Newcomer candidate for Blair Oaks Board of Education Sarah Fessler said her top priorities would be student safety and preparedness, board transparency, and teacher recruitment and retention.
One incumbent and four challengers have filed for three three-year positions on the board.
Fessler was a second-grade teacher at a Catholic school in Kansas City until she and her family moved to Wardsville about a year and a half ago, primarily to attend the Blair Oaks School District. She holds a master's degree in educational leadership, and she has a freshman daughter in the district.
Fessler said she wants all students to be prepared to go on to success in college, work, a trade school or the military. She also said student safety is a top concern for her. Fessler said many students cross Falcon Lane, commuting between the middle school and high school for classes, which is a dangerous situation, considering the road can be busy.
Fessler said district financials should be more available to the community on a regular basis. She also thought the district should announce school board meetings in other places besides the website, such as on the school sign.
Recruiting and retaining quality teachers and staff is essential, Fessler said.
"We need to increase teacher pay, for one. We need to take into consideration that a lot of districts that are neighboring us are considering going to a four-day school week that has benefits for a lot of teachers. Yes, it presents questions and concerns for childcare, but it can also be a great way to retain teachers," she said
She added that manageable class sizes and keeping teacher's planning periods free of extra duties will both help with retention.
"A lot of times, if you're short-staffed, as a teacher, your planning period is now covering someone else's recess duty or third-grade class because they don't have enough teachers or substitutes, and that leads to burnout, teacher stress and teacher turnover," she said.
A former teacher, Fessler said she experienced the stress of not being able to "have a breath" in the middle of the day because her planning period was spent doing other things during the pandemic.
Fessler said she's qualified for the position because she cares about the district.
"We moved to Wardsville about 18 months ago and pretty much immediately started going to school board meetings," she said. "I recognized that there were some board policies and some school actions that I didn't think were what Blair Oaks strived to be in the sense of excellence, and I noticed that there was a need for change, and I found an interest in it, and now I'm putting that interest into action."
Fessler has experience in education and has served on a parish council that oversaw hiring, firing and finances, which she said required transparency.
Fessler said she isn't running to use the position as a political "stepping stone."
"That's not why I'm here. I'm here to make sure that this school makes the best choices and the best decisions for the students, priority one, and the employees and the taxpayers, because everyone is affected by the small decisions that the school board makes in school policy," she said.