Jodi Fuemmeler

I'm a concerned citizen and parent, with kids in the Slater district. I have served on the board for the past six years and lived in Slater for more than 30 years. I am an assistant vice president at State Bank of Slater.

Because I like the accomplishments our school district has achieved. I think we have a super board of education and a super district. We had a major administrative change that I was part of and I would like to see its transition. The outgoing superintendent and high school principal had been there lots of years and now we have a new superintendent and new high school principal. Our board gets along very well, we discuss things and though we don't always agree, we can agree to disagree, and we all stand together.

We have to get our testing scores up and continue to emphasize that we need to take the MAP test seriously. We have done fairly well and we need to keep it going. I don't think we have a lot of problems. We have a wonderful district and we need to keep it that way. We have so much to offer the kids, including ITV and the A+ program. We offer so much for a small district and we want it to continue. With proper fund management, that can be achieved.

Rob Newman

I've been on the board four years. I was appointed to fill out a partial term, and then was elected to my own full term. I am a manager for GE energy, and have been exposed to quite a bit of management of corporate business. I have two children in the district I want to see educated.

I'm interested in staying involved in the education of my own children, as well as all the students in the area.

One concern is always the budget and keeping us financially sound. Also a priority is providing high-quality education for our children, a constant struggle. That's why we're there -- that's the biggest consideration and biggest challenge -- providing a high-quality education in a safe place. We have to provide high-quality teachers with a good, strong educational background. The next challenge is keeping facilities upgraded and in good shape. We've made a lot of progress on that in the last year.

Julie Smith

I don't know that anything in particular does, other than the fact that I have children in the system and I want to see that they get the best education possible.

I think that everybody should take their turn in doing something to volunteer to help their community. And I'm not afraid to say what I think needs to be said.

I would like to see an EMINTS grant pursued, where all students have a laptop. I think that's something we should look into. I don't know that (the current board) hasn't, but we don't have it now and we should.

Mike Venable

I feel I have some experience, and I think I know the direction we need to go. We want to benefit kids all we can.

I'd like to see that the kids in the district get the very best education, keep the best salaries we can for the staff and keep our facilities in good shape and as energy-efficient as we can.

First, we need to get our attendance percentage up, if possible.

Second, I would like to see our test scores rise. Third, I would like to see more kids going off to two-year junior colleges, using the A+ program for early credits and help with tuition.