Nine residents of the Emporia school district have applied for one vacant position on the board of education, according to Nancy Horst, community relations director for the district.
The deadline for submitting a letter of interest for the vacancy was noon Wednesday.
The applicants, and brief statements explaining their interest in the position, are:
Liz Conrade
Liz Conrade, 1714 Calle de Loma, community relations and admissions coordinator for in-patient rehabilitation at Newman Regional Health.
Conrade said that she has experience in education and with the school district.
“I just feel like I can bring a lot of insight to the No Child Left Behind issues and reading disabilities and learning disabilities,” Conrade said. “I did a research project at the University of Kansas on learning disabilities, and it was kind of linked to how to implement No Child Left Behind.”
The project goal was to provide resources to teachers to help them help the children who were not learning to read as quickly as they needed to, and to identify those with reading disabilities through intervention, Conrade said.
Conrade has bachelor’s degrees in business administration and Bible and theology from Barclay College in Haviland, and a master’s degree in adult continuing and vocational education from Kansas State University in Manhattan.
Ann Coulson
Ann Coulson, 1001 Woodland St., fee-only financial planner.
“I think we have very good schools in Emporia and it is due to the administration and the people who have been willing to serve on the school board before,” Coulson said. “It is a huge job and I appreciate the people who have done it. ... I think I can help make a positive contribution to continue the strong tradition of the schools. I want to see us continue to go in the manner we’ve been going.”
Coulson received her master’s degree from the University of Arkansas and her doctorate from the University of Missouri.
Jerry Fair
Jerry Fair, 630 Road 145, semi-retired certified public accountant and former school board member.
Fair said that she had not run for re-election because, although she enjoyed serving on the school board, she did not want to make a four-year commitment.
“When this came up, I thought it would give me a chance to do something I enjoyed, and I thought it might help out the board for the short term,” Fair said.
The local board previously had chosen an interim board member to replace then-member Jeffry Larsen, who resigned after he was appointed district judge in January 2007. Former member Carol Schaefer temporarily filled Larsen’s position until the next election, to avoid giving any potential candidate an advantage over others.
Fair also is willing to do the same, and serve as an interim board member until the next board election.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement from San Jose State in California and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Emporia State University.
Danny Giefer
Danny Giefer, 2918 W. Lake Drive, maintenance supervisor at Wolf Creek Nuclear Plant for 30 years and owner of several businesses in Emporia.
Giefer said that he plans to retire soon and wants to use some of his free time to become more involved in community service.
“I’ll retire in two months — 72 days to be exact. Who’s counting?” he said.
The Giefers’ two children have gone through the Emporia public school system and, he said, he is interested in maintaining quality in the educational system.
“Soon I’ll have grandchildren,” he said.
He also wants to make sure that school funds are spent wisely.
Giefer received his degree in electrical maintenance through the technical program at Pittsburg State University.
He and his family moved to Emporia in 1970.
Carol J. Krueger
Carol J. Krueger, 777 Road 200, agent with ReMax Select Realtors.
Becoming a school board member is something Krueger has thought about for some time.
“Number one, I think it may be time to use some of the experience I’ve gained as a former teacher, a parent, and now a grandparent,” she said.
As a Realtor, Krueger has seen the importance of the community’s schools first-hand as she shows houses to newcomers to Emporia.
“One of the first things they ask about is, ‘What are the taxes on this home?’ And the second question they’ll ask probably is, ‘What is the school district like?’” Krueger said.
She said there are a number of issues that challenge school districts now.
“They have to make sure that the policies and procedures meet all the legal guidelines. They also have to make sure that these policies and procedures don’t overwhelm already-overwhelmed parents,” Krueger said.
Krueger also worked statewide for eight years as a fact-finder for Kansas Department of Human Resources.
“In that capacity I was responsible for holding hearings and these were impasse disputes between public employers and public employees,” she said. “Primarily, most of those hearings were between school districts and teachers’ associations. ... So I do have some knowledge and experience as a result of those hearings.”
Krueger holds a bachelor’s degree in education from ESU.
Angela Miller
Angela Miller, 2827 West Lake Drive, manager and chief executive officer of the Emporia State Federal Credit Union.
“I have actually participated in a lot of the committees and organizations with the school district, and this is like the next step,” Miller said.
She said she has been involved with PTOs, site councils, and the boundary, calendar, and Performance-Based Budgeting committees, and currently serves on the audit committee. She also has participated in the Walnut Reading Buddies program and in a teacher in-service at the Emporia Middle School.
“I plan to continue that,” she said.
Brent H. Windsor
Brent H. Windsor, 2010 Briarcliff Lane, group product manager at Hopkins.
“I feel like we’re making good progress in meeting our No Child Left Behind responsibilities, but I do believe there’s more that we can do from an educational standpoint for preparing our students to enter more of a world economy base,” Windsor said.
He said that he often travels overseas and those opportunities to meet educated people world-wide have revealed some needs in the American educational system.
“I really see some things that we’re lacking in, as far as us being educated ... and and us being able to enter the job market with an education that makes us competitive with other industries in other countries,” Windsor said. “... I believe we need to make some huge progress in the way we educate our kids.”
“I want to make sure that, given those constraints, that we do spend our money wisely and spend it on avenues that will continue to allow us to grow.”
Windsor graduated in 1989 from Kansas State University with a degree in journalism and marketing.
Edwards and Scheller
Two additional candidates — Mickey Edwards, 2530 Monterey Drive, and Amy Scheller, 1942 Briarcliff Lane — could not be reached by press time. Their brief biographies and reasons for applying will be published later.
Applicants will have until noon Friday, Sept. 12, to complete a more-detailed application and submit it to board clerk Norma Stinnett.
School board members will interview candidates beginning at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15, at Mary Herbert Education Center. The board will meet again at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 17, to choose its new member.
The selected candidate will fill the unexpired term of Homer Garza, who resigned last month. Garza, who has taken a job out-of-town, cited his work schedule and commuting time back to Emporia as his reasons for resigning.
The appointment to the board will end on June 30, 2009.
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