By STEPHANIE DEBOLT
Correspondent
Fri, May 16 2008
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With seven candidates vying for three positions on the Fairfield Community School Board, it’s obvious that community interest in the district is high.
The field of candidates includes three incumbent board members — David Thwaits of Benton Township, Michael Morehouse of Jackson Township and Jonathan Graber. Graber was elected from Jackson Township, but he has since moved to Benton Township.
Each township must have one representative but not more than two. Candidates will be elected Tuesday.
Four new candidates — including Trent Hostetler and Doug Spurlock of Benton Township and Steven Edwards and Herschell Suitors of Jackson Township — all hope to join incumbent board members Wayne Miller of Clinton Township and Brent Welty of Jackson Township.Benton Township
One of the three Benton Township candidates, David Thwaits, is a 10-year veteran of the board.
“I think Fairfield is a great community — second to none, with our students, testing scores and staff. I’d like to see us continue to maintain the excellence we’ve had over the years,” Thwaits said.
Thwaits said he felt the key in moving forward is to keep the school administration process balanced.
“Between the education, administration and our budget, we can’t get too far one way or another,” Thwaits said. He added that the construction of the New Paris Elementary School and renovation of Fairfield Junior-Senior High School was one of the board’s largest physical accomplishments that took place while he’s served, and that he’s pleased with the ongoing input of the community as board members look toward other concerns.
“I gained a greater understanding of how a school operates, the can-do’s and the can’t-do’s of a governmental entity. I’ve learned to have patience as that process moves a little slower than in the business arena,” Thwaits said. “We’re all working toward the same goal. That’s what’s important.”
With children who are in all phases of the Fairfield district, candidate Trent Hostetler feels he has a little different perspective than other candidates and looks forward to serving the students, staff and members of the community.
“I was impressed with the way people work together and I want to be a part of it,” he said.
Hostetler said he would bring his experience in the business industry, managing and working with people, as well as his time spent working with children.
“I keep perspective and see all the different levels,” Hostetler said.
Hostetler, like many of the candidates, sees state funding, property tax issues and fuel costs as serious concerns.
“Our expenses are going up and income is going down. We can’t go with the way we’ve always done it. We need to do what it takes to support our school and the education of our kids,” Hostetler said.
Doug Spurlock, former information technology director of Fairfield schools, has a proactive platform in mind.
“It seems like several things have gone on at the school that appear to have been a surprise to school board members,” Spurlock said, “First the reduction in force, then the redistricting. Having been in the education field, it’s important to ask questions early and not be reactive to events.”
Spurlock feels that board members as well as members of the district should have access to information long before major plans need to take place.
“I’d just try to be an advocate and be proactive. Making the most educationally for our kids as I can,” Spurlock said.
Current school board president Jonathan Graber has spent eight years on the board and hopes to continue providing leadership as part of the school community.
“I come from a unique position within the health care and service industry, which provides a different perspective for the board,” Graber said.
He said that his focus lies in trying hard to provide good programs within the school and to set a good foundation for the future.
“We’ve worked hard to be able to weather some of the budget challenges but I still see a lot of work there in the future,” Graber said. Currently, he feels the school system is in good shape compared to others, and that the teamwork provided by the board provides some of that support.
“Fairfield works pretty darn good,” Graber said.
His education, at the hand of the school board, has been learning how all the moving parts work together.
“I’ve found it’s a lot more complicated when you consider the interplay of employer and a good educational system with a balance of instructional time and extracurricular activities,” Graber said.Jackson Township
Eight-year board member Mike Morehouse is campaigning for a third term, feeling there are still major financial issues on the horizon he’d like to work through with the school board.
“There’s a lot of things up in the air. Our budget is awful tight and we’ve been watching it pretty close,” Morehouse said.
Morehouse added that due to May property tax payments already behind, school officials may have to borrow money to have operating capitol this fall. Rising fuel costs and transportation budgeting are other concerns.
“We’re working hard to make sure we’re in the black and not in the red,” Morehouse said.
He stated that during his tenure, the constant flex of situations can be challenging.
“If we lose students, it affects our budget, it’s a constant change. I wish things could be figured out ahead of time, but it just doesn’t work like that,” he said.
Morehouse said he appreciates the opportunity to serve the community and often takes impromptu tours of buildings to speak with staff and kids, which keeps him up to date with what is going on in the district.
“My time on the board has been good because of the mix of people. We’re all diversified and bring different points of view to meetings,” Morehouse said.
Candidate Steven Edwards said he filed for candidacy a second time after community members encouraged him.
“I’m very excited to see people have a desire to be involved in the process. Qualified candidates are what a school board needs,” he said.
“No one on the board now has children at the elementary level and I feel that representation of those students is important,” Edwards said.
Edwards added that his nine years of experience as the associate director of admissions for Goshen College provide him with an awareness of how to get students the education they needed, whether they were headed to college or the workforce.
Edwards said his goals as a school board member would be to ask questions before issues became problems.
“Two years ago we experienced a reduction in force — it seemed to have crept out of nowhere,” Edwards said, “More recently it was redistricting. You have to be willing to ask the difficult questions and act on behalf of the students.”
Candidate Herschell Suitors sees the next few years as challenging ones for the district.
“With the economy the way it is and taxes and state funding, we need to help conserve our dollars and put money toward our students and our classrooms,” Suitors said.
Suitors added he feels that some school expenditures are unequally distributed.
“We’re putting too much at the top. I’d like to see it spent more on educational needs. I work in a factory and I have to work hard and budget what I earn. I tell people I’m running on common sense — that might not be a good thing to say, but that’s how I feel,” Suitors said.
Suitors said that looking ahead, he realizes that there might be a time when school officials can’t have everything they want, and he hopes that academics emerge as the most important expenditure.
“We need to watch closely how we spend our money,” Suitors said.
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