SAMUEL LEDESMA
Occupation: Provider/Owner of Four Seasons of Adrian LLC Group Home
Age: 31
Education: High School Diploma from Butler R-V
Civic Activities:
Adrian Lions Club, Mid 2021-current; Lily’s House Board Member, 2017-2020
Candidate Questions and Answers:
What are your reasons for running for the Board position, and what do you feel is essential that we understand about you?
I have been an active member in this community behind the scenes. Although I have younger children, I have seen the education this year through my newly adopted son in high school. I fear it is far too easy to blame a teacher for poor grades, but also understand that my student is being taught by teachers who are tired and overworked. These are my two main concerns and it seems we have become complacent with complaining loudly, but take no action for change.
What do you see as the role of the school board members in relation to the children, teachers, and administrators, and patrons of the district?
My role will be to listen, gather data, engage and speak for all listed above. I understand all of the working parts of a business and community. I will do my best to bring a common sense solution even if it does not fit my thinking. There will be unhappy people, but my goal will remain keeping the future of Adrian’s educational system top level.
Aside from Covid, what obstacles do you see that teachers are facing in today’s work environment causing them to leave the profession and how do you plan to try to prevent that from happening at Adrian?
Although our local community shows support, I fear that is not enough for teachers. The expectations are high, but resources are not there. Teachers, parents, and children all have needs and the goal is to bring everyone together and find solutions. This has not been easy for anyone, but the time for blame is over and we need active community members with solutions even if I am not elected..
What would be your plan of action if a few parents, teachers, or community members voiced a complaint to you?
With all problems empathy and understanding. Bringing concerns to the floor and working on solutions rather than pushing.
What are your goals for the Adrian School District in regard to students, staff, administration and facilities?
The students receiving the best education, the teachers receiving support, and the administration working on keeping teachers and children engaged and learning. We of course want the best facilities, but without our teachers they will be empty buildings.
What do you perceive as the primary strengths of the Adrian R-III District?
Adrian R-III has seen many changes and still the district shows their support and love for students and teachers. At times we struggle but overall the teachers and admin come together and overcome. We may not agree but we have not failed. There is no other option and the district continues to show its resilience each year.
What strengths would you as a board member bring to the Adrian R-III District?
I have successfully run a business for adults with ID, managed 35 employees, fostered/adopted children, worked on a board, organized fundraisers, grown our business, engaged the community and continue to raise 4 children under 7 years old. With all of these hats I still want to work for the district in any way possible. Like the district, I have no option but to succeed. I am not doing this for me. I am only here to keep Adrian R-III a successful district.
What is your philosophy or approach to school financial management? What financial experience do you have?
Adrian R-III deserves the best in all aspects. However, the priority would be the students. If that means teachers need new items, we should work on that. This does not mean over spending. There has got to be a little give if we want to take. Before spending is decided we need all the options and information first.
What do you feel needs to be done in order to hire and retain highly qualified educators?
Support! Financial, emotional, moral, informational, and tangible support. The current environment teachers are in prevents new applicants. We have to support each other to build an environment with existing educators to show new educators they won’t just be lost in the noise.
What ideas/thoughts do you have to help prevent staff burnout and maintain a positive work environment?
You will never prevent staff burnout, but you can identify it and work on a solution. Until you create a supportive work environment and retain and grow, burnout will happen. But we have to help the staff before we give our attention to new staff. If we do not we could hire as many staff as we want, but our core will leave and we will start all over.
KRIS SAATHOFF
Occupation: Budget Analyst
Age: 37
Education: Bachelor’s of Science in Finance from the University of Central Missouri
Civic Activities:
Adrian R-3 School Board Member since 2019. Board Treasurer since 2020.
Adrian Lions Club 2012 – Today. Lions Club President 2013 – 2014 and 2019 – 2020
Adrian United Methodist Church Treasurer 2016 - 2019
Scout Troop 238 leader and Chartered Organization Representative 2019 - Today
Pack 238 Leader 2013 - 2019 & Chartered Organization Representative 2022 - Today
Adrian Community Library Board Member 2021 - Today
Church Youth Group Leader
Youth sports coach
Candidate Questions and Answers:
What are your reasons for running for the Board position, and what do you feel is essential that we understand about you?
I am running to help ensure that the Adrian School District continues to be the kind of high quality school in the future as it has been in the past. I have 5 kids ranging from Preschool through 8th grade, and am therefore deeply invested in the long term success of our school. Not only do I feel that we need to attract and retain the highest quality of teacher, but we need to also make sure to provide a wide variety of extracurricular activities for students with all kinds of interests.
What do you see as the role of the school board members in relation to the children, teachers, and administrators, and patrons of the district?
First and foremost, it is the board’s responsibility to do whatever it can to provide the best possible education to the students of our school district. In order to provide a high-quality education, the board needs to strive toward having quality teachers in every classroom. The board must work to ensure that teachers are supported in many ways. Whether it is being flexible with funding for classroom or professional development needs, ensuring discipline policies are in place and being enforced, or providing teachers with the autonomy to teach their classes in ways that fit their individual skills and personalities.
Related to the administration, the board should strive to have open and honest conversations about the expectations for the operation of the school. While being willing to hold administrators accountable, the board also needs to allow the administration to operate the school based on the board-approved policies and procedures without resorting to micromanagement.
Finally, board members should be available to have conversations with patrons of the school, specifically parents of students. It is equally important as a board member to inform parents that have specific concerns related to the school of the proper procedures for addressing their issues, while also ensuring that concerns are appropriately addressed by the administration.
Aside from Covid, what obstacles do you see that teachers are facing in today’s work environment causing them to leave the profession and how do you plan to try to prevent that from happening at Adrian?
I see the biggest challenges to teacher retention as work life balance, student discipline, and of course pay.
As a board member I have supported, and would continue to support teacher input regarding the school calendar. While I believe it is important for students to have as much classroom time as possible, that classroom time is less effective if teachers are burnt out.
During my time as a board member I participated on the Behavior Task Force where staff and administration reviewed approaches to discipline with an eye toward creating consistency across the district. If re-elected I will continue to work to ensure that the district is adhering to the procedures consistently. While it is necessary that the district is consistent with the application of its discipline policies, it is also important that parents buy in. If students know that their parents will not support school decisions related to discipline, it will hamper the district’s ability to create an atmosphere of good behavior in the building.
Finally, pay is a very complex subject. While I think everyone agrees that teachers are not paid enough, related to the importance and difficulty of the job they do, it is not as simple as just saying that we are going to increase staff pay by x% in any given year. The school board and administration have to consider maintenance and possible expansion of the facilities, staffing levels, benefit costs, and many other items. In addition to future expenses, consideration must be given to possible changes in revenue locally all the way through the federal level. As a board member I would continue to encourage the administration to find ways to put additional money in the pockets of teachers. Over the last several years we have found ways to increase teacher pay, but it is important that it continues to be seriously considered each year.
What would be your plan of action if a few parents, teachers, or community members voiced a complaint to you?
During my time as a board member, my first step when a complaint has been brought to me is to try to be a good listener to better understand the problem. I then always encourage communication with the teacher or staff member, in writing. The next step is to address the issue with the staff member’s supervisor if there is no resolution after trying to work directly with the staff member. If the direct supervisor is not helping to reach a resolution, then the issue should be brought to the Superintendent. Finally if the issue is still not resolved, I would want to know and I would address the situation with the Superintendent myself to see what needs to be done.
If a specific issue is brought to me by multiple people I would encourage those people to follow the same steps outlined above, but I would also address the issue directly with the Superintendent while that process is being worked through. When multiple people are having the same issue it is especially important to not let the problem linger if it can be addressed quickly.
What are your goals for the Adrian School District in regard to students, staff, administration and facilities?
My goal is to ensure that the Adrian School District continues to be the best school district in our area, regardless of size. We need to continue to offer a wide variety of courses, and extracurricular activities. To accomplish this, we must hire the best staff, and retain them once they are onboard. We need to support teachers by offering competitive salaries and benefits, having and following a sound disciplinary plan, and ensuring that class sizes are manageable.
In order to properly support teachers, we must have a great administrative team that supports the teachers by properly disciplining students when necessary, ensuring teachers have the proper tools to teach their classes, and putting teachers in a position to be successful by having them in classes that match their strengths.
Regarding facilities, we need to make sure we are properly utilizing and maintaining the space that we have while continuing to plan for the long term. In the past few years, we have built an extension to the school for the Ag and FFA programs, are currently building a greenhouse, updated the plumbing in the school, and renovated the gyms. We need to continue to plan for expansions or changes to the school facilities to accommodate changes in the demands of our student body while continuing to maintain what we already have so that it continues to serve the students and teachers for years to come.
What do you perceive as the primary strengths of the Adrian R-III District?
The Adrian School District has a long history of holding ourselves to a high standard. Whether it’s in the classroom or in extracurricular activities there is the expectation that we will be the best. With that said, I believe the district’s biggest strength is our community. While we have great teachers and students, it’s the expectations and support of the community that ensures that we continue to be a great school. While the community has high expectations and shows support by attending events, they also support the school financially. In the last 3 years the community has voted to pass a bond issue and tax levy. The passage of those two ballot issues allowed the district to expand and improve our facilities, and also helped us to be able to increase teacher and support staff pay.
What strengths would you as a board member bring to the Adrian R-III District?
I feel that my biggest strength as a board member is my ability to think objectively as I am making decisions related to the school. In my first year as a board member, the district was exploring various changes to the school calendar. My initial personal preference was that we go to a 4-day school week, because I assumed the benefits of the long weekends would be good for the kids and the teachers. After exploring the issue and listening to feedback from parents and teachers I was convinced that my preference was a bad plan, and I voted to continue with a 5-day school week while modifying the hours to better accommodate the needs of staff.
I also believe that I ask tough questions of the administration while encouraging creative thinking. I have emphasized that when we find areas of struggle in the school that we should pursue innovative ways to improve. We should find the teachers that are particularly passionate about subjects and give them the freedom to find new and improved ways to teach. If those new methods turn out to be improvements, we should spread that throughout the school.
What is your philosophy or approach to school financial management? What financial experience do you have?
I am fairly conservative in my philosophy to school financial management. While I would love to increase staff salaries by 10% per year, I do realize that all changes to pay carry on forever. Unfortunately, there is massive uncertainty about what the future holds as it relates to funding for public education, especially at the state level. While large annual increases to pay are my preference, consideration also must be given to the long-term financial health of the district.
I have a degree in finance, and I work as a budget analyst, so I spend every day working with finances. Currently I am the primary person responsible for the formulation of a $300M annual budget. In the past I was responsible for tracking the execution of the same $300M budget, ensuring that funding was available for all the expenses necessary to operate my organization. In all I have around 10 years of experience in reviewing, researching, and reporting on the financial position of a very large Information Technology organization. In addition to my job I have served as the school board’s treasurer for the last 2 years, and I was the treasurer for my church for 2.5 years. I serve on boards for scouting and the Adrian Community Library where regular financial review is necessary.
What do you feel needs to be done in order to hire and retain highly qualified educators?
First, the school district has to offer competitive pay and benefits in order to attract the best educators. Once those educators are on board, the district must provide a supportive environment for them. Teachers need to know that they are valued, we take their professional development seriously, we are going to try to ensure that they do not have an overwhelming teacher to student ratio, we are going to make sure they have the tools they need to succeed, and that we have their backs in tough situations. They need to believe that the administration and school board will hold people accountable for their actions. Whether those people are students, other teachers, or members of the administration or board themselves.
What ideas/thoughts do you have to help prevent staff burnout and maintain a positive work environment?
We need to explore ways to enable teachers to do more of their work while they are “on the clock.” It is commonly accepted, and I think it has been for a long time, that teachers will have to do work on their own time. Maybe that will always be true to some extent, but as a district we should be able to come up with some creative ways to help ease that burden on teachers’ noncontract time. We also need to ensure that if a teacher is not performing to expectations that we hold them accountable. In any organization a negative environment is created when standards are different for different individuals. Finally, we need to hold students accountable for their actions. Teachers should be treated with respect, and if students are being disrespectful there needs to be repercussions.
CHRIS BRIDGES
Occupation: Day Ahead Planner
Age: 43
Education: BSBA from the University of Central Missouri, MBA from Baker University
Civic Activities:
Adrian R-III School Board 2017-2018 (I had to step down when we relocated for my work)
Candidate Questions and Answers:
What are your reasons for running for the Board position, and what do you feel is essential that we understand about you?
I am running for the Adrian-III School Board to help ensure that the children of this community are provided the best education possible. I hope people understand that I'm a level headed person whose main driver is to help this school district be the best it can be..
What do you see as the role of the school board members in relation to the children, teachers, and administrators, and patrons of the district?
I feel strongly that the school board's first responsibility is to the children that attend Adrian R-III, ensuring that they have the best opportunity to learn and grow that can be offered. The school board should also represent the people of the community that voted them in, rather than serving their own self interests. The board should help guide the direction of the administration while looking out for the staff, especially helping to retain talented staff.
Aside from Covid, what obstacles do you see that teachers are facing in today’s work environment causing them to leave the profession and how do you plan to try to prevent that from happening at Adrian?
Personally, I think the biggest obstacle to teachers leaving the profession are parents that no longer expect their kids to be held accountable and instead want to blame teachers for their children's own bad behavior and/or performance. My hope is to help staff feel empowered to do their jobs without fear of retaliation from administration anytime a parent files a complaint, instead helping to first understand the circumstances surrounding said complaint - essentially I feel there is currently a guilty until proven innocent approach in education that I hope to help change.
What would be your plan of action if a few parents, teachers, or community members voiced a complaint to you?
My first response would be to listen and then ask a lot of questions, both of the person(s) voicing the complaint and the target of said complaint. Ideally there would be a middle ground to be found. As a school board member I would try to find the best solution and bring that to the board/administration.
What are your goals for the Adrian School District in regard to students, staff, administration and facilities?
To answer that simply: I want this to be the best school district around. I would like to see graduation rates as close to 100% as possible with the highest success rate attainable, be that kids going on to study at a university, community college, or trade school. I would like to see high test scores for all grade levels. Ideally when a person is looking to move, they would go to a website like GreatSchools, look at Adrian's high rating and think this is a destination for their family.
For the staff and administration I want the same: high achieving people with a desire to help this district be a leader among all others. I believe strongly that we should find and retain great staff at all levels. As stated above, I feel we should empower teachers to do their jobs and ensure that administration is helping move us forward.
Regarding facilities, my hope would be to have top notch facilities across the board, whether we're talking STEM, Ag, band or athletics. Realistically I understand that finances come into play when it comes to facilities. At a minimum I think we should provide a safe, inclusive environment for our students and staff while working to keep a competitive edge at all times.
What do you perceive as the primary strengths of the Adrian R-III District?
First and foremost, I think the primary strength of Adrian R-III is the sense of community. In my opinion few school districts have the "all-in" support from the community that Adrian enjoys year round. Maybe if a school's baseball team is competing for a championship that district is bought in. In Adrian, I feel like the community is ”all-in” year round. I think "Blackhawk Pride" is a tangible thing that is the envy of other area schools.
For me personally, I think the other obvious strength is Adrian's quality of education. I say it's personal because when my children were born we lived in Butler. Once school became a thought my wife and I were determined to get into Adrian's school district because of their stellar reputation. That is the main thing I hope to help continue and cultivate as a school board member.
What strengths would you as a board member bring to the Adrian R-III District?
I think my main strength is my measured approach. I won't make a rash decision, I won't make judgment calls and I certainly won't use this position to further my own agenda. As stated above, my number one goal is to provide the best learning environment for the children of Adrian R-III.
What is your philosophy or approach to school financial management? What financial experience do you have?
I believe we should take a conservative, measured approach to school finances, looking for areas of growth under the right circumstances. We can't be afraid to take risks but we can't chase long shots either. Personally, I have managed a business with $400 million in revenues, although I don't know how applicable that is to a public school district.
What do you feel needs to be done in order to hire and retain highly qualified educators?
As I've said already, I feel like we need to empower staff to do their best jobs. I'm afraid that in this day and age we're afraid to hold kids accountable, resulting in teachers approaching their jobs out of fear. Teachers should be emboldened to hold kids accountable without fear of reprisal for doing so. Ideally we would find a way to compete with larger school districts to retain high quality staff as well, but I understand that being a public school there are some financial limitations within which we must work. I would like to see the culture at Adrian improved to the point where it's a destination and not a stepping stone to a bigger district though.
What ideas/thoughts do you have to help prevent staff burnout and maintain a positive work environment?
This feels like something I would work with staff to better understand before answering. I have a corporate job that presents different challenges and I don't want to pretend to understand the stressors that teachers feel without first consulting them. I do however know that in my job I've tried to contribute to a positive culture and a sense of camaraderie that I feel crosses all boundaries, regardless of profession. I hope I could help strengthen Adrian's culture in that regard.
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RONNIE DENNISON
Occupation: Elevator Constructor, and Firefighter
Age: 43
Education: Ballard R2 Graduate, Elevator apprenticeship through NEIP
Civic Activities:
Firefighter for the Adrian Rural and City Fire dept. 2002 to present. Member of the Adrian Christian Church and a member of the FFA Booster Club. I volunteer with the Adrian Booster Club by grilling on Friday nights.
Candidate Questions and Answers:
What are your reasons for running for the Board position, and what do you feel is essential that we understand about you?
I would like to give a voice to the citizens that elect me. I would also like to see the great things about Adrian continue to be great. I would also like to see things become better for teachers and staff.
What do you see as the role of the school board members in relation to the children, teachers, and administrators, and patrons of the district?
The role of a school board member is to be the voice of the voting public. And be an advocate for teachers and students.
Aside from Covid, what obstacles do you see that teachers are facing in today’s work environment causing them to leave the profession and how do you plan to try to prevent that from happening at Adrian?
Low pay, not enough funding for resources, and in some cases, not being supported by parents. My goal is to see how better pay, and more funding may be obtained and passed along to the teachers. As far as more support from parents, that is a difficult one to change. But I will not hesitate to be vocal and supportive of teachers and staff to all parents of the district.
What would be your plan of action if a few parents, teachers, or community members voiced a complaint to you?
I would investigate all aspects of the complaint and take the info to fellow board members for discussion, and potential interviews with all parties involved in the complaint. At that point the board would have to make decisions based on the situation.
What are your goals for the Adrian School District in regard to students, staff, administration and facilities?
My goals are to see the possibilities of salaries increasing, and resources being more available. This will in turn make learning better for students.
What do you perceive as the primary strengths of the Adrian R-III District?
Adrian is a great school district, and our teaching staff is by far the best around in my opinion.
What strengths would you as a board member bring to the Adrian R-III District?
I am not afraid to be vocal and advocate for what is right and wrong. I have a fairly strong financial background from many management roles in my career.
What is your philosophy or approach to school financial management? What financial experience do you have?
My philosophy is, you have to pay your front line workers well, for the work they do. It all starts with the teachers. If it wasn’t for them, we would not have a school. Obviously the school district is limited in the funding it receives, but my main focus from the financial standpoint will be to try and give teachers and staff the best pay possible.My financial experience consists of many years of managing large multi million dollar service divisions in the elevator industry.
What do you feel needs to be done in order to hire and retain highly qualified educators?
As stated above, pay is a huge issue that I hear from most every teacher I know. Secondly, resources available for teachers is huge. I hear regularly how teachers have to buy classroom items out of pocket. I will do my best to see if that can be changed and provide more resources to teachers. Support for teachers is huge too. If teachers have issues, those issues need to be heard and acted upon. I feel that a lot of times, the teachers' voices are ignored. I would like to see the school board come up with and send out an anonymous survey periodically to our staff to see what issues they are facing or how they are feeling about things going on and decisions being made. I would like to have a direct line to the teachers that allows them to safely speak their minds.
What ideas/thoughts do you have to help prevent staff burnout and maintain a positive work environment?
Be supportive of teachers 100%. They are the boots on the ground, and are what makes everything happen. Listen to teachers, and try everything within our means to support their voice and concerns or ideas.
Ronnie also added: I would love to talk to any teacher, and staff to hear your thoughts, concerns, frustrations, and opinions. If I’m elected, I can assure you that I will be the best voice for the teachers, students and community that I can be. I am not afraid to be vocal and stand up for what is right. If anyone would like to ask me questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. 816-500-7880.
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BRAD FERGUSON
Occupation: Farmer
Age: 43
Education: B.S. in Agricultural Business: Sales and Marketing with a minor in Agronomy
Civic Activities:
Adrian Optimists, Masonic Lodge, Adrian Christian Church
Candidate Questions and Answers:
What are your reasons for running for the Board position, and what do you feel is essential that we understand about you?
I do not have a direct agenda for running for school board. My purpose is simply to look out for the best interest of our students, faculty, and community.
What do you see as the role of the school board members in relation to the children, teachers, and administrators, and patrons of the district?
To listen to all individuals whether it be students, staff, or community members and keep an open mind and collectively with my peers make the best educated decisions.
Aside from Covid, what obstacles do you see that teachers are facing in today’s work environment causing them to leave the profession and how do you plan to try to prevent that from happening at Adrian?
Not sure on exact obstacles. The approach should be to take them head on–not allow them to become bigger problems.
What would be your plan of action if a few parents, teachers, or community members voiced a complaint to you?
Bring it before the board.
What are your goals for the Adrian School District in regard to students, staff, administration and facilities?
MORE UNITY
What do you perceive as the primary strengths of the Adrian R-III District?
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
What strengths would you as a board member bring to the Adrian R-III District?
Not having an agenda coming on to the board.
What is your philosophy or approach to school financial management? What financial experience do you have?
To be well informed.
Experience: Operate a farm.
What do you feel needs to be done in order to hire and retain highly qualified educators?
Find the best and support them.
What ideas/thoughts do you have to help prevent staff burnout and maintain a positive work environment?
Listening to and acting on the needs of the staff.
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