Dight announces at Monday’s school board meeting he is not seeking re-election

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

After two decades of service on the Charles City School District Board of Directors, Scott Dight announced at Monday’s meeting that this year will be his last on the board.

“I am not going to run to seek re-election to the school board,” Dight announced during the director comments portion of the meeting.

City and school district elections will be held Tuesday, Nov. 2, and the deadline to file nomination papers to run for a position is 5 p.m. on Thursday this week. If no additional candidates file by Thursday, there will be four candidates running for three open seats on the Board of Education.

Dr. David Schrodt, Kathryn Fox and Staci Taylor have all filed papers to run for election to the school board, as has current Charles City Board of Education President Josh Mack. No one else had filed as of the close of business Monday. Current board member Missy Freund had also previously announced that she would not be seeking re-election.

Dight has been on the school board for 20 years, although not consecutively. He said that he was first elected to the school board in 1993, and served for 12 years, until 2005.

“During that time we had a lot of declining enrollment, budget problems and budget cuts,” Dight said. “It was a rather difficult period in the school district’s history.”

After an 8-year hiatus, Dight ran as a write-in candidate in 2013 and was elected again, and has served until now.

“In the last eight years, we’ve accomplished a lot of positive things,” he said.

Dight cited the district’s new middle school, “designed for the 21st century,” as well as the new transportation center and the new baseball/softball complex as items he was proud to have been a part of.

He also said that he believes that the school district is headed in the right direction, but it needs to be a community effort.

“As a former First Lady used to say, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’” Dight said. “I’ve been proud to be a part of that village over all these years.”

In other business on Monday, the board approved a lease for land near the armory owned by the National Guard. Director of Operations Jerry Mitchell has worked with the National Guard on an agreement to lease the ground to benefit students in numerous activities.

“There is a sliver of land behind the armory that is not being used,” said Charles City Superintendent Mike Fisher. “They want to keep it, but they aren’t using it, and we can use it as a practice field.”

The parcel of land is located at 2003 Clark St., and Fisher said the district has permission to put up fencing on the property.

The term of the lease is for one year, and will be automatically renewed unless either party gives the other notice in writing at least 90 days prior to the end of any term that the lease shall not be renewed.

The rent is for $1,000 per year, although if the school district performs lawn maintenance and snow removal on the property, that amount will be reduced to $1 per year. Fisher said that the district would perform the maintenance work.

In other business Monday, the school board:
— Heard a presentation from CCMS Principal Joe Taylor, who presented to the board the mission and vision at Charles City Community School District.
— Approved all the remaining district handbooks, as amended and updated for the 2021-22 school year.
— Approved the appointment of Ann Haines, induction mentor, in the amount of a $500 stipend, effective Sept. 14.
— Approved the appointment of Lacey Zirbel, middle school administrative support specialist, at an hourly wage of $19.41, effective Sept. 21.
— Approved the appointments of Moriah Lines and Shawna Graser, full-time middle school para-educators, at an hourly wage of $15.39, effective Sept. 14.
— Approved the appointment of Robert Kloberdanz, volunteer football coach, effective Sept. 14.
— Approved the appointments of Marin Thorson and Andie Olson, volunteer volleyball coaches, effective Sept. 14.
— Approved the appointment of Joshua Dean, Innovative Campus span of care culture leader, in the amount of a $500 stipend, effective Sept. 14.