MUSCATINE, Iowa — You never know what you might learn at a forum, especially when the panel is comprised of seven people with different backgrounds and specialities.

Tuesday night, the audience at the Muscatine School Board candidate forum learned that incumbent Paul Brooks missed 67 days of school when he was a teenager, and it wasn’t because he was ill.

And candidate John Haller, a lead man for H.J. Heinz of Muscatine, delivered a surprising assessment of the District’s cell phone policy, stating that students tell him they’ve seen their teachers texting and talking on their own cell phones during class time.

The forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters, was held at Muscatine City Hall and featured the seven candidates who are running for three open seats on the Muscatine School Board.

The audience filled the lower level of the city’s council chambers.

The election will be held Tuesday, Sept. 9.

Questions

Sue Johannsen, president of the League, offered candidate questions written by audience members and  Muscatine High School Student Council member Molly Hammer read questions from that group.

On the issue of cell phones, the candidates agreed that cell phone use should be regulated and monitored for appropriate use at school.

The panel also concurred on providing students with in-depth information on a variety of post-high school career training options.

Incumbent Tammi Drawbaugh, who is finishing her first term with the Board, said she would support a student who wants to learn a technical skill or trade the same way she would one who is college bound.

“We need to expose them to as many things as possible,” said Drawbaugh, a project manager at HNI Corp. “We need to be talking to students all the time about what their strengths are.”

Incumbent Joyce Haller, who retired as a custodian for the District after 35 years, said the District already has some solid vocational programming, such as the auto mechanic program at Muscatine High School, and she’d like to see more apprenticeship partnerships between the school and area industries and businesses.

Candidate Tim Bower said he grew up on an Iowa farm and believed                   

farming was his future, until the day he visited an engineering work site with his father.

“In fifth-grade, I knew I was going to be an engineer,” said Bower, a senior product design engineer for John Deere.

Ron Axel, a first-time candidate and former principal of West Middle School, said there are many large corporations in Muscatine where students can job shadow and talk to a variety of professionals.

Axel said his overall priority is creating a learning  environment that keeps students interested in school until they graduate.

Candidate Dennis Fox also cited the graduation rate as a significant issue in the District and said involving parents in the educational process, beginning with the preschool level, is vital to encouraging students to stay in school.

At the high school level, Fox, vice president, manufacturing and operations, Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions, said providing more mentoring and tutoring opportunities would provide important encouragement for students.

John Haller said he is concerned that the District hires people to be coaches and then assigns them teaching assignments after they come on board.

“We should hire teachers first … and get our coaching staff from the teachers,” said Haller.

Joyce Haller, John’s mother, said improving standardized test scores and exposing children to technology is an important issue in the District.

All the candidates said they would be aggressive in finding ways to maintain the District’s fine arts offerings if budget cuts threatened those programs.

Bower, who with wife, Karen, has been been a member of the Muskie Band Boosters for the past four years, said the arts programs can be the main reason a student will stay interested in school.

Brooks and Joyce Haller said the community has been supportive in financing arts programs when funding fell in the past.

“The fine arts programs will never go down,” said Haller. “Our community won’t stand for it.”

A pitch for PPLE

Tuesday night’s Muscatine School Board candidate forum began with a presentation on the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy vote that will be included on the ballot.

District Superintendent Bill Decker said the levy has been in place for more than 30 years and is an important part of the District’s $51 million budget.

The money generated from the levy can be used to purchase technology for the District, which is a component in preparing students for the 21st century workforce, said Decker.

The funds also go toward improving the District’s school buildings. Decker said some of the buildings have received more upgrades in the past 10 years than others, and he wants to be sure all students have similar facilities.

The levy can be used to tax area residents up to $1.34 per every $1,000 of taxable valuation on their homes, however, the District has chosen to levy less than half that amount for the past five years and intends to continue that trend if the tax is renewed.