There are seven people running for three openings on the Crookston School Board. Incumbent Mike Theis and six newcomers – Malissa Burnette, Lorri Capistran, Jaclyn Martin, Adam Schiller, Kayse Thompson, and Connie Wilkins. We asked each candidate a series of questions and their answers are below.
Tell us a little about your family.
Mike: My name is Mike Theis, I’m running for school board for the Crookston Public Schools. I came to Crookston in 1990, part of my job as a State Trooper for 33 years, and then I retired. I have two children who have gone through the Crookston School District and have graduated from Crookston schools. I have a son Jerrod, who lives with me currently, and then my daughter Gretchen, she’s finishing up her studies at NDSU, she will be a teacher in December, and I’m pretty excited about that. We live just north of town, and previously, we lived in town, so that is me in a nutshell.
Adam: My name is Adam Schiller. I am the lone parent of three kids in the district: 10th grade, 6th grade, and 3rd grade. My wife passed away roughly eight years ago. She was born and raised in Crookston and graduated in 1998, which brought us back up here. My kids are very active, and they participate in a lot of activities and sports. We live roughly ten miles south of town.
Connie: My name is Connie Wilkins. I am married to Troy, and we have two children, two boys. One just graduated from High School this last spring, and the other is in seventh grade. My husband is a farmer, and I work for an administration.
Kayse: I was born and raised in Crookston, my husband was originally from a teeny tiny town in N.D., moved to Ada when he was young and went to high school there and then moved to Crookston. We met when we worked at Holiday together and we have two kiddos. One is three years old, and one just turned 1½ just a little bit ago. Our three-year-old is actually a full-time wheelchair user, so we are trying to navigate that part of our lives now still, but we’ve been learning a lot.
Jaclyn: I have three children currently in the Crookston School District. I was born and raised in Crookston. I’ve Lived here 34 total years, left for four years to go to school and came right back.
Lorri: I am married to my husband Kevin. We have been married for 25 years, so we’ve been in the community for a long time. I have three kids in the school system, one in the high school, one in the junior high and one in the elementary.
Malissa: My family is quite large. I have five children and my husband, his name is Cory and he is from White Earth Community. I have lived in Crookston for 42 years, Cory has lived in Crookston for 15 years and we have a dog.
Why are you running for the School Board?
Mike: I’ve been on the school board for approximately five years. I want to continue to be a voice for the kids and the parents, as well as our staff and our community on the Crookston school board. I want to make sure the achievement gap is closing, that is a concern of mine as well as making sure we have productive adults when they do graduate from school. Whether it’s entering a trade or going to college, or entering the job force, I want to make sure they are prepared to have a successful life in the future, and part of that is having a good education and a good base.
Adam: I guess to be the voice of change. I’m the type of person where I really can’t express my concerns for change if I’m not the one that’s going to try and change them. As a parent of three kids in the district, at one point, I had a kid in every building, so I got to see the inner workings of everyone, and there are some things in this district that, as a parent, I’m concerned about. Safety and the quality product that we turn out. I think at the end of the day, we are in the customer service business, and we have to serve the students first and foremost, but also the families and the parents. I’m concerned that we are ok just being ok and we can’t do that.
Connie: I feel that I am a good asset to the community. I want to give back to the community, and I have a strong belief in education. I want to support the kids and the staff. I don’t jump to conclusions; I look at all aspects and what’s best for everybody as a whole.
Kayse: I really learned a lot in the last three years since my daughter was born, how to advocate for her and us and what we value as far as her healthcare, and now we are entering this new chapter of school, so I want to be able to put those skills to use to advocate for her and other kids. Not everyone is always thinking, what makes this more accessable or inclusive for all the kids.
Jaclyn: I have an elementary education degree so education is very important to me, it’s a passion of mine. Also, having kids in the district I kind of want to be a voice for not just my kids but all kids, students, community, and I think I’m a very level-headed thinker and again I think with my background I would be a good fit on the school board.
Lorri: I received a lot of encouragement from friends and family, so that’s kinda what got me thinking about it, but I truly care a lot about the kids in our district, and hopefully, I can bring a parent’s perspective to the board if I’m elected.
Malissa: I am running for the school board to add some diversity and a little bit of culture. I would like to see a little culture on the board. I want to be able to advocate for any individual that needs advocating for, our students, our teachers, our school board members, our community members, parents, for everybody. I feel like transparency is huge and there are a lot of questions about just what goes on on the school board. I like to utilize my voice and be a voice for other people.
Do you have any previous experience that would help you with this position?
Mike: Probably my most relevant experience is that I’ve had two kids that have gone through the Crookston School District. They have been through all three building and I have been an active parent, I’ve gone through conferences and all those types of things. The other part of my experience is, I have been a Crookston school board member for five years, I’ve been on the finance committee where we talk about budgetary items, the negotiations committee, which deals with the employees and making sure we compensate our employees fairly. As well as that I do assist with policies and procedures at the Crookston Schools. I’ve taken school board classes and just recently started driving school bus for the Crookston Schools.
Adam: I was a full-time firefighter for the Grand Forks Fire Department; I “retired” last year to better serve my kids and have a schedule that fits better. I started our own farm from scratch in 2012 and farmed for 10 years. So, just the management, the fiscal responsibility, understanding how to write out a budget—I’m a parent, and I think that’s probably the biggest one.
Connie: I am in administration, and I have recently been on the board for my church, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. I served a four-year term there. I helped out with the Nite to Unite and have been a committee member almost since the beginning.
Kayse: I guess the main thing I would like to bring to the table is like I said, my experience in advocating for my kiddo and then also with my role at RiverView as the Finance Director, one thing we really try to do is try to get more funding for the people we serve, and I would really like to bring that to the school as well. What Grants or other funding opportunities can we look at so the school board can continue to serve all kids in our community? I really want to help get the school fully equipped to serve all the kids.
Jaclyn: I do have probably 15 plus years of coaching, mentoring, and leading youth, so I think kind of just bringing that to the table with be a little bit different side of hearing, seeing, and what kids are saying, what they are looking at, what they want to see at their school too. It’s about a voice for our kids.
Lorri: I have been actively involved in PTOs in Washington and Highland Schools for a long time since my kids were little, so I feel like volunteering my time, helping raise funds for the kids and the teachers, and just being an actively involved parent in the schools will be helpful to know what’s going on and the issues that teachers, staff, and kids are facing.
Malissa: My only real previous experience that comes with being on a board is I’ve been on the Blue Line Club Board now for the past couple of years, and I was actually nominated for that one, so I feel like there was a want somewhere, sometime for that. Being a mom of five kids, going to school in Crookston myself. I’ve had two successfully graduate from school and go on to do great things, and three more continue to go through our school district.
Any issues or topics you are concerned about?
Mike: Probably the biggest one that affects everybody, including schools, is budget and taxes. That is probably the biggest thing right now is that we are looking at a more than likely red budget for next year. That means a deficit budget; we will probably have to make some cuts and make sure we do them in the best interest of our school and our students. The other thing, we need to communicate with our parents and our students better. We have been increasing our use of Facebook, we have been talking one-on-one, and having our teachers talk to parents one-on-one to be able to help close that achievement gap for our students. I want to bring our test scores up so we are just more than a ok school, or a mediocre school, I want to be an excellent school.
Adam: I think looking back, we as a district have been ok with being mediocre. I really want us to be good, if not great, and kind of break the stigma of meh, we’re ok. The whole thing as a big picture, we are ok being ok and I don’t want to do that anymore.
Connie: Just education in general. I know there are a lot of people who have moved from the Crookston School District, and from what I’ve heard, some people think that sports is just too emphasized, and they feel we need to get back to the education part.
Kayse: So far our experience at Washington School with School Readiness has been incredible. I’ve read a lot of horror stories, and going into the first IEP Meeting, I had my guard up and was ready to go, but it was completely unnecessary. Everyone was great, and there were things that other people in the room brought up that I hadn’t thought of, and we are very excited about the new playground. I was a little bummed when I found out she wasn’t going to be going to preschool at Highland, but Gina Gunderson got some really great mats on the playground and that was really awesome. So far, our experience has been great. Another thing that I think is super important in this time in our world is I guess, our students mental health. I know that the school does have mental health resources, but I think that we can expand that or work with community partners.
Jaclyn: I do really like our new cell phone policy that we put into place. Would I like to see that become more strict, absolutely. I look back to when I was in school and we were all around the lunchroom, the lunchroom and cafeteria were loud. We were talking together. Now you walk in there, and there are kids on their phones, staring at a screen, sending memes or texts right next to each other. I also think that would help bullying a little bit to, with the ability for kids to be taking videos or pictures, let’s just let kids be kids again. That is something that I am very passionate about, I love that we are doing that. I think we are on the right path.
Lorri: Oh, I’m sure there are lots that will come our way. I just want to be able to see our kids have a good education when they get out of school, have good, well-rounded experiences, and go on to be productive citizens in our society. I feel like it all starts in our schools and theres many challenges that we must face and just doing the best we can to meet their needs and help them succeed in the future.
Malissa: Right now I guess I would say we are struggling with numbers. The class sizes continue to get smaller, the things that are being offered to the kids in school at this point are dwindling. This year my daughter isn’t taking Spanish she is taking German. Also figuring out what every individuals role is in the school system.
Is there anything you want the voters to know?
Mike: Over the last five years that I’ve been a school board member, I have talked to many, many parents. I’m always available. I have my cell phone and email out there. If you have a concern, we may not necessarily agree, but we will talk about it, and we will come to a consensus about how we should go forward in the best interest of your student and the district. It’s important that parents have input, and I am always available and willing to discuss things.
Adam: Those that know me know me for who I am, those that don’t,ask. I will gladly sit down with anybody and have a conversation about anything with anyone from A to Z when it comes to anything involving the schools.
Connie: I just hope that if I am elected, I will do the community well and be a good advocate. That’s my goal.
Kayse: One other thing that is really important to me is getting community involvement and engagement with the school. I think it feels like we have a lot of segregation like the school is one entity, the city is one entity, community groups, and whatnot. Everybody feels really separated, and I feel like we can all work together a lot better.
Jaclyn: I just want to be a little more involved in what I have been. Being a parent of children in the district, having that educational background, and just being that positive voice would be a really good fit for the board.
Lorri: As I said before, I really care about the kids. I would like to be a parent voice on the board, and I would just appreciate your vote.
Malissa: Vote for me. That’s it. Just vote for me.
