EACS school board
5 challenge 4 incumbents
Read the original Journal Gazette article.
Term: 4 years; Salary: $2,000 plus $35 per meeting, health insurance availableCandidates by District - 5 challengers, 4 incumbents ( incumbents are shown by * )
Those who represent a district labeled with an “E,” are elected by the voters in their respective district.
Candidates from an “R” seat are at-large candidates who must live in a specified district, but votes are tallied from the entire school corporation.Chances are that you can vote for either two or three of the candidates in two or three districts.
District 4E - covers primarily New Haven residents.
Ken Eytcheson *
Age : 71
Occupation : Retired athletic director at New Haven High School
Political experience : Finishing his second term on the East Allen County Schools board
Family : Married with four daughters and 10 grandchildrenMichelle Atkinson
Age : 38
Occupation : Personnel coordinator for Maxim Healthcare
Political experience : None
Family : Married with four childrenAlyssa Lewandowski
Age : 32
Occupation : Stay-at-home mom
Political experience : Elected as a precinct committeeperson in New Haven in 1994
Family : Married with two children
District 5R + Any voter in the EACS district can cast a vote for either Gordon or Kelly.
Steven Gordon
Age : 52
Occupation : U.S. Postal Service worker
Political experience : EACS board member from 1992 to 2004
Family : Married with four childrenJanice Kelly *
Age : 50
Occupation : Registered nurse in home health care with Parkview Hospital
Political experience : Finishing her first term on the EACS board
Family : Divorced with three children and one grandchild
District 6R + Any voter in the EACS district can cast a vote for either Allgeier or Boettcher.
Rick Allgeier *
Age : 52
Occupation : Owns Fort Wayne Compactor Inc.
Political experience : Finishing his third term on the EACS board
Family : Married with eight children and eight grandchildrenBen Boettcher
Age : 21
Occupation : Employed at Mutton Power Equipment
Political experience : None
Family : Single
District 7E - only voters who live in the northern part of the district can vote for Lightfoot or Conkle.
Donald Conkle
Age : 62
Occupation : Teacher at New Haven High School
Political experience : None
Family : Married with two childrenTerry Jo Lightfoot *
Age : 55
Occupation : Owner of Worman Lightfoot Insurance in Leo
Political experience : Finishing second term on the board
Family : Married with two children and three grandchildren
EACS school board
5 challenge 4 incumbents
Published on April 27, 2008 in The Journal Gazette and written by Kelly Soderlund
we have changed it a little - but please refer to the Journal Gazette for the origional
East Allen County Schools has withstood allegations of racism, gender discrimination and intolerance of homosexuals – all within the past year.
The current board and administration are trying to work past those situations and develop a long-term strategic plan for the district. But once that plan is finished, so is Superintendent Kay Novotny, who plans to retire in June 2009.
In the midst of its planning, the board will have to find a new superintendent. That’s where a number of fresh school board candidates want to step in.
Five people are challenging four incumbents on the May 6 ballot. Though much of the voting is a political party primary, this is the final decision for the school board seats. The four winners will take office in July.
Board members Ken Eytcheson, Terry Jo Lightfoot, Janice Kelly and Rick Allgeier are all running for re-election, and each has at least one opponent. Those who represent a district labeled with an “E,” are elected by the voters in their respective district. Candidates from an “R” seat are at-large candidates who must live in a specified district, but votes are tallied from the entire school corporation.
The incumbents promise consistency and say their veteran status will help in the process of selecting a new district leader and following through with Novotny’s strategic plan. But the newcomers believe their clean records and fresh ideas can bring EACS to where it needs to be in management and student achievement.
District 4E - covers primarily New Haven residents.
Two mothers will take on a veteran board member and 41-year educator.
Ken Eytcheson, 71, has already served on the board for eight years and is seeking a third term. His challengers are Michelle Atkinson, a 38-year-old mother of four, and Alyssa Lewandowski, the 32-year-old daughter of former New Haven City Councilman Tom Lewandowski.
Lewandowski is campaigning to help change what she feels is a negative perception of the district. She is specifically upset with how the district is perceived because of its response to allegations of racism at Heritage Junior-Senior High School; the firing of a journalism teacher at Woodlan Junior-Senior High School after she allowed a student editorial about tolerance for homosexuals to appear in the school newspaper; and the gender discrimination lawsuit filed by various unions against EACS because officials changed the way their contracts are negotiated.
“I don’t like the press that East Allen has been getting lately,” Lewandowski said. “I feel that things have been going in the wrong direction, and it’s time for a fresh perspective on the board.”
Atkinson said she doesn’t have a lot of opinions on most issues but is willing to start researching how to best handle situations such as aging buildings, student achievement and budget cuts.
“I’m looking to be a part of that solution and that means that I don’t have a lot of good answers, but I have a lot of great questions,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson is in agreement with the current board and administration that a long-term strategic plan needs to be developed, but she would like to form one that looks 15 to 20 years out.
“I don’t feel like (the board is) as future-minded as maybe we need to be,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson did not take a stance on an issue that has come up numerous times among the EACS board members: whether to close one of the district’s five high schools to fill space and save money. According to a facility study commissioned by the district in February, four of the five high schools are over or nearing the desired building capacity while Paul Harding High School is more than 200 students under the desired capacity.
Lewandowski takes a stronger stance on the issue and said she would like to cut non-essential services before closing a high school.
“I would look at that more as a last-ditch effort than a first course of action,” she said.
Eytcheson, who has served on the board when those heated discussions have arose, toes the line on the issue.
“I’m just the one, and I’m trying to speak for the people,” Eytcheson said. “I know everyone wants their little community schools, there’s no doubt about it, but as funding gets tighter and tighter we’ve got to take a look and see on our attitude about it.”
Eytcheson also wants to eventually implement full-day kindergarten at every elementary school and do something about the crowded or underused buildings. He also believes administrators and teachers need to keep plugging away at raising student achievement and maintain a positive attitude.
“We want to look at the bright side, not at the dim side,” Eytcheson said.
District 5R
A former board member is looking to reclaim the seat he stepped aside from to learn how to be a better leader.
Steven Gordon, 52, served on the EACS board for 12 years until he decided not to seek re-election in 2004. That was when Janice Kelly, 50, was elected to the seat.
+ Any voter in the EACS district can cast a vote for either Gordon or Kelly.
At the time, Gordon wanted to go back to college to obtain a master’s degree in public affairs. His wife told him he had to choose between returning to school and continuing to serve on the school board, and he chose to seek additional education.
Armed with that degree from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Gordon wants to abandon the delayed evaluation of programs and the wait-and-see attitude he feels the current board and administration have.
He wants to study how the new property tax law will affect the district’s budget and determine what cuts need to be made; consider creating magnet programs; and push the board to think creatively instead of doing business the way it has been for the past 20 to 30 years.
“I think the board has not pushed the administration to look at every option possible to address school improvement. If it means creating magnet schools that specialize in a certain area then we probably should look at that,” Gordon said.
Gordon criticized district officials for waiting so long to start developing a long-term strategic plan. When he served on the board, Gordon said he spoke in opposition to a proposed addition to Highland Terrace Elementary School because no facility study had been done.
“The people who were sitting in those chairs were elected by the community to make those decisions,” Gordon said. “They should be making those decisions. They should have made those decisions, and they’re waiting.”
The board heard a report in February on a facility study conducted by a professor at Ball State University.
Though board members have a role in assisting administrators in raising student achievement, Kelly thinks it’s the primary job of the superintendent and her staff to get that done. The board has been educated this year on not micromanaging and only answering questions as needed, she said, and in the end, it’s Novotny’s call.
“She’s the educator and we need to support her,” Kelly said.
Kelly is proud of the board’s accomplishment of instituting a separate office to handle Title I schools, which receive federal money for low-income students. She also lauded the district’s efforts to support and integrate Burmese refugees and is proud of how they handled the allegations of racism at Heritage Junior-Senior High School.
Two black students reported in November they received racist notes in their lockers. EACS officials later said the students fabricated the claims, but they still instituted study circles to educate students on racism.
This was after the district was criticized by the black community and the local NAACP for not immediately responding to the situation and not allowing the NAACP to act as a mediator.
District 6R
A three-term board member will face off against a 21-year-old who took over his mother’s campaign when she decided not to run.
Incumbent Rick Allgeier is finishing his 12th year on the board and thinks his experience is his key asset. Ben Boettcher put his name on the ballot when his mother, Cynthia, decided she was too busy to serve as an elected official.
+ All voters in the EACS corporation can cast a vote for either Allgeier or Boettcher.
Allgeier thinks his experience will help when the board begins its search for a new superintendent. He was on the board when it hired Novotny.
Allgeier thinks his tenure working on the budget will come in handy now that most districts will have to make cuts because of the state’s new property tax law. In accordance with Novotny’s ongoing strategic plan, Allgeier wants the district to conduct a more extensive facility and demographic study.
Allgeier wants to continue the partnerships involving EACS and local businesses and churches and thinks officials should study other schools and districts in the same type of academic situation to determine how to raise test scores and student achievement.
“When our students see people from the community volunteer to work with them, … they see the love for this community and what it means to work together, to care about one another,” Allgeier said.
Boettcher thinks he can bring youth and vitality to the board. He attended Heritage Junior-Senior High School and wants to improve some of the opportunities afforded him, such as internships at local businesses.
Boettcher would like to set up a roundtable discussion for board members to listen to teachers about their struggles and hear why their test scores are so low. The board can then give its opinion and react accordingly, he said.
District 7E - covers the northern part of the district and only voters who live in that area can vote for Lightfoot or Conkle.
A New Haven High School teacher wants to unseat a former teacher who has since moved into the business world.
Donald Conkle, a 62-year-old careers teacher, is challenging incumbent Terry Jo Lightfoot, 55, who is serving her eighth year on the board. Both feel they have the skills needed to select a new superintendent.
But Conkle disagrees with Lightfoot’s capabilities.
“My opponent was one of the people that selected and signed a contract for our last superintendent, Dr. Abbott,” Conkle said. “She was one who championed the … buyout plan.”
The board voted in 2005 to buy out former Superintendent Jeff Abbott’s contract for more than $500,000.
Novotny was hired in 2006 and will have served 3 1/2 years when she steps down. Conkle, who has been an educator for 39 years, wants to find someone who’s willing to serve for the next 10 years.
“Someone that’s going to have our students and our teachers and the people of our corporation in mind, as well as our taxpayers,” Conkle said.
Conkle would like to choose new leaders in other district roles. When he came to EACS 37 years ago, Conkle considered it one of the best school corporations in the state.
“That’s no longer true,” Conkle said. “We have lost the luster that has been East Allen County Schools, and I want to help bring that back.”
That includes returning four groups of employees, who have filed a lawsuit against the district for gender discrimination, to a collective bargaining system.
“I’m concerned that the perception is that we don’t treat all our employees the same and I believe that … everybody needs to be treated the same and treated well,” Conkle said. “I just think it’s important that we negotiate with them. I’m not sure they’re asking for a lot.”
Lightfoot wants to continue the work of the new Title I office, which has solicited donations from community organizations, businesses and churches to support low-income students and Burmese refugees. As a former teacher and now a community leader, Lightfoot thinks she can relate well to what her district needs.
“I am around a lot of people, a lot of the kids,” Lightfoot said. “I feel like I have a good sounding board for what the community feels is important for the education of their children.”
That means listening to the community about how many high schools they want and asking them if they’re willing to pay more money to keep all five open, she said. Closing one may mean more money in transportation costs since the district is so spread out across eastern Allen County, Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot thinks the board and administration made the best decisions when it came to the racism allegations at Heritage Junior-Senior High School. School officials came at the situation with a good heart and addressed it with counseling, but Lightfoot understands that not everybody agrees with how the situation was handled.
Read the original Journal Gazette article.
Who do the Journal Gazette suggest? We agree with some, but not all. You judge for yourself and might just consider candidates who have compassion for students who are different than others. They will have compassion for all students.