Five candidates running for Colby school board
Editor’s note: The Tribune-Phonograph reached out to all five candidates for the three open Colby School District board of education seats, but Lony Oestreich, Teri Hanson and Tanya Geiger did not submit answers in time for publication. The following answers have been edited for the sake of brevity.
What is your background? What is your age and occupation?
Gumz: “My name is Cody Gumz. I live in Colby with my husband of twelve years Dustin, and our three children, ages ten, nine and seven. We both graduated from Colby in 2003. Together we run a dairy and crop farm, along with his parents Duwayne and Susan.”
Schmidt: “ I’m 67 years old and work as a school bus driver and IT assistant for the School District of Neillsville; coowner of Embroidery Express in Colby.
I had a 20-year career as a newspaper editor at several locations, including the Tribune-Phonograph and the Clark County Press. I’ve served on numerous boards and committees, including church and the chamber of commerce. I am currently an alderperson and council president for the City of Colby.”
Why have you decided to run for (re)election to the school board?
Gumz: “I’ve decided to run for the school board because I like children. I think they need adults that will represent their best interests. I disagreed with a lot of the board’s COVID-19 response.
“I would have gone a different route. That being said, I would never bash. I think we need to turn the temperature down between the parents and board.
“The parents need to feel like they are heard, the board deserves respect for doing a difficult job. I am able to disagree respectfully and work together to achieve what I feel has gotten lost in the middle, what’s best for the children.”
Schmidt: “ I am an incumbent member, having served on the Colby School Board for seven years. I am currently the board clerk and chairperson of the Personnel and Facilities and Transportation committees. The Colby School District has many great things going for it. I am a proven responsible decision maker and am committed to keeping students first while protecting taxpayers’ interests.”
What do you feel are the biggest challenges/ priorities facing the district and what will you do as a board member to overcome that challenge?
Gumz: “I honestly feel like one of the biggest issues facing our board right now is repairing the board-parent rapport. You have a lot of students changing districts because the parents didn’t want to deal with Colby’s policies.
“Parents take their children elsewhere and that hurts our district. I think we need to take a page out of our neighboring communities’ book and see what they’re doing. We merely need to look what they’re doing right down the road. I think that also directly affects what I think our second biggest concern, our district budget.”
Schmidt: “ The school district is still transitioning from the effects of COVID- 19. We need to put an increased emphasis on areas where our students score low compared to state averages and improve our focus on ELL learners. Filling staff vacancies has been a challenge in certain areas.
“Keeping up with technology changes is a continuing process. Curriculum offerings can be expanded, perhaps in cooperation with other school districts, to benefit our students. Responsible budgeting will be a primary focus in the next few years to deal with projected limited state aid.
“I will use my experience to work with administration and my colleagues on the school board to deal with these and other challenges as they arise.”
What can the board do within budgetary limitations to keep things running smoothly and efficiently?
Gumz: “I would have to have more information to speak on that. I can’t tell you what we can and can not do until I know exactly what we’re working with. I know obviously the District budget has been a concern for some time now.
“I would love to join the board’s financial subcommittee and see if I could be of some service. I’m involved in our businesses financials and I think it would be similar.
“I think in our current economic atmosphere we would do well to play it conservative on our spending. Obviously essentials must happen but I think we need to take a hard look before we move forward with any large future projects. Transparency in financials is important.”
Schmidt: “ The school board must continue to make responsible decisions. We need to stay focused on our short-term and long-term facilities planning initiatives. Input from administrators, families and students is critical in keeping the school district operating efficiently.”
What do you feel the school district can do to be more responsive to the needs of the community?
Gumz: “I would like to see our elementary expand in teaching Spanish to our children. They are learning their most naturally when they are those ages. I would like to see English extended to adults who need help and/or children that need a little boost. If we could get the resources for an after school program of some sort could be beneficial.
“I would love to see teachers really showing our older kids how their classes are pertaining to our real life. . . .grow food in the greenhouse and then use it at the schools . . . show how to process food or create a market or sale, donate etc. Empower them to think creatively and outside the box. They may be the next to create a new business in our town.”
Schmidt: “ Citizen input is critical in assessing what the needs of the community are. Working with business and industry leaders to develop programs to meet their needs should be a priority.
More input at committee and board meetings is desired. Fine-tune the strategic plan using this input and then follow it.”
NEWCOMER -Cody Gumz is one of several candidates vying for the three open Colby school board seats.SUBMITTED PHOTOS
