Ronan School Board candidates vie for three seats
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RONAN — Ballots to vote for Ronan School Board trustee candidates were mailed to residents within the Ronan School District on April 18. Depending on the resident’s physical address, voters will be checking boxes for either one candidate for a three-year seat, or two candidates to fill two three-year seats. This election is strictly mail-in; ballots must be returned to the Lake County Elections Office by May 6.
Francine Dupuis, Carmel Couture, Mark Cheff and Adam Wood are contenders for a three-year seat on the Ronan School Board.
Francine Dupuis is a mother and rancher who has lived in Lake County for more than 40 years.
“I have always been dedicated to education and have a desire to work toward improving the schools in the district,” Dupuis said. She have been involved with the Indian Education Committee for approximately eight years, serving as chair for many of those years. She also served on the Tribal Education Committee and currently serves on the Salish Kootenai College Foundation Board as chair. She has nine children and 19 grandchildren, many of whom attended schools in the Ronan district.
“I have extensive knowledge on policy, legal and regulatory compliance, as I have served as a gaming commissioner for over 10 years,” Dupuis said. “I believe my experience in these fields, as well as my passion for strengthening the quality educational experience for our children and families, will serve as an asset to our school board.”
District finance and better communication with the public are issues of most importance to Dupuis.
“I believe when serving on the school board, your responsibility goes beyond your district as an institution,” Dupuis said. “The commitment of the board as a whole is to meet the needs of all individuals within the school district.”
One critical issue the school board will be facing, according to Dupuis, is funding shortfalls and how this will impact the schools in the districts. The second issue then becomes how the decisions will be made if the district can’t find enough dollars to maintain the current budget, she said. Third is to have better communication between the school board and the community.
“The community needs to feel welcomed at board meetings and feel that their voices and concerns will be met with open ears,” Dupuis said.
Incumbent Carmel Barber Couture has lived in Ronan for all but two years of her life. She holds a degree in Elementary Education from Western Montana College and has taught in the district in the past.
“After teaching, I became the director of the 21st (Century) After School Program and learned the administrative aspect of the school system,” Couture said. “The experience from working in the district before joining the school board has helped me understand where the staff is coming from and see the view of the students. I have six years of experience on the Ronan School Board and feel that my work isn’t finished yet. There is always more work to do.”
Couture said her interest in serving the school board stems from concern for children.
“They deserve the best teachers, the best facility and the best community support,” Couture said. “Whenever an issue arises to the board, the focus should always be on our students.”
Couture shared her thoughts on issues facing the district.
“We function best with open communication, trust and respect,” Couture said. “Currently we are caught up in a dialog about the budget. One thing I have always been proud of is the fact that our district is fiscally sound. The auditing company has given the school the highest ranking they can give in regards to district finances.”
Couture said if re-elected she will continue to encourage open communication with staff and the community.
“We have a school district we can be proud of,” Couture said. “We have excellent and caring staff, great administrators that focus on what is best for our students and we always have room for improvement.”
Mark R. Cheff has lived in Lake County for 45 years and owner of Valley Builders Construction Company.
“I am a native of the Mission Valley and have been part of this community my whole life and understand the issues facing this community,” Cheff said. “I have a strong commitment to building and maintaining a quality education for all of our children.”
Cheff listed increasing the graduation rate and level of achievement for all students as one of his top priorities. Funding is also a concern for Cheff.
“Funding is going to be a huge issue facing our district, especially with a projected increase in special needs students,” Cheff said. “We will need to be thoughtful and creative in how we allocate funds.”
Cheff said he also wants to work at “building trust and partnership between the school board, administration, staff, students, parents and community and providing information and an avenue for concerns to be addressed.”
Adam Wood has resided in Lake County since 2009 and is owner of Mission Lawn and Landscape in Ronan.
“After completing my Bachelor degree in Business Administration, I thought I was done with education forever,” Wood said. “Ten years ago I married a very committed educator and I have had no choice but to be again ‘involved’ in education and interested in the field as well as the issues which impact it.”
Wood said he is fair, honest, and hardworking.
“I enjoy working with others as a part of a team but I am not afraid to make decisions that may go ‘against the grain’ if I believe it is in the best interests of students and taxpayers,” Wood said.
Wood said one issue he cares about is the quality of education in local schools as students embark upon a more rigorous journey toward college and career readiness.
“The new more rigorous standards (Montana Common Core Standards) required to prepare our students for college and career will require school leaders who understand the importance of rigor and change,” Wood said. “As a business owner and employer it is extremely important to me to see our students graduate from high school ready for employment or college.”
Wood also has concerns about fiscal responsibility of the district and impact on taxpayers.
“As a local taxpayer, it is important to me that our local school district is budgeting my/our money appropriately and making sound fiscal decisions,” Wood said. “It is important that our students have what they need in terms of small class sizes and quality teachers and at the same time that our tax payers are appropriately informed and can trust that their tax dollars are being responsibly spent.”
Wood said moral integrity and professionalism of school leaders and board members is also something to strive for.
“I believe that the behavior of school leaders definitively impacts the behavior of our youth,” Wood said. “It is important that school leaders conduct themselves in honest and professional ways as they set the example for our youth in their day-to-day treatment of others, at school board meetings, etc.”
Mark Clary, Richard Janssen, and Bob Cornwell are vying for two three-year seats on the board.
Incumbent Mark Clary is the superintendent for the City of Ronan’s water system and Ronan Fire Chief. He was born and raised in Ronan and graduated from Ronan High School in 1984.
“I have been on the board of trustees for 12 years now,” Clary said. “I got on the board because I was tired of hearing bad things about our schools and wanted to make a difference for the children of this district.”
Two of Clary’s children have graduated from Ronan, and another one will graduate next year.
“We have made great strides in this district but we still have work to do. I am knowledgeable in what the board can and can’t do. We have rules and policies in place that we have to follow,” he said.
School finance is one of Clary’s top issues.
“We have worked hard to stay within our budgets and now we have money that we can fall back on and not have to cut staff,” Clary said. “Funding is being cut to all schools, from the state to federal impact aid, and we have to continue to find other ways that we can help fund our children’s education.”
Another concern is the implications of the state’s adoption of the Common Core curriculum.
“The state is moving toward common core testing of our students,” Clary said. “I personally don’t like the direction it is moving. Our kids are being taught to pass certain tests and are losing a lot of the individual instruction our teachers were able to do and the knowledge that they have isn’t being utilized to it’s potential. We have a great staff in Ronan and they care about our kids.”
Clary would also like to see more participation at board meetings.
“It seems that when we have a packed meeting it always revolves around extra curricular activities and sports,” Clary said. “I would like to see more community members come to the meetings and see what is happening in the district.”
Rich Janssen, Jr. is a department head for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who has lived in Lake County for 34 years. He holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Gonzaga University and is married to his wife Julie. The couple have raised two children in the district.
Janssen listed his top concerns for the district.
“The upcoming renegotiation of the Teachers Union Contracts with School District 30 is important,” Janssen said. “We need to balance the current funding with a quality education without increasing property taxes. The district also must look at our increasing enrollment and whether or not our classification will change back to Class A, and the pros and cons of that, as well allowing district students to access and complete school work online using the Internet if appropriate.”
Bob Cornwell is an engineer who has served a previous term on the school board.
“While I have only been in Ronan for the last 15 years, I grew up in Montana in a similar sized district and I feel that I can relate well to the issues of our community,” Cornwell said. “I graduated from MSU Bozeman and lived in Seattle for a short time. The time spent in these larger communities really gave me an appreciation for small towns like Ronan and how we can pull together as a community to accomplish things.”
Cornwell said he enjoys researching issues and asking questions in order to make sure he is making an informed decision.
He previously served on the school board for one term.
“While I still have a lot more to learn, I believe what I have learned so far gives me a background to hit the ground running if I were to be elected,” he said.
Cornwell’s three main issues of concern are student achievement, finances, and transparent communication.
“I would like to see a focused effort to achieve the goals set forth in the district’s strategic plan,” Cornwell said. “It is critical that the board take an active role in implementing those goals by engaging the community, staff, and students as well as our administration. We need to continue keeping our students on track and be able to continue to provide an education in the future that will keep our students current with technology and give them the best chance to succeed.”
Obviously, Cornwell said, this is going to require finances in the right areas in order to accomplish these goals.
“Our district facilities are in very good condition and I would like to see them remain that way, but we should be placing the same amount of focus on our curriculum, classroom size, etc., if we want to give our students their best chance of success.”
