Background

How long have you lived in this school district?

I have lived in the District since 1993. I am the oldest of 4 graduates from Van Meter High School. I currently have 3 children in the district (a Senior, a Junior and a Freshman) as well as nieces & nephews in high school, middle school and elementary school.

In what school or district activities have you been involved?

Aside from 4 years on the board, I have been involved in SIAC, VMEPC, Fine Arts Boosters and Athletic Boosters. I have also been involved in a variety of youth activities including Boy Scouts and several youth sports.

What motivates you to want to become a board member?

Having grown up in Van Meter and making the choice to raise my children in Van Meter, I am personally vested in continuing to facilitate innovation within our District and continuing to foster a relationship with the City of Van Meter. In the four years I have been on the Board, I continue to see our District learn from our successes and pivot as needed to address areas of concern.

Role of a Board Member

What do you believe are the most important characteristics of an effective school board?

1. Understanding the role of the Board – operating as a governance team with the Superintendent and administration

2. Believing in our mission statement to personalize learning for each student’s success, today and tomorrow.

3. Understanding and practicing the importance of fiscal responsibility

Of an effective school board member?

1. Putting Student Learning & Success first – This may look different for each student so the ability to support the administration in creative & innovative ways to put each student first is imperative.

2. Being engaged – It’s important to be involved not only with the school but with the community. Being an advocate of public education and staying informed with policy relating to public schools is necessary.

3. Understand YOUR role on the Board – Knowing that your input is valued on the Board but that no action is taken based on YOUR thoughts alone.

An individual school board member has no authority; only the board as a whole can make decisions for the district. What skills or traits will allow you to contribute to effective operations of the board as a whole?

• Balancing historical knowledge & experience of the District with the vision of future for the District

• Desire to be an advocate for our District, students & staff and public education & ability to commit the time needed

• Have the ability to accept that sometimes the majority vote may not align with your personal views

Van Meter Specific Issues

What should our district be doing to address the challenges of increasing enrollment?

As we continue to see increased enrollment, the Board needs to:

• Continue to manage open enrollment effectively

• Continue to look at facility planning, not just for our current needs but for future needs as well

• Continue to make sound financial decisions to allow our District to provide the best learning environment & opportunities for all of our students

If elected, what would you hope would be key accomplishments of the board during your years of service?

• Continue to provide the best education for our students by providing innovative and creative opportunities

• Continue to evaluate the compensation for our staff to maintain and attract the highest quality staff

• Continue to work with the City of Van Meter to find areas to collaborate to strengthen both the District and the City

BACKGROUND

How long have you been in the district?

Our family has been in the Van Meter Community School District for 11 years. We have 4 children in the district -- Emma (10th Grade), Bella (8th Grade), Bennett (4th Grade), and Easton (Kindergarten)

In what school district activities have you been involved?

Having young children when we first joined the VM community the first organization that I became involved with was the Van Meter Pre-School Board serving as a board member and eventually the treasurer for 2 years. I have been a casual member of the Van Meter Elementary Parent Committee (VMEPC) helping with one of the Parent Prom fundraisers. I have volunteered time for middle school dances, helped in elementary classrooms (pre-covid), been on countless field trips, and coach youth soccer. Our family has also been supportive of the Van Meter Athletic Boosters and have been avid fans of all VM sports. I also serve on the Planning and Zoning Board for the city of Van Meter and Serve on the Van Meter Library Foundation board.

What motivates you to become a school board member?

Supporting parental choice, fostering academic excellence and equal opportunity, and continuing to make our growing school feel like a small school.

ROLE OF A BOARD MEMBER

What do you believe are the most important characteristics of a school board member?

Communication is the most important. Members need to be able to listen to other board members, school administration and teachers, and the parents hearing all views on issues before making decisions. Board members also should communicate to parents and community members when asked questions.

An individual school board member has no authority; only the board as a whole can make decisions for the district. What skills or traits will allow you to contribute to effective operations of the board as a whole?

I am willing to listen and voice my thoughts to other members. I am good with communication and working together with the group collectively.

VAN METER SPECIFIC ISSUES

What should our district be doing to address the challenges of increasing enrollment?

Until we get facilities that can accommodate increased enrollment, we need to stick to our closed open enrollment with possible exceptions for children that either have siblings already enrolled and children of teachers/staff. I am not opposed to listening to a family wanting to get into the district, but I believe under most circumstances we would need to deny open enrollment to almost all requests at this point. Our school is full, and we don’t have bonding capacity at this point to begin construction of another school. With more development coming to Van Meter, we need to keep spots open for those kids who will be moving into the district.

If elected, what would you hope would be key accomplishments of the board during your years of service?

I would like to help the district continue to be one of the best schools, even with the amount of growth that will come in the next four years without the new buildings. I am hoping to be able to work with other school board members to make this growth as smooth as possible. I also would love to see programs added to provide more opportunities for the kids. I was very excited to see agriculture programs being explored as an option to be added to our school as presented at the September school board meeting. I am also very open to exploring other programs to add that would benefit our students.

Background:
My name is Joe Day and I’m running for school board. My family and I moved into the Van Meter school district from Waukee in 2020. This is our boys’ second year in Van Meter. Jack is in 7th grade and Nick is in 4th grade.

As we have been settling into Van Meter, I have spent time helping coach youth sports basketball, baseball and touch football.

As a school board member, I would love to help build on the excellent foundation of education, activities, and progressive methodologies being used today, working to form a long term plan addressing the challenges and opportunities that come with the anticipated growth of our school district. Partnering with the city, community and school to understand the growth and make sure we avoid overcrowding, inadequate facilities, transportation issues, etc. While also outlining how we can strategically expand the curriculum and activity offerings to meet the growing student demand.

Role of a Board Member

What do you believe are the most important characteristics of an effective school board? Of an effective school board member?

An individual school board member has no authority; only the board as a whole can make decisions for the district. What skills or traits will allow you to contribute to effective operations of the board as a whole?

There are the top three things I think an effective board member in Van Meter should bring to the table.

1. Vision/Strategy – Understanding where we want to go, outlining how we will get there and communicating progress, roadblocks, and changes as we go. With a variety of interested parties asking for different things, knowing the vision and being able to communicate it, and the decisions surrounding it, is critical.

2. Partnership - Being a great partner with families, teachers, staff, the superintendent, coaches, students, business owners, residents, etc. is the only way to move efforts forward. Listening to their needs, communicating across appropriate channels, and working to support the vision. Listening, understanding and moving forward together.

3. Delivering Results – Continuously working to Evaluate, Execute, learn, and evolve. In the end I feel a successful school board needs to help provide direction and the support to deliver on that direction. Throughout the process the board needs to evaluate what was delivered and how it's succeeding. If it isn’t working, identify the problem, and make corrections towards a better outcome.

Personally I feel I could bring the following skills to the board to help the board be effective:

• Listening to understand stakeholders needs

• Advocating for all parties impacted in a decision

• Partnering with stakeholders to outline objectives, plan efforts, and deliver results

Van Meter Specific Issues

What should our district be doing to address the challenges of increasing enrollment?

If elected, what would you hope would be key accomplishments of the board during your years of service?

I would like to see the board work to outline an overarching 5 year plan for growth in our school district that addresses the challenges and opportunities that growth presents us. Outlining key objectives for all phases of the district (Education, Facilities, Activities, faculty/staff, technology, etc.). What steps do we need to take in monthly/yearly starting in 2022 to make sure we are on the path to deliver on that plan.

Through all the growth, I would strive to assure we remain true to the heart of Van Meter as a school district. Continuing the tradition of outstanding academics and athletics. A district that is looked to as a leader in teaching methodology and technology is important to me.

At the end of my term, if Van Meter Schools had a plan in place outlining our future objectives, it was being actively moved forward and everyone from students to superintendent knew where we were and how we were going to achieve our goals, that would be a successful term.

Bio

• Van Meter resident since 2015

• Self employed owner of Stone Source since 2003

• Father of four children who attend Van Meter school

Role as a Board Member

I believe the most important characteristics of a board member are responsible money management and forecasting of financial needs. Effective communication skills. Flexibility with other peoples approaches. I have owned and operated a million dollar business for the last 20 years. Which required effective money management. Forecasting future issues, communication skills with others. Effective leadership skills in defining and addressing issues of our day to day operations.

Van Meter Specific Issues

Having four young children in the Van Meter school system I am excited to play a role in what will be Van Meter's amazing growth. Part of what we all love about the Van meter school system is the small town charm. Our children and families are given personalized attention and a welcoming atmosphere. We would like to see that continue through this inevitable growth.

One issue that is of concern to all is the safety and well being of our children in the era of Covid. The emotional and physical well being of our children is a top priority and needs to be handled with respect to every family's personal needs.

Background

Q. How long have you lived in this school district?

My wife Jennele and our two boys, Sullivan (6) and Davis (3) began building our home in the Crestview development in Van Meter in June of 2020 and moved into our home in January of 2021. Sullivan began Transitional Kindergarten in September of 2020 and we were able to get Davis into a local Daycare (University Kids) in October of 2020.

Q. In what school or district activities have you been involved in?

Both school and community involvement are very important to both Jennele and I, as we want to help shape the community and district that will help shape our boys and our family.

Since moving to Van Meter, we have become Athletic Booster Club members, both Jennele and I have volunteered to help during last year’s track and field day, and I have helped coach tee ball, as well as soccer.

We are looking forward to increasing our involvement in activities as our boys grow and restrictions are lifted to allow for parent/volunteer support within the school again.

Q. What motivates you to want to become a board member?

Before moving to Van Meter, my wife and I toured multiple communities and schools in central Iowa. Our goal was to find a community where we would like to raise our family and a school district that would provide our boys with unmatched educational and extracurricular opportunities. After visiting Van Meter and speaking with teachers and administrators, the choice was obvious, and we couldn’t be happier with our decision.

One key motivation for becoming a school board member, is to help in the creation of a vision and policies that best position our district to maintain the culture and high academic standards we currently enjoy as our district grows.

A second motivation for joining the school board is the disturbing trend of using primary and secondary schools as a hub for political activism nationally. My view is simple, schools are a place for education, not activism.

I do want to make it very clear my family has never experienced the issue of activism within our school district and have not heard of any parents experiencing this issue either. I am extremely grateful to the administration, as well as our teachers for that. However, these issues are finding their way into school districts in Iowa, and I would like to help ensure it doesn’t become an issue in our district in the future.

Role of a Board Member

What do you believe are the most important characteristics of an effective school board and school board member?

First and foremost, I believe that an effective school board must understand the needs of the community, as well as the needs of the students, administrators, teachers and staff it serves.

Some of the key characteristics that I feel are needed to be an effective board and board member are focus, courage, integrity, honesty, open-mindedness, compassion, strategic and humility.

An individual school board member has no authority; only the board as a whole can make decisions for the district. What skills or traits will allow you to contribute to effective operations of the board as a whole?

Professionally, my focus is on developing both short-and long-term global business strategies that increase the likelihood of achieving our businesses goals. Both direct and indirect leadership, consensus building, active listening, team building and influence are all skills that I have had to develop and grow to do my job successfully and are skills that I believe can help make me an effective board member.

Personally, I grew up on a hobby farm, outside of Granger, Iowa, attending Woodward-Granger from kindergarten through 12th grade. I showed hogs in 4-H, while also playing multiple sports, being fortunate enough to play baseball in college at Iowa Central Community College and Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia. The experiences and perspectives I gained growing-up in a community like ours provided me with a sense of community and deep understanding of how to work within a team that will allow me to make positive contributions to the district as a school board member.

I would also like to mention the high value I place on honesty and straightforwardness. I believe it is vital that a person can be relied upon to not only do what they say, but also have the courage to voice and stand behind their thoughts and beliefs, even when times get tough. These are two traits that were instilled in me by my family growing up, and that I would bring with me as a board member.

Van Meter Specific Issues

What should our district be doing to address the challenges of increasing enrollment?

I believe the school board has taken positive steps to slow enrollment by closing open enrollment to all grades except for kindergarten. I am in favor of continuing to keep open enrollment closed for grades 1 through 12 and would be in favor of limiting open enrollment in kindergarten as well; making it available to students entering kindergarten who have older siblings already attending school in the district only.

I think the bigger issue at this time is the rapid growth of our community. When I talk to parents, they almost all say they moved to Van Meter for the small school district and small-town atmosphere; and fear losing both. My wife and I share those fears.

Because of this, I feel we need to do more to align the goals of the school district, city residents and city leadership to ensure current and potential challenges are thoroughly understood and strategies can be implemented to overcome those challenges.

When it comes to potentially slowing community growth, that can only be overcome by residents electing like-minded city leadership.

Even if growth is slowed to a much more conservative level, which I hope can be achieved, growth in our district is likely inevitable. Because of the inevitable growth, the district must continue to be proactive and strategic in its planning to help ensure fiscally responsible decisions are made. A focus on maintaining culture, small class sizes and our districts high academic success should be a priority, as well as ensuring that our district continues to be highly sought destination for teachers and administrators.

If elected, what would you hope would be key accomplishments of the board during your years of service?

If I am fortunate enough to be elected, I would hope to be able to look back on my time as a board member and say that I:

• Represented the needs and wishes of the district and parents within the district fairly, accurately and to the best of my ability. I always looked at every issue by beginning with the premise that this is your school, these are your kids, and your voice matters.

• Helped the school manage both current and future growth in a fiscally responsible manner that aligns with our communities needs without sacrificing its personalized and innovative learning approach.

• Created and maintained policy that allows the school Superintendent to not only maintain the school’s current high-level of success, but also build upon it and grow.

• Helped create a forward-looking vision that serves our students, administrators, teachers, staff and community well and helps position them for success well into the future.