Schools

Ankeny School Board Candidate: Pat Cahill

Pat Cahill's school board candidate questionnaire from the Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce.

Ankeny School Board President Pat Cahill hopes to be re-elected to her school board seat Tuesday.

She is one of four people in the race for three seats in the school board election.

See what she told the Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce in the questionnaire provided below:

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The Board plans to propose a bond referendum to finance the renovation of Northview Middle School. If this ballot question were to fail, how would you propose to pay for the proposed changes to that building?

There is an established committee made of up teachers, administrators, parents, one board member, and the district construction manager, to determine the renovation needs of Northview Middle School. Now that the needs have been identified, costs must be determined to accomplish the renovation. This committee has done its homework establishing needs, not wants, associated with this renovation. More than one architect was invited to provide their opinion of the costs associated with the renovations needs. We have also had a conversation with our bond council providers as to bond conditions associated with a general obligation bond, and we also have asked our chief financial office to give us the numbers to tell us what our bonding capacity is, and what the tax impact on the community would be. Once all this information is provided, the board will have to have the discussion on proposing a general obligation bond and what it would include or not include. Then we will ask the community. through the public forum process, what their opinion is on proposing a general obligation bond. Option one would be to propose a bond referendum to completely renovate Northview Middle School, and Option two would be to scale back parts of the identified renovation projects so there is a zero tax increase attached, and pay for the remainder of the projects on a pay-as-you go basis. This pay-as-you go basis is how we are currently paying for and providing the updating of the Football Stadium located at Northview Middle School. Letting the community know what the Board’s thoughts and process are regarding this renovation is vital to keeping the lines of communication open and keeping the community aware and involved.

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What are your views regarding the current pay structure of teachers in the school district? What changes do you propose, if any?

I have no objection to the current teacher pay structure used in Ankeny. I do not favor a merit pay system because I feel it removes the opportunity for teachers to collaborate with each other to share successful teaching techniques that would benefit all students. I feel our current salary system is an attractive feature for teachers outside of Ankeny to apply for teaching positions in Ankeny. I would also be in favor of re-instituting a District Retirement package for our employees because I feel that providing such a benefit shows our employees that we value the years, the knowledge and the commitment they have shown to our District. Continuing to keep watch on our budget so as to determine when such a benefit could again be provided is a priority for me.

What policies or procedures does the School Board propose in keeping Ankeny a unified community regarding business and community support ensuring not having to choose between funding the Jaguars or Hawks independently?

The Board does not want to create an atmosphere where one school will always be able to provide more money for that individual school. And, businesses and residents aren’t always happy to be continually solicited for money, either. The Booster Club has decided that their fundraising activities will be evenly divided between AHS and ACHS so that pitfall can be avoided. However; there will always be fundraisers to provide money for groups that are needing financial help for individual activities or competitions outside of Ankeny. So, I guess if you are in Jaguar Country, you will support fundraising for ACHS and if you are in Hawk Country, you will support fundraising for AHS. 

What is one thing the district has not planned for but should in order to improve student academic achievement? 

Student achievement is the goal of Ankeny Schools and our Curriculum Department has been studying and fine tuning what is being taught in Ankeny Schools. Currently, the goal is to provide consistent curriculum across the District so that no matter what school a student attends, he or she is receiving the same curriculum in the same term. The object here is to make sure that even if a student moves during the year from one elementary boundary to another, they will not miss out on part of the required curriculum. At the secondary level, we are trying to maintain a consistent offerings of classes in all the secondary buildings. One area that needs to be added to achieve this goal is the addition of an Auto Class at AHS so this class is offered at both High Schools, eliminating the need to bus students from AHS to ACHS for that class. That addition is being discussed by the Board. We also currently have a Grading Committee meeting to evaluate and improve the assessment systems we use to more accurately define what a student knows. We will have specific recommendations from this committee at the end of this school year. This committee is made up of Parents, Teachers, the Curriculum Director, some Administrators, and two Board Members. In order to provide more challenging work for those students who need it, and also to provide the added help for a struggling student -- we first must be able to correctly identify exactly where a student falls where the schoolwork is concerned. Last year a committee was formed to study Bullying and improve the school environment for students -- which can definitely affect how a student focuses on academics. A year long effort has produced a policy, and specific handling of bullying situations, and the philosophy of the District that bullying must be addressed wherever it is observed, and students who are victims of bullying are protected against further bullying. Students who come to school fearful of being bullied, cannot focus on academic achievement. Our teachers also have regular Professional Development Meetings to be able to share teaching techniques and better teaching methods to better educate students. On a building level, there are regular PLC meetings which allow individual buildings to also share ideas, teaching techniques, and better ways to educate their students. Every effort is made to provide teachers with curriculum help, with teaching techniques, and support from other teachers in the District to promote better student achievement. 

What is one thing the district has not planned for but should in order to reduce the school tax levy?

Tax reduction was a promise made by this Board, and we have reduced our portion of the property tax bite in residents tax bill every year for the past three years and we will continue to do that. It truly is a balancing act between providing what we feel is necessary to make Ankeny Schools exemplary, and remaining within our budget. We have saved thousands of dollars in staffing by transferring employees from one area to another in the District; as in a Central Office Consultant moving to a principal position; as in moving principals from one school to another to avoid having to hire additional Administrators; moving a High School Principal to a Drop Out Prevention Position where that salary is paid by State provided Drop Out Prevention Fund Money. Construction costs have been saved by numerous bids for District Projects coming in under original budgeted amounts. All of these savings, and others, can be documented if anyone cares to make a trip to Central Office and ask about savings achieved. Every dollar saved is money saved by Ankeny taxpayers.

Do you favor a Ward System for School Board members instead of electing them all at large? Please elaborate on your reasoning one way or the other.

I believe that electing At Large School Board Members ensures that every Board Member is making decisions that are in the best interest of students no matter what side of town they live in and go to school in. Creating a Board that has three people more interested in the North Feeder System, and three people more interested in the South Feeder System, with one Board Member always in the middle, possibly being the tie-breaking vote in many decisions, creates tension and rivalry within Board Members, and quite possibly creates a divided Board on decision after decision. It is a much more desirable situation, in my opinion, to have seven people making decisions based on what is good for all students. 


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