FAIRMONT — At a forum held by the Marion County Chamber of Commerce, school board candidates were most interested in school enrollment numbers.
“We've lost 495 students in the last two years,” candidate Lloyd White said. “They cost $3.2 million. We have to come up with these funds somehow.”
Held Thursday night at Fleming Memorial Church, Marion County Chamber of Commerce officials introduced the public to school board candidates for the upcoming election. The Fairmont Women's Club and the Greater Council of Churches also participated in hosting the event.
Board members are broadly active, meaning they represent the entire school system, but they come from different school districts within the county. In Middletown, Bill Burdick is running against incumbent James Sanders. Kim Middlemas and Kevin Rogers will be vying for the Palatine seat. Lloyd White is running unopposed in West Augusta.
School funding came up after host Christy Miller asked the candidates what they thought was the main challenge facing Marion County schools. School systems are funded based on the number of students attending. When a student leaves for charter school or homeschooling, the dollars earmarked for that student's education are taken away from the school system.
The school system's current budget for 2024-2025 is dependent on the school system not losing any more students.
The main solutions identified by candidates Sanders, Rogers, and Burdick were to make public schools more attractive to students and educate parents about the benefits of public schooling.
“We need to educate parents,” Sanders said. “Let your kids know that they can go to school safely and that they can get the best education possible.”
Middlemas also mentioned the need to improve school facilities in the county, a point echoed by Sanders. Middlemas said the first thing most people do when considering moving to Marion County is evaluate the school system.
“We definitely need to improve our schools because they're going to see what's going on inside,” she said. Middlemass also supports the construction of new schools.
The candidates also discussed how to deal with bullying in schools and arming teachers in the name of school safety. Ideas ranged from arming only the few teachers eligible to carry to creating a buffer zone surrounded by security fencing.
Former teacher Brenda Yanis thought the discussion among the candidates was useful. She said it is the responsibility of county voters to consider the issues and know what to vote for. She encouraged residents to engage directly with and get to know the candidates in order to make informed decisions at the polls.
“Politics affects your life and your community every day,” Yannis said. “School boards affect your schools, who enrolls, who lives in our communities, and everything that makes our communities great. If you don't know what's going on, , we end up selling ourselves.”
At least two people in the audience already knew which way their vote was leaning.
“We're here to support my dad,” Amanda White said. She attended with Kaye White. Despite Kay White supporting Lloyd White, she said there were no bad choices among the candidates. They all seemed knowledgeable and had good backgrounds, she said.
Kay White is concerned about bullying at school. She admitted it was a difficult problem to solve. However, Amanda White pointed to teacher shortages as a major issue facing schools in the county.
“There's a huge staff shortage, so if we can get people's attention and make Marion County more attractive, we might get a pay raise,” Amanda White said. “I don’t know what they can do, but the teacher shortage is really struggling in Marion County.”
Superintendent Donna Heston also appeared at the beginning of the forum to compete for the bond that will be on the May 14 vote. The bond will raise approximately $20 million, which the district will use to pay for pressing infrastructure and facility repairs. Heston said this is the first phase of a 15-year plan to address the list of items on the district's property.
“These are improvements that are desperately needed in Marion County,” Heston said.
