by Robert Stewart

    On April 18 more than 40 people attended a forum designed to give the nine candidates running for Seward school board, Dist. 9, an opportunity to present their views and interact with the public through a question and answer session.
     The meeting was sponsored by the Seward County League of Women Voters and was moderated by Norma Heinicke.
     Three seats on the board of education will be open in the coming election and incumbents Amy Miller, John Garske and Scott Pekarek were all present at the forum.
     In addition, six Seward County residents presented their views on why they are suited for a seat on the board. Julie Benes, Stephanie Nantkes, Curt Nelson, Jerry Rumery, Shelly Tvrdy and Pam Williams each took a turn at the podium to express their views and qualifications.
     Candidates were given three minutes to make opening remarks. All of them spoke of their connection to the Seward school district.
     Benes, Miller, Nelson, Pekarek, Rumery, Garske and Tvrdy all currently have children in the school system. Garske, Nantkes and Williams have children who have graduated from Seward schools.
     Order of speeches was determined by a drawing. Rumery was the first to make remarks.
     He spoke of his connection to Seward as a community and said that as a business owner he would be able to bring both business sense and common sense to board decisions.
     "I'm concerned about our children's welfare and their future," he said.
     Williams spoke next, focusing on her interaction with school districts around the Seward area and the opportunity it gave her to compare Seward to other schools and see what works and what does not. She also spoke of the importance of community involvement in shaping Seward schools.
     "The education of our children is the responsibility of everyone in the community," she said.
     Garske used his time at the podium to speak of his years of teaching and coaching in and around Seward and his involvement in the community.
     "I feel like I've given my life to the youth of Seward in education," he said.
     Tvrdy spoke from the perspective of a practicing educator and advocated a strong relationship between the board and Seward teachers and working with students to find out what they see as strengths and weaknesses within the school.
     "You want to continue to build on those strengths, but you really want to work on those weaknesses," she said.
     Nelson brought specific concerns he had with Seward schools to his opening remarks.
     "I'm concerned with the shortage of staff and the demise of some programs," he said.
     He mentioned music, language and life skills as programs that had been lost. He also said he would like to work on the block scheduling currently in place at the schools.
     Nantkes spoke of her experience serving on the school board during two previous terms, her and her husband's connection to Seward and the need for the board to work with the state, especially legislators, to work on the school district.
     "The thing I enjoyed the most when I was on the Seward School Board was the legislative team," she said. "We got to (help) make the laws that came back to the Seward school district."
     Benes spoke of her involvement with Seward students as a volunteer bowling coach and said her entering the race was a decision that has taken time.
     "I've thought about it for several years and I thought it was time to run," she said.
     Pekarek's opening comments were focused on the need to be both fiscally and educationally responsible, the positives of the Seward County community and the need to understand and respect the perspective of each individual in the school district. He said his own perspective brought something unique to the board.
     "I believe I'm bringing a rural community and agricultural perspective to the decisions that are being made," the incumbent said.
     Miller was the last to make opening remarks. She spoke of the accomplishments the school board has made in the two years she has sat as president, citing increases in resources and technology and a new curriculum as examples, and she talked about how the board has dealt with recent decreases in state aid to Seward schools and what needs to be done in the future.
     "It is increasingly important to manage resources as carefully as possible," she said.
     Following the opening statements, each candidate was given one minute to respond to questions written and submitted by the audience. Candidates were given in random order.
     What about authority?
     The first question asked was, "What authority do you believe a board member has and identify the primary duties of a board member."
     There was a consensus among the candidates that the authority of the board was dependent on a good working relationship with the community, students and the staff of Seward schools.
     "No individual board member has authority. (It) only has power as a group," Pekarek said.
     Listening to the community was also listed as duty of a board member by many candidates. Other duties listed included setting the budget, hiring a superintendent, explaining the decisions of the board to the public and providing the opportunity for equal learning.
     "The board needs to have fiscal and educational responsibility to everyone," Tvrdy said.
    What about money/cuts?
     The next question dealt with finances and making cuts in staff or programs– "If lost revenues make staff or program cuts necessary describe the cuts you would make. Would you consider a levy override?"
     The candidates agreed that it would be difficult to make any more cuts at Seward schools, but said that if cuts were necessary, working with staff and administration at schools and with the community to make those decisions would be essential.
     "There are never good cuts," Miller said. "Seward has come as far as it can with cuts."
     In discussing the second part of the question candidates said that the success of a levy override rests with the community more than the school board.
     "Levy overrides only succeed when coming from the community," Garske said. "It needs support to work."
     What about input?
     "As a member of the school board from whom would you seek input to aid the decision-making process?" The third question generated a variety of answers, but the candidates agreed that the more information, the better when it came to addressing issues within the schools.
     "Input seeks you," Nelson said.
     He added that using discussion over issues as an educational process to explain and inform the public of how things work would be advisable.
    What about relationships?
     The public questioned the candidates about the relationship between teachers and board members, as well.
     "What is your vision of a good relationship between teachers and the board of education?" was the fourth question.
     Candidates advocated "good, open communication" between the board and teachers, while following protocol and the chain of command, communicating with teachers through the superintendent and principals. The exact nature of the board/teacher relationship varied somewhat.
     "We should treat teachers as professionals," Williams said. "They know more about the education of our children (than anyone else.)"
     "There should be no restrictions," Nantkes said. "I hope no one has trouble talking to me."
    What about class size?
     The final question, "Do you feel that class size matters to student achievement?," was met with an answer of "Yes" by all the candidates, but the specifics of what constituted maximum class size varied from person to person.
     "(Larger) class sizes make it difficult for teachers to teach to each student's level," Rumery said. "Eighteen to 20 students a class would be wonderful, but difficult (to achieve)."
     "A smaller classroom is ideal," Benes said. "Everyone needs access to the same things."
     Benes used as an example a large class with limited available computers where not every student would be able to have substantial, equal time on the machines.
     The forum ended with each candidate giving two minute closing statements. Candidates used the time to again cover points made in their openings and to discuss some of the questions brought up during the session.
     Helping the community to understand how the district's finances work, being open to and valuing the opinion of the public and making decisions based on what most benefits the students were all points mentioned during the closing.
     The nine candidates present at the forum will be narrowed down to six following the primary election on Tuesday, May 9. Of those six, three will be seated on the school board.