This is the sixth story in a nine-part series featuring the candidates in the city and School Board races.
There will be two open seats for the School Board, with five people running for the seats.
Early voting for the election will begin in-person Oct. 15. Advance ballots will also be mailed Oct. 15. The last day to apply for an advance voting mail ballot is Oct. 28.
The county election office will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 15 through Oct. 24, then 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 27 through Oct. 31. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 1, Eudora City Hall and the county election office will also be open for advanced voting. Nov 3 is the last day for advanced voting, which will be from 8 a.m. to noon at the election office.
Regular voting will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 4.
Joe Hurla
Current job
Self-employed in energy efficiency industry
Community involvement
School Board member, LMH Health Foundation Board, volunteer work in town
Why are you running for election?
I’m running just to hopefully help continue to develop the positive momentum that we have in the school district. There’s a lot that’s been going on. There’s a lot of growth in the area and a lot of opportunities for the district to continue to improve, and I want to hopefully provide a bit of continuity and consistency and direction as the district moves forward.
What issues are most important to you?
It’s definitely financial issues, primarily, are first and foremost in my mind. That’s helping to navigate some enrollment challenges that we’ve had. We’ve seen some declining enrollment locally that leads to financial challenges. There’s financial challenges in terms of funding at a state level and federal level that we need to navigate. And then, you know, the result of that is it makes it more challenging to retain quality staff and teachers, and so I think very much intertwined are working to ensure that we deploy our limited resources as effectively as possible.
What steps need to be done by the district to continue to prepare for any growth as Panasonic is officially open, if any?
Yeah, I think working with other community leadership, primarily the city, to ensure that we’re not only aware of it, but that we’re an attractive environment for people to come and I think the school district is definitely one of the things that attracts people to the community of Eudora.
But, you know, right now, there’s a housing shortage that really limits the amount of growth that we’re going to see. So, unfortunately, that, on the surface, is beyond our control, but anything that we can do to expedite the solution to that problem, I think, is what we need to explore. Beyond that, I think, you know, we’ve obviously taken steps in terms of preparing our existing facilities to be a welcoming environment and a place that we have a bit of room for growth.
But, you know, I don’t think that we’re looking at new facilities or anything along those lines for quite a while unless growth were explosive. So, to me, it’s much more about trying to create an attractive atmosphere that’s going to lead people to move into the community,
How do you hope to improve the educational experience for students in the district?
I think we’ve worked very extensively with our administration and with our staff to create an environment that is very welcoming to our students that, you know, we want to know every student by name and welcome each student into the environment, find out what’s important to those students and really connect with each one. And so I think that’s what I want to continue to do, is provide, hopefully, the best of a small community, but also a high-caliber and challenging academic environment.
What is the board’s role in helping to recruit and retain staff and teachers?
Really, our role is twofold. One is to create an environment that is attractive so that when our human resources department and others that are actually going out with feet on the ground and recruiting that they have something to sell, if that makes sense, that it’s an environment that people are going to want to come to.
So, I think in creating that environment, but the other part is really hiring the administrative team that’s going to facilitate that, so on a day-to-day basis, no, we’re not out like recruiting teachers when you talk about – I think you also said retain maybe within that.
And I think there it’s, again, creating that environment, but also really making sure that we are doing everything we can to be competitive financially in terms of compensation and other benefits to the staff. Once they’re here, I think people generally like the district and like the atmosphere that we created, but eventually, you know, money is an important thing, and we all recognize that, and certainly it’s a priority to make sure that all of our staff – teachers, administrators and support staff – are competitively compensated. And I think that’s just what we need to continue to do.
What would you like to see from the Legislature to provide better support for K-12 education?
Fully fund special education, I think, is first and foremost. You know, I think that that would have a dramatic impact on what we’re able to do when we talk about compensation for our staff, because we’re currently allocating funds that, in theory, should be provided in order to properly support students in a special ed environment.
So, since that is not being fully funded, we’re required to make up that difference, and those are funds that we can’t use in ways that we would like to. First and foremost, I think financially, that’s what I’m looking for.
I’d like to see the Legislature continue to put focus on supporting high-quality public education, not diverting its attention and funding to private institutions, things like vouchers and the like. I think that it’s both a distraction in terms of attention and prioritization, but also obviously a financial detriment as well that is, in the long term, it’s going to jeopardize the effectiveness of public education. And I think, as a member of the School Board and an advocate for public education, I definitely would, you know, I don’t like that direction, yeah.
What is the district’s greatest strength?
Our people. And by that, I mean our staff, our teachers, bus drivers, principals, you know, top to bottom, we have a great staff and people who are really committed to our students and our community, and even taking a step back from our actual staff, I think our community is incredibly supportive.
I think Eudora, you don’t move here necessarily for the glitz and the glamour. So, I think a lot of people that are in town, it is because of the quality school system, and they don’t just move here and go for a ride. They move here and work with us and are big proponents of the school district. So I think we have a very supportive community that, you know, is really seeking to help the district grow and help the individual students excel. So, I think that community support is definitely a huge thing that we have going,
What about the biggest challenges for the district?
I think it ultimately comes back to the financial aspect, and it’s related to the declining enrollment that we’ve seen is, you know, far and away, I think at a School Board level, the biggest challenge. There are certainly day-to-day challenges with adjusting academic requirements, expectations, rigor.
But I think at a higher level, what the School Board is really focused on is trying to navigate those challenging financials that really are equated with that declining enrollment. So, thus far, we’ve been able to meet that challenge as best we could, but I think it’s going to continue to be a problem before it gets better.
I know that there are some plans for some housing in town that would hopefully lead to at least a stabilization of enrollment, but until that happens, I think we’re going to continue to see some challenges there.
What is your vision for the future of the district?
You know, that’s a great question. I would love to see the school district continue to grow into a more challenging and effective environment for our students, while retaining its community feeling and, again, it’s a balancing act to try to navigate having what I would call the best of both worlds.
But I think a lot of people move here and live here because they want that community feel of a school. And there are some small town school districts where, to have that, you sacrifice academic excellence. And I want to make sure that we don’t sacrifice that academic excellence. I want to make sure that we strive for and achieve that excellence while also retaining, you know, what makes us unique, which is the small community feel, kind of right in the heart of a metropolitan area.
Anything you want to add?
No … I think you’re good.