Two seek to replace Wellman

There are guaranteed to be a couple of new faces on Jay School Board in 2017, as two incumbents have chosen not to run for re-election.
One of those positions involves a contested race.
Amanda Campbell and Krista Muhlenkamp, both of whom are making their first run for elected office, are competing for the District 6 seat representing Wabash, Noble, Pike and Madison townships. They are seeking to take over for Greg Wellman, who decided not to run for a fourth term.
Campbell is a 1989 graduate of Jay County High School who has worked at First Merchants Bank for 21 years. Most recently her duties have focused on commercial lending.
“I’m interested in the school system, and it’s a good time for me in my life to give back to the community,” she said.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the school corporation,” she added. “I think we’ve done a good job. I think the administration, the staff, is all doing a good job. I just want to maintain the best possible education for each student.
“I think … what I bring to the table is that I don’t have any agenda.”
Muhlenkamp grew up just across the state line in Ohio, and is a 1999 Coldwater High School graduate who earned her teaching degree at Ball State University. She spent 10 years as a teacher, including nine in Jay Schools, before stepping away from the profession to open Sunshine Boutique clothing store in Fort Recovery.
“Education is my first passion and I truly miss it,” she said. “So I feel like this is a way to still stay connected with Jay County education specifically but also do the job I’m doing now that I love.”
She added that teachers, staff and communities can sometimes feel disconnected from school boards and that she would hope to be a liaison between the two “because that is what we’re representing. We’re representing the community and making decisions based on what they want, what they need and what our kids need.”

The candidates, who both have children who are currently students in Jay Schools, sat down for individual interviews with The Commercial Review. A synopsis of their views on key issues follows.
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Building closures
Jay School Board, in large part because of budget issues, has looked at the possibility of closing buildings and shifting students.
Pennville Elementary has been the school most often identified for potential closure, but the discussion has also included the possibilities of closing several other buildings, moving eighth graders to Jay County High School, moving all sixth and seventh graders to East Jay Middle School and a variety of other options.
Muhlenkamp indicated that while she hasn’t seen a lot of the data regarding the building closure discussion, she’d prefer to look at other cost-saving options.
“As a parent, because that’s what I am first and foremost, if they wanted to take my child’s school away, I would have a hard time with that,” she said, adding that perhaps the solution is being more creative about how to make buildings more efficient and effective.
While not advocating for school closures, Campbell emphasized her ability to look at the issue dispassionately and make a decision based on the facts.
“I think with the research that we’ve done on them, I think it’s going to come up again,” she said. “I think with the drop in enrollment we’re going to get less money, it’s going to come back up … as to whether or not we can support all of the buildings and the schools that we have open.
“I think it’s just important to look at all of it and decide, financially, what we should do.”

Budget
The bulk of the reason for the discussion about building closures has been because of the school corporation’s budget situation.
Jay Schools for several years had a year-end general fund balance of about $3 million in its general fund. But deficit spending in three of the last four years has seen that number dip to about $1.7 million. (It is expected to rebound to just under $1.9 million at the end of 2016.)
Campbell focused her budget attention on trying to find a way to stabilize and then grow enrollment, which has dipped by more than 400 students since 2005.
“We get more money for each student that we have there at the school,” she said. “Maybe pushing more specialized programs so that we can draw people in and (make them) want to come to this area. I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t want to come to Jay County. I’m not sure how to do it, but somehow we’ve got to get enrollment up.”
Muhlenkamp pointed to her background running her own business as an asset and said that if budget cuts have to be made she’d want to look at making those changes in areas that would impact students the least.
“It’s looking at things like how can we be more effective with our money,” she said. “How can we be more creative? How can we think outside the box? And maybe having new eyes and ears on the board will help with that ...”

Testing
While not directly under the purview of the school board, testing has also be a major topic of discussion in Indiana education. The ISTEP test that has been used to track student progress and evaluate teacher performance is in the process of being eliminated.
Both candidates said they’d like to see less of a focus on standardized testing.
Muhlenkamp was critical of the extreme focus on data, saying there are other ways to assess students and teachers.
“There’s so many values that go into students and teachers and how they’re judged,” said Muhlenkamp. “And the testing, it’s why I got out of education. I applaud the teachers who are sticking with it and doing their jobs and doing them well …”
Campbell essentially agreed, saying too much emphasis has been placed on ISTEP.
“I think that the ISTEP and that type of testing is overrated,” she said. “Lots of kids don’t test well. … It’s hard to really assess a student’s education by one test. I wish that we didn’t count on those results for so many different things. It’s just so hard to base everything on one test.”
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Both candidates emphasized their ability to make good decisions for the students of Jay County as the reason voters should choose them for the school board.
“I just feel like I can bring an open mind,” said Campbell. “I’m honest. I’m fair. I just feel like I would be a breath of fresh air for the school board with a different point of view.”
“I’m not a political person,” Muhlenkamp said. “I just don’t get involved in all that. I’m just kind of your normal, every day, common sense kind of mom who just wants the best for our kids in Jay County.”