Next week’s city and school election will determine who will hold three Washington School Board director seats, with newcomers on the ballot for two contested races.

Kendra DeWolf and Mindi Rees are running for the District 5 seat that includes Brighton and the southern rural portion of the school district. DeWolf is a 2016 Washington High School graduate who participated in marching band, archery, and silver cord. DeWolf says her growing family with her husband is what inspired her to run for a board seat, and she shares what she thinks are the current issues being faced by Iowa schools, “There have been many challenges over the last two years, that have brought about the need to have students build emotional resiliency as well as the age old questions of how to keep students actively engaged while instilling critical thinking skills and motivating students toward achievement.”

Rees has three children enrolled in the district, has volunteered in the schools for 12 years, served in parent organizations and has been appointed by the administration to multiple committees. Rees believes an issue plaguing Iowa schools is teacher shortages, “It’s a major concern for a lot of schools both big and small. Public schools have struggled for years with teacher shortages but the pandemic has obviously made this problem worse. The stress of teaching in the last two years has increased teacher retirement and resignations and it has also made young adults become a little weary about going into the profession to start with.”

Voters can vote absentee in person at the Washington County Auditor’s Office at the courthouse through Monday, November 1st, and mailed absentee ballots must be returned to the auditor’s office no later than when the polls close at 8 p.m. Election Day. You can find a link to a forum with the candidates for the contested Washington School Board races under the On Demand page here.