A larger than anticipated crowd gathered in the West Burlington city hall building on Tuesday, to get to know the candidates that are seeking to be elected to the West Burlington School Board.
All five of the candidates are long time residents of the town. Several questions were asked of the candidates regarding the cares and concerns of the school district.
The first candidate, Andy Crowner, is a digital marketing manager for Winegard company for the last seven years. He is also the founding and current member of the High School Alumni Board. Crowner’s background is in marketing, budgeting and goal development. Crowner was asked where he sees the district in five years his response was that he would like to focus on the students having daily access to new technology because they will be required to be able to use new computer programs and technological equipment once they enter the work force or continue on to higher education.
Pam Dodds is a retired school teacher and is a member of the School Improvement Committee. Dodds says that being the Chief negotiator for the Building Committee gives her a background in working with the school districts budget. Dodds believes that the West Burlington School district will still be successful five years from now because the community knows how to take care of itself and that within five years the district will decide on where the cap for the district should be placed.
Randy Fry is the City’s Public Works Director and has a daughter who is a West Burlington High School freshman. Fry’s response to the question was that he thinks the school district is headed in the right direction and will only keep getting better.
Lynn Hartsock, like Dodds, is also on the School Improvement Advisory Committee. She is also on the Youthful Offender Accountability Board as well as the Adult Offender Accountability Board in Henry County. Hartsock is seeking the election because she believes that ” education is the best investment.”
Hartsock would like to see the elementary school parking lot redone within the next five years because, the community agrees that its not as safe as it could be.
The fifth candidate Dan Hockett has been on the school board since April and is now seeking a four year term on the board. Hockett’s wife is a teacher and he is the property manager of his family business and retired from a computer networking company. Hockett is also a former engineer and spent 10 years as a West Burlington City Councilman. Hockett’s five year goal is to take the school district from being the best in the area to being the best in the state.
The Five candidates are running for the three seats that are open for the West Burlington School Board. School board elections for Burlington and West Burlington will be held september 8th.
