The Eagle View PAC presented four questions to the School Board candidates: Don Dvorak, Marty Beckius, Trista Robischon and Jerry Walerius. The questions were:

1. How would you further enhance communication with community members/parents living outside of New Prague, particularly Elko New Market and Lonsdale?


2. Community Education has made great strides to implement various activities/sports and classes for the Elko New Market area and Eagle View students. How would you suggest allowing more expanded sports and classes to Eagle View students? Also, the Middle School and High School sports and allied arts are held in New Prague. Any suggestions to assist students living outside of New Prague in regards to transporting? The bus ride is long for middle and high school students.


3. Any thought on maintaining proper language on the bus? Currently, the use of inappropriate language on the bus is heard routinely. Can we make the students held more accountable for the use of improper language on the bus? Can the same be enforced that it does on school grounds?


4. Lastly how would you approach further possibility of building a middle school in Elko New Market?

We received responses from Trista Robischon and Jerry Walerius. They are below.

Responses from Jerry Walerius

• Q-1: In New Prague board members along with the superintendent have successfully held gatherings at local coffee shops to hear concerns of the community. I would also think that would work well in E-NM-L area. It would take someone in the area to help set it up with the school board. The EV newsletter would be a great way to communicate with the parents in the area. Perhaps a question or an item of the month that we could respond to.


• Q-2: The Community Ed program is self sustaining so it eventually should operate no differently than in New Prague. It may take time however. If there is enough interest in a program so that Community Ed can recover its costs we should be able to implement that program provided the school has the space available.
  
  As for transporting students after activities the budget is always a concern. Remember our district covers a less populated area 10 miles to the west of New Prague. We would be obligated to serve their needs also. Given our current budget that would not be the most efficient use of our funds. However the school board is always open to suggestions.


• Q-3: The proper way to address this would be to approach the transportation director or the principal of the school where the students attend to see if it can be corrected. Perhaps as a last resort assigned seating may have to take place on these bus routes.


• Q-4: The school board will have to monitor the growth in the school district. If the growth is in the E-NM-L area and since we own land next to EV it would make the most sense to build there. I would also encourage the community in becoming engaged in the upcoming school board election and being more involved in an operating levy that probably will be brought forward in 2-3 years. Participation needs to be greater in the E-NM-L area than it was 2 years ago.

Responses from Trista Robischon

• Q-1: We have a very diverse population and I think that our communication has to be very diverse as well, stretching from newpapers, not limited to the New Prague Times, newsletters, our website, as well as online forums such as Facebook, or alternate interactive sites to achieve a more "action-oriented" approach to communication. In attending the PAC meetings this fall for all the elementary schools, I think these meetings are a great way to share information. I think it would be very beneficial to hold a district 721 PAC meeting, to share successes, best practices and challenges and increase inter-district cooperation, understanding of issues and build unity. It would help to bridge the current gap in communication between New Prague, Elko New Market, Lonsdale and outlying areas. We need to get creative so that we can involve the entire community, not only parents, faculty and staff. In my conversations with Superintendent Menozzi, communication is very important to him and I am in complete agreement. I feel that with his leadership and support and assistance from others, especially the board, we can greatly expand the current communication levels and mediums.


• Q-2: Community Ed is finding great success with the current programs being offered at Eagle View, in my conversation with Amy Eich, (Director, Family & Community Services) it is her full intention to increase the offerings at Eagle View. I think that the current Community Ed survey will also assist in finding interest and input into activities offered and locations. If you have not already done so, please participate in the survey. http://isd721.org/commed/
  
  Growing up in a small consolidated school district myself, there was busing after sports/arts activities between schools. This is an area that I still have many questions, but I think that it can be explored and discussed to find out how many students would benefit from such a service, there may have to be some coordination between activities in order to make it feasible to have a bus from the middle school to Eagle View Elementary. I understand the challenges of being 20 minutes from the sports/arts facilities in New Prague, as well as the dynamics of a family always on the run for activities. I think it is a fair question deserving exploration.


• Q-3: The same standards for behavior/language do apply on buses as on school grounds. Student Discipline Policy 506 (can be found on the district website under policies). I know that the bus drivers have a difficult and important job of transporting our students safely to and from school, the drivers really need to focus on the road and safety. If there are consistent problems of behavior on a bus, there may be a need to have someone ride along and supervise. I also think that this policy needs to be enforced on the buses if it is not currently being done, or if the drivers are just unable to hear or see language/behavior, or just unable to deal with it while carrying out their job. I think it should be discussed with the bus co, for further review with the drivers in order to find a way to enforce proper bus behavior.


• Q-4: Several things need to happen in the process to begin building a new middle school. I know that the current middle school is nearing capacity, and we are using the CEC building for overflow. The costs of building, as well as operating a school are very high. This is a very financial decision, making timing crucial. The board is already in the planning process, and I forsee the new middle school being built as planned near Eagle View. We have the land and we see the population growth in that area of our district. By building on this site, it may also feed the school open enrolled students who may otherwise enroll elsewhere, and return students to our district that may have previously chosen to open enroll elsewhere. During this economy, we are seeing many schools in the metro area closing due to capacity and operating costs. Here, we are not closing schools, but planning to grow and build. It is an exciting time for us, but we must proceed with caution, with the cuts being made at the state and federal level to education, we have to be confident that we can support it before we build it.