For the first time in recent memory, Ignacio School District voters will choose school board members in the Nov. 3 election. Three board seats are open. There are eight candidates.
Board member Agnes Sanchez is seeking re-election. Board president Toby Roderick and board member Troy Webb are term-limited.
Ballots were mailed to active registered voters this week. The election is being handled by the County Clerk's Office in La Plata and Archuleta Counties.
Along with Sanchez, candidates are Kelly McCaw, Cindy Dale, Doug Little, Michael Montoya, Germaine Ewing, Yvonne Conley-Chapman, and Jay Dee Brunson. Sanchez, Dale, and Little are former edcators.
The Ignacio High School Student Council will host a candidate forum on Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the new IHS auditorium.
Agnes Sanchez
Sanchez said she graduated from Ignacio "thousands of years ago," then went to Trinidad Junior College, the University of Rhode Island, and then to Connecticut. She taught for one year in New York state, a very small K-12 school on an island, and then 32 years in Connecticut.
"In Connecticcut I was involved in curriculum development, standards, professional development, minority recruitment, diversity training for students." She taught business, finance, and technology.
She retired in 2010. She and her husband came back to the property near Arboles that they've owned since the 1970s. "I ran for the board because my cousin Chris Ribera was leaving the board and he suggested I should run." That was four years ago.
"My goal was to decrease the dropout rate, make students more successful, find out what teachers need and give it to them so they can do a great job," she said. "I ask where the money is going, are we spending it wisely. I'm about empowering students because I've seen what it can do. ... I think we can benefit from getting students involved and helping solve local problems."
She would like more internships and career preparation for students, "building skills for work versus taking courses. Today, one in four finish college. Where do the others go? I was chairman of the applied education department. Kids learned life-long skills. I did a lot of career awareness, the behind the scenes stuff."
Sanchez lists Ignacio's biggest challenge as "continuing to increase the quality of education, getting kids motivated to learn for the sake of learning, helping teachers acquire the skills to do that."
Asked about improvements she'd like to see, Sanchez said, "One of the biggest weaknesses I see is parent apathy, lack of involvement. Kids need parent involvement all the way through high school. ... How do we help so parents can be more involved." She also would like more open lines of communication between board members and the community.
Sanchez has three grown children. "I have lots of nieces and nephews going to school in Ignacio. Some are great-nieces and nephews," she said.
Doug Little
Little taught industrial arts and drivers ed for many years in Ignacio schools and coached football, track, and wrestling. He is retired now but drives a bus for SUCAP. He and wife Joyce Marie do not have children. They have lived in the district since 1973, although Doug spent a lot of time in Illinois from 1994 to 2012 helping aging family members.
He said he is running for the board because, "I just want to get involved and keep improving the schools. The dream would be to have the district in a state that everybody would want to model after. I think they are working that way right now."
As for skills he would brring to the board, he said, "I think I would be a good team member on the board because I have coached" and knows the value of teamwork.
He lists finances and meeting state demands as the district's biggest challenges. "Everything you want to do costs money," he said.
He'd like to see more preparation for kids for jobs and everyday lives, more career exploration opportunities. "Everything right now is based on getting a kid into college," he said. "Everybody isn't going to college." And those who do may change career choices. Career exploration and internships could avert students changing out of a career path halfway through college.
"We have to make it fun for kids to come to school, so they want to come," he said.
Kelly McCaw
McCawgrew up in Bayfield and has lived in the Ignacio School District for 20 years. Her two sons have gone to Ignacio schools since kindergarten and are now in the high school. Husband Ed McCaw served two terms on the school board and was board president.
"I've been on the DAC (District Accountability Committee) for 12 years and chair for 10 years, and on building accountability committees for 10 years," she said. She has done a lot of volunteer work in the classroom, especially when her sons were in the elementary grades, she said. She organizes the academic banquet for students with a 3.5 gpa or better. She was an organizer for the Ignacio YAFL team for four years.
She is running for the board "because I've been on the DAC for 12 years and wanted to get to the next step, keep the district moving forward. The schools offer lots of opportunity. It's up to students and parents to take advantage of that." Ignacio schools offer things that other schools don't, McCaw said. Her son is taking classes at Fort Lewis College while at IHS.
McCaw lists the budget as the district's biggest challenge. "It seems like every year things are cut from state and federal funding. Every time you add a teacher, you add a huge financial burden."
She doesn't see any specific thing that needs improving in the district, although there's always room for improvement. "I will base decisions on facts, not my emotions," she said. "There are a lot of great staff and administrtors in the district. People expect the schools to raise and discipline their kids. It's more than educating." Families and students should know that education is a privilege, she said.
Yvonne Conley-Chapman
Conley-Chapman grew up in the district and went to Ignacio schools K-12. Then she moved to Washington state and started a family. They moved here in 2010. She has one student at the high school and one at the mid school. She says she spent about three years substituting in the district and now works at an orthodontist office in Durango.
She said she is running for the board "mainly because my kids are there, and I heard there hadn't been an election in many years" because there weren't more candidates than open board seats. "I thought about it last time, but I didn't have the time. I'm amazed at the lack of involvement by parents in the school. I want to be involved."
Asked what skills she would bring to the board, Conley-Chapman said, "I've been in leadership positions in most of my career; communication, working with other people, I have kids in the school, I'm already involved. ... I think I'm fairly knowledgeable about the community. A lot of the issues are the same as when I was here before."
The district's biggest challenge is "growing pains" from increased enrollment, she said. "It's a good thing, but it presents some challenges with the financial situations all schools are facing."
On needed improvements, she said, "I think the high school has the most opportunity to step up its game. One thing that was there when I was there was advanced classes. I'd like to see more vocational programs. We're trying to put kids in a box and have them all come out the same." She wants "more advanced classes to meet all the kids' needs so they can graduate and be successful. That doesn't mean college." She also listed job internships. She supports sharing classes with other districts and the college "so kids have something that lights their fire."
Cindy Dale
Dale has lived in the community for 15 years. She and her husband moved here from Tucson, Ariz. She worked as a substitute in the district for six years, then taught PE at the high school and then at the elementary school. She retired in May.
"I say I had six careers, now five: blown glass, farmer, bee keeper, river guide in the Grand Canyon, and now back as a substitute," Dale said. "If I gain a seat on the school board, that wouldn't be allowed. I've been teaching for 22 years."
She has never had biological kids in the district schools, but as an educator she says she's probably had a thousand.
Dale is running for the board "as a life-long educator, knowing there will be a place for me to have a positive influence on our educational system here. I think we've come a long way in a lot of positive ways in the last three years. I was on the citizens planning committee for the elementary school."
She continued, "One of my passions as an educator was to develop a community garden at the school. We got a grant from BP and built a greenhouse at the old IES. We moved it to the new school, and one of my passions is to get it back on its feet." She also wants "to support teachers who've become good friends, knowing the triumphs and struggles they face every day, to support the teachers and the children."
As for district improvements, Dale said, "I'd like to see appropriate class sizes at the elementary. The foundation (for learning) starts in primary and elementary school."
Germaine Ewing
Ewing grew up in Southwest Colorado and graduated from high school in Pagosa Springs in 1982. She lives in the Archuleta County part of Ignacio School District. She has three children who went to school in Ignacio. She also has two older step-children and one grandchild. She has worked for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in the Natural Resources Division for about 18 years.
She said she has experience with boards, policies and procedures, and local government. She has been involved with the Ignacio FFA and athletic booster clubs.
She's running for the board "because I hope to be able to make a difference in the community. I see the individuals that work for the district need a very sound board to bring balance to the district, and I hope to be able to help with that." She clarified, "The superintendent supervises the teachers as well as the principals. I'd like to bring some common goals and objectives down through the chain of command."
Ewing said she will bring "sound practical judgment on policies and procedures, things that make sense. If it doesn't make sense and you can't enforce it, it's just a piece of paper." She also wants to improve the district's scholastic rating back to what she says it used to be, so parents are proud to send their kids.
Challenges she sees for the district are "budget cuts, meeting the needs of students, the courses students need for college, diversified classes as well as core classes, so students can be successful community members." She also lists keeping students interested and productive, making sure the curriculum meets today's needs for students to be successful, and concentrating on core classes.
"I think the school district has done well for itself building this beautiful school. We need to bring grades and other things into balance so it's not just a beautiful school," she said.
Jay Dee Brunson
Brunson is maintenance supervisor at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds. He was born in Salt Lake City in 1972 and moved to Pagosa Springs in 6th or 7th grade. He graduated from there, then travelled around quite a bit before coming back to this area. He has lived in the Ignacio School District since 2005. He is married with two daughters in Ignacio schools and a toddler.
Brunson said he has volunteered with the school wrestling program, and he helped build the greenhouse at the elementary school. He said he's very involved with his kids' education.
He said running for the board was a last-minute decision. "When I was first approached about it, I kind of shrugged it off, but the more I thought about it, I have an investment in the schools, my two wonderful daughters. We have some great teachers, good administrators. I'd love to help. I'm running for the kids and the teachers."
Asked about skills he would bring to the board, Bruning said, "I'm pretty level-headed. I think I'm here for the right reasons, no personal agendas. I'd be a work in progress, but I feel I could help." He also said, "I know what a budget is." He said he'll come onto the board with a lot to learn, but, "I have a willingness to keep learning. I'm a team player, and I'll defend my decision, but I respect the views of others as well. I'm just good at communicating with people. ... It starts with us as parents."
He cited test scores as a district challenge, and especially the district's overall rating that comes out once a year. He called that the bottom line. "All the beautifful schools in the world don't matter if we aren't cutting the grade," he said.
Aside from test scores and the district's overall rating, improvements he'd like to see are more consistency in things like discipline and attendance, with all students treated the same way.
Michael Montoya
Montoya was born in Albuquerque. He went to school in Massachussetts and in Washington state and graduated from high school in Redmond, Wash., where they had a business program. He earned a BA in business administration from the College of Santa Fe in Santa Fe NM. He moved to Ignacio around 17 years ago and has been revenue auditor at Sky Ute Casino for around 12 years. He is married with two kids in the elementary school.
His main school involvement has been going to parent-teacher conferences. He helped at the Head Start when his kids were there.
Montoya is running for the board "because they have all these new buildings, and I was hoping to help with the educational part, improve standards, get more students interested in going to college, improve the status of Ignacio schools. I want students to have all the opportunities they need to pursue whatever interests they have."
For skills he would bring to the board, he lists decision making. "I listen to all points of view before I make a decision, to make the best possible decision. I do as much research as possible before making decisions." He also listed, "goal setting, make sure we keep improving as a school district."
He lists parent involvement as the district's biggest challenge, also, "getting people together with a common vision of where we need to go as a district, instead of infighting, personal vendettas. Work for the greater good."
The improvement he'd like to see is "overall academic scores, variety of academic programs, more focus on academic versus sports. I just want to create an environment for learning."
