feel welcome?

Stineman said that they need to have support in all areas of their life, just like the community is very welcoming.

Zarifkar said it would be important to looking at why they feel unwelcome at the district and addressing that matter.

Elliott said the Mount Vernon community is very welcoming and connected now.

Keegan said that it was important for all students to feel safe.

What are your views on EBR in schools?

Zarifkar said he doesn’t know a lot about the practice at the moment, just that people have opinions on it.

Elliott said that what he knows is a lot of students appear to be grasping concepts better under EBR.

Hartzler said she attended the SIAC meeting about it earlier this year, and has seen her kids starting to exhibit more detailed learning under the plan.

Keegan said he has no opinion one way or another, he has watched the district work to make the policy better.

Stineman said she originally was against it, and then she saw her daughter’s math homework where she was struggling.

“She had all these answers that were circled as wrong, so we sat down and worked to understand why that may be,” Stineman said. “As part of the EBR, there was a reflective step for her to look at and answer what she can do in the future to learn this concept better.