There are four open seats on Mid-Prairie’s Board of Education, all for four-year terms. These are at-large positions; only the top four vote winners will secure seats on the board. There are five candidates: Mary Allred, Randy Billups, Denise Chittick, Jim Miller, and Ryan Schlabaugh. We asked each of them the following questions:

•Tell us about yourself; for example, city of residence, family, current employment, past offices held.

•Why are you running for school board?

•What are the most pressing issues facing the Mid-Prairie district, and how do you think the school board should address them?

•What projects or issues would you like to focus on?

•Why should residents of the Mid-Prairie district vote for you?

Each candidate has responded as follows.

Mary Allred

Chad (my husband), and I lived in Kalona for 20 years and moved to the country between Wellman and Kalona three years ago. Our son Joseph and daughter Grace are both Mid-Prairie graduates, and I have been on the school board for the past four years. I work at Kuenster Plumbing Heating and Air and have been there for the past nine years.

With currently being on the school board, I see that there are changes coming and would like to be a part of those changes. I feel that our district is an amazing district, but we can still maintain a standard of excellence and strive to be better.

I believe our district is striving to be the best it can be and there is always room for improvement. With that said, accountability is something I would like to see be improved.

The board has a long-term goal for our buildings and an opportunity for our district to move forward with the changes that have already been made and still need to be improved. I would like to see this continue to be a reality.

I would be honored to be back on the board and would like an opportunity to advocate for our community. Our students deserve the best that we can offer with academics, arts, and athletics and hope that I can help make that happen.

Randy Billups

My name is Randy Billups. I live in Sunset Hills on the outskirts of Kalona with my wife, Joyce. We have two children who both graduated from Mid-Prairie. They both live near us with their spouses and our six grandchildren, who all attend or have graduated from M-P.

I work for Blake Hershberger running the Total Station and am the M-P high school wrestling coach. My previous work included owner of Billups Construction, Billups Development, Northwestern Mutual insurance salesman and lead custodian at Washington Twp. I was a member of the M-P school board for nine years before stepping down to take the lead custodian job. I am also a member of the facilities committee.

I would like to contribute to helping our community have one of the best school districts around, a district where people are moving to our community because of the high standards we set. I feel like we've taken a step backwards with some of our expectations as a district, both with high standards and a positive atmosphere for ALL students and staff. I feel we are becoming comfortable where we are as a district and not looking for ways to make things better! There is ALWAYS room for improvement. I want to be a part of improving our district!

[The most pressing issues facing the district are:]

1.We continue to work on a facility plan and it will always have needs. Improvements, upgrades to buildings and facilities to meet our needs for fine arts and athletes! All of these improvements are what makes us a great district! We will meet these needs by continuing to set a long-term facility plan and looking at the future, not just the current [situation].

2.Staff retention seems to be a concern. I'm not sure how this can be addressed other than the first step is to talk directly with staff members and hopefully they feel they can be honest and tell us why. With their information we can make a plan to help retain staff and have consistency for our students.

3.Positive environment for all students and staff. I hope that we can look at a policy that is consistent across all buildings but is also carried out consistently! We need a policy that holds all students, staff and administration accountable for their actions and words towards others.

Every issue is an important part of improving our district as a whole! [I want to focus on] addressing the items listed above!

I would invite people to vote for me as I feel I have a very good insight of how a school board functions due to my first-hand experience. I also have valuable insight of how a district truly functions as a past employee that has experienced the days first hand. I am a person that will listen to your concerns but also a person that will encourage you to follow the correct protocol when there is a concern or problem. I am actively involved with students especially at the HS level. And I too want our district to have great facilities and staff to meet all students' needs!

Denise Chittick

Family: Dennis, who works for Gingerich Well & Pump Service, and two daughters: Paiton, a sophomore, and Kolbi, a 7th grader. Occupation: Commercial Administrative Assistant with Hills Bank in Kalona.

I am currently on the Mid-Prairie school board; I joined the board to help make decisions that involved not only my children, but all the children in the Mid-Prairie district. I want to give back to a community and school that are shaping children’s lives for the future.

The Mid-Prairie mission statement says, “Preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s world in a caring learning environment.” The most pressing issue is to help students prepare for their futures in a world that is rapidly changing every day.

I don’t have a personal agenda; my goal is to remain objective when it comes to decisions that we make for our district. I am proud to be representing a district that is willing to think outside of the box and take risks to achieve amazing things.

I have confidence in the administration, teachers, staff and parents of the Mid-Prairie district. We have weathered many changes over the past few years and have emerged stronger in the end. Thank you for allowing me to be a voice for the district. I can’t wait to see what we achieve in the future.

Jim Miller

I live in Kalona after moving from Des Moines in 1996. I am married with two grown step-children, one grown daughter of my own and three grandchildren. My daughter and two of my grandchildren have graduated from Mid-Prairie and my third grandchild is a sophomore there. I have been retired since 2012 and am currently a member of the Kalona Library Board and the Kalona Historical Society and Village Board. I have a college education in American History, Political Science and Asian Studies but did not graduate. I am also a Vietnam-era Navy Veteran (1965-1969).

The reason I am running for the school board is because I see the education of our children is in some ways missing the mark, especially in U.S. History and American Government (Civics). I know this is a bold statement. However, I’ve seen my daughter, grandson and granddaughter attend and graduate from Mid-Prairie and go to college or go out into the work force and becoming productive members of society, yet they lack a strong foundation in American History, our founding documents, and the constitutional workings of the American government so they can function as knowledgeable American citizens, but it is not their fault. By that I mean, our schools are educating with a global view rather than a national view.

Over 1.5 million American men and women have given the ultimate sacrifice so we can be free. We owe it to them to see that we stay free. Our kids need a true civics class. I am talking about a class that delves into the heart of our founding documents and of our Founding Fathers. I ask, how can you understand them if you do not know the heart of those men who developed and wrote these great instruments of Freedom and Liberty?

To me it is important that the focus should be on the education of each student and how that will be a major draw to bring students into our district and cause attending students and parents who are not satisfied now to see the benefit to their children’s education by remaining in the district.

The issue I would like to focus on is the teaching of history and civics to our kids so they know what this country was built on and that they know their God-given rights, and by knowing them they will be aware when they are threatened, and by knowing, that they can then take the appropriate action to make sure they will never be taken away. That can only happen if they are taught the heart of the Founding Fathers. My project, if I am elected, is to take this issue and work with the board members and the educators in this district and make sure our kids become functioning American citizens.

I hope that when people read my answers that they can see my only concern is our kids everything else is secondary. You see, I come from a long line of men and women who were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice to see that future generations could have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I also know that in the community there are families who also have that line of patriots.

I will say one last thing: all we have to do is look back these last three years and what took place to see that our ignorance of our history and founding documents was brightly shown, because what we had was freely given up. Knowledge of our history and how our government is supposed to work is one of the answers.

Ryan Schlabaugh

I was born and raised in Kalona and graduated from Mid-Prairie High School. Post high school I attended Kirkwood Community College and the University of Northern Iowa where I received a degree in Public Administration with an emphasis on Economics and Finance. For the past 14 years I have been employed by the City of Kalona as City Administrator.

My wife Stephanie is currently a 5th grade teacher with the Mid-Prairie district. We have five children who have graduated or are currently attending Mid-Prairie. Grant graduated from the University of Iowa and works for a tele-pharmacy company. Lily also graduated from Iowa and is a first-grade teacher at Kirkwood Elementary in Coralville. Noah attended Kirkwood and the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and is a Deputy Sheriff with the Washington County Sheriff’s office. Drew is a senior and Ethan, our youngest, is a freshman at Mid-Prairie.

I am very proud to be a graduate and a member of the Mid-Prairie CSD. I’ve tried to be a resource for the district by volunteering to serve on booster organizations, facility planning and hiring committees along with assisting with the multi-purpose facility.

What I’ve learned from my volunteerism with the district is just how fortunate we are to have a district that is truly the cornerstone of our communities. I am proud of the effort our communities put into our school district. If elected, I look forward to helping continue the positive momentum of the current school board and tackle the upcoming challenges to improve the Mid-Prairie Community School District. I very much agree with the district’s mission of “preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s world in a caring learning environment.”

[The most pressing issues I see facing the Mid-Prairie district:]

Facility planning – A lot of work has been done by the facilities committee, but to continue evaluating the current facilities and explore the wants and needs of the district with the goal of helping champion for a facilities master plan with broad community input. (Short-, medium- and long-term fiscally responsible building goals.)

Retention – Our staff is such a key component to what makes the Mid-Prairie district great, and making sure that we are proactively looking at ways to improve the working environment.

Eye toward the future: The educational landscape in Iowa is changing, and being able to plan for the future in what that may look like is something I think will be very important for the board (open enrollment, HSAP, voucher impact, community growth, State allowable growth). All these factors will ultimately play a key role in determining what the district looks like for the foreseeable future and being proactive in our approach is something I strongly believe in.

Increasing Student Growth Opportunities: I’ve been fortunate enough to help with two student-built projects and seeing how important and impactful hands-on trades programs are to kids has been very inspiring. Making sure that as a community and district we have ample and meaningful opportunities for all students to explore the choices that will best fit their educational and or work goals post high school.

While there are numerous issues as outlined above, I’d like to see a continued focus on the work being done by the current facilities committee to come up with an assessment and master plan for future facility needs. Having a board-adopted master plan can work as a roadmap for future planning and projects and be responsive to district needs.

I am very vested in our community. I believe the M-P district to be one of the best. I am thankful for the education my children have received and are receiving. I believe every child in our district deserves the best from all of us. I feel that I’m an actively engaged community member that is approachable and accessible to the public. It would be an honor if elected to serve as a school board representative.

I’d encourage everyone to make sure they have a plan to vote on the November 7 bond referendum.