School Board Candidate Profile: Todd Shafer

Incumbent Ankeny School Board member Todd Shafer will be on the Sept. 10 school board election ballot. He is one of three incumbents and four candidates total running for three seats.

The candidate profile was provided by the Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce

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?

At this time the board will be asking the citizens of Ankeny in February to approve a General Obligation Bond, or a combination of SILO funds in the range of $23-$25 Million. The re-established Facilities Committee lead by George Tracy and Dustin Graber, have established a subcommittee led by George, along with Ankeny citizens, administration and the construction management firm to go through the proposed scope to ensure we have what we need and nothing more. A large part of the cost is to address a long awaited maintenance upgrade to the HVAC and electrical systems. 

If the bond request does not pass, we will have to focus on SILO funds starting in 2017. This would also result in competing projects for SILO fund such as Elementary #11 along with other projects like a pool and stadium renovations. The goal of the committee asking for a bond referendum was to complete the renovation at one time instead of in three to five phases that will cost more in the long run.

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

The current pay structure is the same across Iowa, but our starting salary may be slightly higher than other districts in the area. Over the past couple of years the administration, teachers’ union and finance committee have worked very successfully to keep the total compensation package cost competitive and as low as possible. We have lowered the cost on healthcare and salaries. As we move forward, I would like to continue discussion around how to tie the auto step raise and annual increase into some form of economic index and funding level from the State. 

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?

When it comes to supporting school activities, we are fortunate that parents are already stepping up to assist with activities for both North and South. The direction the foundations and the board are going is a joint fund that allows businesses to contribute knowing they are supporting both schools. This will not however limit businesses to support one school if they choose to.

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

As Ankeny School District Superintendent Bruce Kimpston has said in the past, we have to ensure that each student is experiencing a year of growth. How do we measure success and how will we drive this. My personal focus in my next term will be to examine where we are going as a district to address the Common Core Curriculum, Standards Base Grading and teacher quality. This should continue to be a big focus going forward as it has been in the past. I feel we have planned for what we know, but we have to realize that Ankeny’s demographics are changing and students learn and absorb information differently than they have in the past. 

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

Mike Rooney and I, as well as a group of citizens, are reviewing each part of the overall levy to see if we have opportunities for savings. By year end, we should have recommendations to the board well ahead of the annual budget cycle. This is a departure from years past when the board was not as active in the earlier stages of the budgeting process. 

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.

With a Ward System, the district would be split up into districts and only one candidate from each district could be elected to the board. Much like the current State and Federal House of Representatives. I don’t feel Ankeny is at this size yet to consider this. With the current growth pattern, this may have to be looked at another 5-10 years. With a free election, the citizens are able to vote for candidates who they feel would best take the school district in the direction they feel it should go.