Candidates seek New Bloomfield School Board seats

Craig Abbott, Deborah Cuno and Amy Reeder Pendleton.
Craig Abbott, Deborah Cuno and Amy Reeder Pendleton.

Municipal elections are scheduled for April 4 in Callaway County. Photo identification will not be required in order to vote until June.

The New Bloomfield Board of Education has three seats open this election and four candidates: Deborah Cuno and Craig Abbott (both incumbents) and Amy Reeder Pendleton and Jonathan Morningstar.

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Craig Abbott

I work as an environmental manager for Republic Services. I am a native of New Bloomfield, and my parents, myself and my wife graduated from that school district. Now my two daughters, Sarah and Macie also attend New Bloomfield. My family and I love our school and our community. Simply put: I want to continue to be a part of an education process that raises the bar to educate kids.

Q. What is the biggest issue to solve and how to solve it?

A. When I ran for school board six years ago, the district was nearly broke. The moral, culture and climate in the school was dismal. It was doom and gloom to say the least. When I first ran, I felt like I had something to contribute. Thank goodness there were a couple other awesome candidates that felt the same way and we were elected. Day 1 one the job, literally we were tasked with hiring a superintendent, and we knocked it out of the park with David Tramel. Our focus for the first few years was finances, and we are now in a very good spot. Our balance reserves six years ago were 3 percent, and now we are at 30 percent. We also successfully passed a bond issue for facility improvements.

Our primary focus now has to be on student achievement and the full board recognizes that. Mr. Tramel has decided to retire at the end of this school year but we have hired an education leader in Sarah Wisdom. Student achievement will be our focus going forward while keeping our finger on the pulse of our school finances. We need to push hard on student achievement.

Q. What makes you qualified for the position?

A. I have been on the board for six years serving as treasurer of the board all of those years. I came in at the lowest of times for the district. I believe I have been a part of a team that has turned our school around. Is it perfect? No. It will never be perfect, but I believe we are now in a great position. I am passionate about the success of our children and district.

Q. What is your greatest fear and hope for the community?

A. I actually don't have any fears for the community. We are in great hands with the current board and with Mrs. Wisdom. Sarah is a New Bloomfield alum, has two kids in the district, and is extremely invested in our kids and community. She has been a winner at everything she has done, and I believe she will take us to new heights with respect to student achievement. I do hope our community continues to pull together for the sake of our students. Parent play the most critical role in the success of our students.

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Debbie Cuno

I am a life-long resident of New Bloomfield, and my husband Dale and I are both graduates of New Bloomfield High School. I returned to my alma mater after college in 1978 to begin my teaching and coaching career. After retirement from the district, I have served two terms on the Board of Education.

Q. What is the biggest issue to solve and how to solve it?

A. I believe the biggest issue facing our district is to provide competitive salaries for our employees without compromising a quality education. As a smaller district, we tend to provide training for new teachers who then move on to larger districts in the area for a substantial pay increase. In order to retain quality teachers as well as support staff, we must be able to offer a competitive salary to our employees. After a financial crisis six years ago, our employees faced severe budget cuts and no salary increases. Through sound fiscal management by our current superintendent and board, we have recently been able to provide a modest increase, but we must continue to make salaries a priority in order to be competitive with the surrounding districts.

Q. What makes you qualified for the position?

A. As an alumna, an employee, a parent, and a taxpayer of this district, I care deeply about our community and the students and employees of this school. I have also served two terms on the board. Because of my background and experience, I believe I bring a unique perspective to the board, because I am able to look at issues from a variety of viewpoints. As a proud advocate for public education, I want to ensure your children and grandchildren are provided a quality education to prepare them for whatever their futures hold.

Q. What is your greatest fear and hope for the community?

A. My greatest fear for our district is the loss of funding from both the local and state levels. We have been slowly rebuilding for the past six years, and any loss of funding would be detrimental to our progress.

My greatest hope would be every parent would become involved with the education of his or her children. I would like our school and community to continue to build the trust and support that has been established in order to provide a quality education for all students in the district.

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Amy Reeder Pendleton

I grew up in Hartsburg. We moved to New Bloomfield in 2011. I'm married with three children who are currently in New Bloomfield schools. I have a bachelor's degree in history from Columbia College. I've been self-employed since 2006, working with several companies in Callaway county. I'm also currently tutoring students in history and language arts.

Q. What is the biggest issue to solve and how to solve it?

A. I don't think our district has many issues. My top concern would be making sure we allocate funds in the most effective way to meet the needs of our students. I don't think I can solve this or other issues as an individual, because that's not how a board operates. However, I can and will work with the community, other board members and our administrators to do the very best for our students.

Q. What makes you qualified for the position?

A. I am passionate about education and our community. I've been an active PTA member since 2005, serving as secretary, then president of the New Bloomfield PTA from 2013-16. Through my involvement with PTA and our local Cub Scouts, I've gotten to know a lot of teachers, parents, and students in our community, and I believe I understand the needs of our community. Through my work, I've fine tuned my managed large budgets, negotiated contracts, and developed advanced knowledge of government regulations and tax laws.

Q. What is your greatest fear and hope for the community?

My greatest fear is not being able to keep up with changing academic standards and advancing technology due to rising costs and limited funding. My greatest hope is that we continue to find new ways to meet the needs of our students and provide them with the tools they need to be successful.

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New Bloomfield city elections

The April 4 election also involves three uncontested candidates for the city of New Bloomfield. Greg Rehagen is running for mayor, and Gary Hoelscher and Bryan Manes are running for alderman.