ELECTION: Somerset School Board candidates vie for three seats

Talk about it

There are three open positions on the Somerset Board of Education. Four candidates have filed the necessary papers to be included on the ballot. Following are their names and their answers to a survey sent to them.

Name: Robert Campbell

Position seeking: Somerset School Board member

Age: 53

Family: Single

School district of residence: Somerset

Years living in community: 53 years

Occupation: Home care giver; self-employed, laminate garments

Public service experience: I have been a village board member for six years. Involved with youth programs: Starting at third grade up to high school level. Boys and girls basketball, boys Little League up to 18 “A” double “AA” baseball. Keep statistics for high school football for Brad Nemec.

Top issues facing the school board: I want to make our school one of the best for knowledge in our area, good sportsmanship, respect of elders and general public. Bring our community together for our need for development of new ideas. Enrollment seems to be a means to solve some of these problems. There is always a space issue at the end of the day. Trying to cover these areas would really help the problems we’re facing. Maybe applying the seniors to get involved in the classroom more efficiently bring in old ideas to reconstruct the whole program. Utilize all empty spaces, bringing in portable buildings, take classes outside in decent weather, start classes at earlier hours, going in shifts, alternate wherever you can to help alleviate the crowds of students. Try to find incentives; restructuring contract on payroll; other small outside projects to make more money for the teachers on their own time; increasing their salaries that way.

Why did you decide to run for office: Wanting to gather better ways to run our school and ways to save money for necessities in these hard times. Keep programs that promote new ideas. Get parents attending these meetings to keep up with the new ideas and ways to participate in the development of our children.

Name: Brian Moulton

Position seeking: Somerset School Board member

Age: 55

Family: Wife Julie, son David, daughter Laura

Municipality or school district of residence: Somerset School District

Years living in community: 45 Years

Occupation: Territory service manager Andersen Windows

Public Service experience: Six years

Two top issues facing the board or council you are running for:

1. Capacity issues, space needs, the high school is over capacity. The elementary and middle schools are at capacity. We will be exploring new educational policies and practices through year-round and after school classes. Web textbooks, access and technology while maintaining a level of hard copy resources and online courses with infusion at the middle and possibly the elementary. If progressive and innovative learning opportunities do not reasonably and appropriately address the space needs we would consider a referendum in the future to fund classroom additions.

2. Budgets, the way we are teaching students today is changing. We need to keep current with technology. This is a challenge with struggling budgets. With the attempt to budget for progressive delivery and enhancement of student achievement with the use of technology, needed staffing, training and planning budgets will make it a very challenging task as we plan for the years to come.

Why did you decide to run for office: I am finishing my second term. I want to see every student have a great experience with everything they are involved with while attending Somerset. Most of all I want every student to feel prepared and confident they have the skill level to move on to whatever they decide to do when they graduate from Somerset. I believe I can help make a difference. We have to be innovative and open to new ideas as the world is changing fast. We cannot afford to be complacent. I want to see student achievement improving on a steady basis.

Name: Kelly Ott

Position seeking: Somerset School Board member

Age: Old enough

Family: Husband, Dave Ott, sons Mackenzie Ott (Class of 2010) and Zachary Ott (Class of 2012).

Municipality of residence: Somerset School District, Town of Somerset.

Years living in community: Six

Occupation: Domestic engineer

Public service experience: Co-chair PTA fundraising and PTA president in Knoxville, Tenn.

Top issues facing the board: Like everyone else, Somerset School District is facing budget reductions. Setting priorities to stay within budget, yet still working toward improving the overall quality of the academics, is imperative.

Addressing the continued growth in student enrollment and determining whether there is adequate space to accommodate the students is also a significant issue.

Why did you decide to run for office: I feel that I have unique set of life experiences from living in nine states to jobs ranging from commercial insurance underwriting (of school policies), risk management, worker compensation claims representative, and substitute teacher, that would allow me to provide fresh perspective on issues that the school district is facing.

Name: Tom Walters

Position seeking: Somerset School Board member

Age: 47

Family: Rebecca Walters (wife of 16 years) and Haley Walters, daughter (11)

School District of residence: Somerset

Years in the community: 12

Occupation: Sewer crew leader for Public Works in the City of St. Paul, Minn.

Public Service Experience: 25+ years

Two top issues facing the board or council you are running for: Keeping taxes where they are or lowering them, as well as making sure society and the community is getting the best instruction in our schools for the coming generations.

Why did you decide to run for office: I would like to make a difference in education and the way it is brought to our children. As a volunteer I have given many hours of time to the district, and have had a great time with the students and staff. I would like to help them and the parents of the community of Somerset graduate the next generation of leaders.

Tags: somerset schools, communities, education, somerset