By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Six candidates for the St. Joseph School Board answered a variety of questions during a candidate forum Wednesday morning sponsored by the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce and broadcast live on KFEQ and streamed on St. Joseph Post.

St. Joseph voters will elect two to the Board of Education April 8th.

A long-range plan devised by the St. Joseph School District got the backing of nearly all candidates for the school board, but not all.

Candidate Jennifer Kerns said the St. Joseph School District needs to change.

“We definitely need the change and we all know that,” Kerns told those gathered at the Stoney Creek Hotel as well as the broadcast and streaming audience. “Our school district needs an uplift, a facelift, I would say. Whatever’s going to move this district forward is what I support.”

The St. Joseph School District devised and the Board of Education approved a long-range plan spanning five years, 2024 – 2029.

Candidate Brian Kirk said he’s glad the district has devised a long-range plan, because he doesn’t want to see the district look backwards.

“Why can’t we just keep the school district the way it was 30 years ago when I loved it so much? And I understand that, too. But I think a strength of our district is we do have leadership that said we need to be looking forward,” Kirk stated. “We need to educate students we have today, not just focus on what we were doing 30 years ago.”

Incumbent school board member, Kim Miller, said the long-range plan approved by the school board can be tweaked.

“Not everything has been set in stone,” according to Miller. “Not everything has been decided. But it gives community opportunity to input, if there are things that they would like to see happen as that long-range plan moves along.”

As part of that long-range plan, the St. Joseph School District has placed a $157 million bond issue on the ballot April 8th that would pay to build a new high school, moving the district from a three high school model to two high schools. The bond issue would raise the school levy by 60 cents.

Candidate James Mrkvicka said he is worried some St. Joseph residents cannot afford the increased levy needed to build a new high school.

“That’s my hesitation with the additional tax,” Mrkvicka said. “I think there’s a good way forward, but maybe we should look for revisions.”

Former school board member, Kenneth Reeder, flatly rejects the long-range plan.

“This plan is misguided, not the correct plan,” Reeder said. “We only need to build one new high school. It needs to be on the east side of 29, about 18-Hundred people. Benton and Lafayette; leave them alone. All your opposition goes away then.”

Yet, candidate Cassandra Veale supports the plan, saying the current structure provides unequal opportunities to students.

“I think we all know that communities that have thriving public education are thriving communities and I think that that’s an important piece to move St. Joseph forward,” Veale said.

The candidates answered questions on the structure of the school district, including the preferred formula for middle schools, teacher compensation, and how to help parents better prepare their children for school.

On the academic progress of students, Veale said the district is moving in the right direction.

“I think one thing that we need to do is constantly continue to look at the data, look at where kids are at on their benchmarks, look at what we’re doing and what’s working correctly and what could use a little bit more support,” Veale said.

Reeder advocated for more classroom time.

“That’s what’s going to help the most, more classroom time, more classroom time in front of that teacher, more classroom time to learn,” according to Reeder.

Mrkvicka said the district must to get families involved.

“I know that the scores are trending upward and that’s a great thing, but without family engagement I think there’s going to be some real challenges,” Mrkvicka stated.

Miller referred to the district plan to improve academic performance, stating that it is working.

“So that has to do with attendance, it has to do with family walking along side those students for their success, as the administration and teachers work on those issues that will encourage that success,” according to Miller.

Kirk said a focus on early childhood education would improve academics.

“If we could have more children involved in early childhood education that means they’re being socialized at a much earlier age as to what it means to be in a school environment to be learning with other kids,” Kirk said.

And Kerns said it truly does take a village to raise a child.

“It does. It takes a village to raise kids,” Kerns said. “Even in the classroom, when I see two different facilities, one that does encourage family engagement and one that doesn’t, you always see the one that encourages the family to be involved, they succeed much better. The kid’s education and academics are better as well.”

School board member, Isaura Garcia, chose not to run for re-election.

You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.