CLINTON, Iowa — Three seats are up for grabs on the Clinton Community School District board, as the terms for Jenny Green, Mike House, and Mike Pelham end this year.
As part of a candidate forum hosted by Grow Clinton at City Hall, the four candidates — James McDonnell, Sheena M. James, Matthew Lorenzen, and Michael House (incumbent) — presented their ideas for improving the school district in a moderated discussion.
One of the biggest topics was improving enrollment, as Iowa's Education Savings Account program went into effect this past school year, which has some students already switching from public to private schools.
"Clinton schools have experienced a loss of students, resulting in decreased funding. If elected, what steps would you take to strengthen and increase enrollment in public schools?" the moderator asked.
James McDonnell said opportunities are important. "We need to partner with the city council, with the county board of supervisors. How do we get more good paying jobs, more industry here into the city, which will attract those employees, who will bring their families back to this town," he said.
Sheena M. James said more feedback will help. "I think one thing we could do is, have exit interviews, reach out to those people who decided to leave the district and open enroll out, ask them why. And on the flipside of that, why are people coming into the district, what is attracting them to Clinton?" she said.
Matthew Lorenzen said marketing is key. "That positive image is for the academics, the sports that we have, the before and after school programs, and just the opportunities that the kids have. How do we get there?" he said.
Incumbent candidate Michael House said it's about improving daycare services. "We didn't have an opportunity for a lot of people to put their kid in school here, and have a place for them to go after school because all our daycares were full. That's one of the big 'why's' and that's always something that the board has pressed on for a long time," he said.
Clinton's city and school elections are on November 7th. The full candidate forum is available here.