Candidates and constituents gathered at Scott Community College’s Belmont Campus last Wednesday for a public forum surrounding the upcoming Pleasant Valley school board election  in an evening of civil discourse.

From District 3, incumbent board president Nikhil Wagle and Peter Olsen were present, though the latter arrived late. District 4 saw incumbent Molly Brockmann and Danny Amaya, and District 5 featured Adrienne Wheeler and Amy McCabe. Jameson Smith was notably absent, leaving write-in incumbent Tracey Rivera as the lone representative for District 6.

The first question of the forum pertained to teacher retention, a widespread problem in Iowa education and one that has infiltrated the PV district this year. While action plans were in short supply, many candidates voiced their support for PV teachers and the importance of fair compensation. 

Rivera, a teacher herself, had an emotional response to the topic. “A lot of us aren’t doing it for the pay. It’s about the students… Having the support of the parents and the community is what we want,” she said. 

Candidates also discussed the Educational Savings Act and private school voucher programs, revealing significantly conflicting opinions. Wagle, Brockmann, Wheeler and Rivera all voiced concern about the issue, while Olsen, Amaya and McCabe saw no reason for concern. 

“I don’t see [voucher programs] as really being a problem across the school board. As a matter of fact, as we continue to grow, there’s a clear indicator that there’s not a problem with it within the Pleasant Valley School District,” Amaya stated.

But incumbents Brockmann and Wagle suggested that effects of this program are yet to be seen. “I don’t think we really have a full understanding of what that’s going to look like yet as this gets newly implemented, but it is a concern from a public school standpoint,” Brockmann said. “I think we need to work with our legislators and just help them understand where we’re at financially.”

The ever-present topic of book banning served as an emotional high point of the evening. 

Wheeler spoke on the importance of diversity in literature. “All students have the right to see themselves in books and I think that’s very important. If we limit access to books, we’re limiting their ability to learn.” Attendees responded with applause before event organizers asked the audience to save celebrations until the meeting’s end.

This announcement didn’t stop the crowd from reacting again, albeit less enthusiastically, when Amaya spoke in opposition, saying, “I’ve seen the books and I’m embarrassed and ashamed…Why are we letting this type of material infiltrate the minds of our children?” 

Wagle rejected the notion that PV libraries contain material unsuitable for students. “We have a teacher librarian in every single school… it’s mandatory that they hold not just an undergraduate but a masters degree. They are… expert individuals that know how to vet books, and every book that comes to the library goes through a vetting process,” he said.

In his response, Olsen seemingly fired back at Wagle’s comments, saying, “You need judgment, discernment, values. It’s not just expertise that comes with this.”

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) came into play as well, bringing with it discussion of a 2022 diversity audit, which the district never made public.

The general consensus among new candidates was that the district does not have problems with diversity or inclusion, while most incumbents felt PV has room for improvement.

“When we talked about [the audit] at a school board meeting we actually got some pushback from people who said that there wasn’t any problem,” Wagle said. “But we pushed through with the audit and we found that there were areas that we were deficient in, and we want to make sure we address that.”

Olsen made waves in the room when he dismissed diversity as a problem, stating, “You need to stop talking about DEI … and we need to start talking about leadership, because our kids are going to go out in the world, they’re going to be competing with a bunch of Chinese students.”

He continued to share a story from his time in the Marines, “I went to my unit and my Black drill instructor said, ‘There are no blacks or whites or yellows or anything.’”

When the conversation shifted to transparency and respect between administrators and parents, McCabe shared an anecdote about her frustratingly unsuccessful attempts to file a complaint. “There are policies in place and it turns out that nobody really knows how to do things,” she said.

Candidates came to a unanimous agreement surrounding parent communication, each sharing that transparency and open communication is key.

Student privacy, particularly in the context of gender identity and other personal matters, was a short-lived topic. Each speaker echoed that the school must follow laws— specifically SF 496, the new Iowa education bill that restricts how teachers may refer to their students.

Attendees were generally pleased with the events of the evening, and believe it benefited them significantly to hear from the candidates themselves. 

“It gave [the candidates] a forum to discuss in detail what their plans are for improving our school,” said voter Naurin Ahmad. “They were very transparent in how they can work with each other if elected to further the excellence of our school district.”

Still, she and many others did not feel that the event changed the way they will vote.

“I think that it just reaffirmed the positions of the candidates that I would choose to support,” said Ahmad.

Pleasant Valley resident Louann Humphrey felt that the event helped clarify her vote. “A couple of the candidates didn’t really have very good answers,” she said. “It confirms that the candidate I’m going to vote for is the right choice.”

As the Nov. 7 election nears, the PV community stands at a crucial crossroads, where the choices voters make will likely shape the future of the district. In the midst of differing visions and passionate debates, several candidates closed the evening by reminding attendees of their common goal—to provide the best possible learning environment for students.