Q&A with Ephrata trustee candidates Mike Fleurkens and Jordan Hansen

EPHRATA — Two candidates are vying for a seat on the Ephrata School Board. Mike Fleurkens and Jordan Hansen made it past the primary over the summer.

The Columbia Basin Herald reached out to both candidates simultaneously to pose the questions below. Both candidates were given a deadline and equal allotments of word count for each question to ensure fairness. Both also responded by the deadline. Responses below are listed in alphabetical order based on the candidate’s last name.

Voting begins Oct. 20 and continues through Election Day on Nov. 7. Ballots are slated to be sent out just prior to the voting period.

Why are you running for the Ephrata School Board?

Fleurkens: For several years now I’ve been regularly attending school board meetings. I wanted to be informed about what was going on at a higher level in our District as well as learn more about the accomplishments of the staff and students from our community. The current Director for my zone is retiring after this term and several members of the community approached me and encouraged me to get more involved and run for this position. I’ve always felt we have a great school District here in Ephrata, with dedicated staff and a safe and welcoming culture that has provided well for our students. There’s no question our District has been desirable to neighboring communities, this is evident by the high number of students from surrounding Districts attending school in our District by choice. I have two boys in Ephrata Schools and with some encouragement from the community, I decided I wanted to get more involved and be part of continuing to improve the District for not just my kids but all of our students in the future.

Hansen: I have had a longstanding interest in running for the Ephrata school board for many years and have found this election cycle as my opportunity to serve the community. I grew up in a home where both of my parents had teaching degrees (Industrial Arts and Home Economics). I pursued a degree in Agriculture Education at Utah State University and attained a Master’s Degree in Agriculture at Washington State University.

I recently graduated from the Washington AgForestry Leadership program in the spring of this year. I am grateful for the many opportunities this program has provided me to improve my personal leadership skills. One poignant lesson I learned was the importance of public service and the need to listen to others with an open mind. As a member of the Ephrata School Board, I will deliberately seek to understand each issue and encourage a collaborative-driven approach to matters brought before the board.

I am a father of two children who currently attend Ephrata schools and they began their educational journey in the kindergarten classrooms here in the Ephrata School District. I am proud of the devoted educators and staff that we have here in the Ephrata School District and recognize the tremendous value they bring to our community. I believe in amplifying parent voices and advocating for our kids. I personally believe that it is extremely important to listen to parents and that we foster an environment where we have collaboration between our schools and the community.

What would your top two goals be as a trustee?

Fleurkens: Getting community more informed and more involved in our district. The system works better with community involvement. We consistently see bills passed at federal and state levels that may fit the ideologies and agendas of metropolitan areas, but these bills often chip away at parental rights and don’t fit with the values and beliefs here. Through parent community committees, increased attendance at public meetings, and community engagement in general, parents can ensure they have a voice in the process before the policies are changed or adopted. As a board member, I would be responsible for those policies that address these bills and I am committed to ensuring those concerns are addressed while working within the confines of state law.

The second, biggest priority involves modernization and safety improvements to schools. We voted for tax levies and bond approvals to fund much-needed renovations and improvements to our schools. We finally completed (renovating) Ephrata Middle School and Columbia Ridge. These projects ran over budget and late due to COVID and escalating costs. The result is work (at) other facilities has been put on hold as there is less money than planned and costs are greater than anticipated. We have half of our elementary students benefitting from an improved campus while the other half are still in an outdated facility. This is about classroom space, (eliminating) portables, improved lighting, and security improvements. We need to make hard decisions and set a path forward. That means learning from the Columbia Ridge and EMS projects, not to find fault, but to see what can be done better. This needs to be accomplished without jeopardizing financial stability. I’m committed to being a part of that process and seeing this through for our community.

Hansen: My top two goals are first to continue to expand and support our current Career Technical Education (CTE) Programs at both Ephrata High School and Ephrata Middle School. My personal background is around the National FFA Organization and I have a deep understanding of the innumerable benefits that this student organization can bring to an individual. I’ve personally grown and benefitted in adulthood from the lessons I learned as a high school student in FFA. With that being said I’m an ardent supporter of Career Technical Education in its many forms and believe that it can lead our students to career exploration paths that they might not otherwise have considered. Ephrata High School recently started a chapter of HOSA-Future Health Professionals giving students exposure to a wide variety of health care fields and is a great example of CTE education combining traditional science courses with career-based education. I believe that the related student organizations like Skills-USA, (Future Business Leaders of America) and (Future Farmers of America), to name a few, are an excellent proving ground for students to learn job and life skills. These organizations are the secret sauce connecting students with education and real-world experience.

Second, we need to continue investing in STEAM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) as a catalyst for student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. Placing an emphasis on the arts and sciences I believe that we can spark a lifelong interest in students to continue learning and exploring the world around us. The sciences and arts prepare our students to continue to be innovators in the world. It is our responsibility to encourage students to have a lifelong love of learning for each student as well as the growth and stability of our community and country as a whole.

What financial priorities do you feel the district should have?

Fleurkens: Priority one is ensuring our district maintains strong financial stability. We have a long history of maintaining financial stability in our district. This has helped us with maintaining excellent bond ratings which saves the taxpayers money when we purchase bonds for the construction projects that improve our schools. Another part of this has been maintaining an adequate reserve fund that has helped us make necessary improvements such as the lighting at Kiwanis field, the remodel of classrooms and most recently the new bleachers for the main gym at the high school and improvements of our fine arts facilities. We need to ensure we don’t jeopardize the financial stability of the district so we can remain in a good financial position as we make decisions on the future improvements to our facilities.

Another priority, as mentioned above, is ensuring the bond and levy funds are used properly and doing our best to give the public what they voted for. This includes the improvements to our transportation and storage facilities that some of these funds were earmarked for.

Hansen: I'm dedicated to prioritizing fiscal responsibility and the Ephrata School District has a long-standing track record of being fiscally conservative. This has served the District well for many years and I believe that our local community appreciates the care that is taken with tax dollars each time that a levy is presented to the voters. There certainly are challenges that are being faced by the district as the current bond to remodel our buildings does not contain enough dollars to accomplish all of the goals that were originally set forth when it was passed.

However, there have been some major economic shifts that have occurred since the bond passed which we are all aware of on a personal economic level and we may need to remind ourselves that the District isn’t immune from these factors as well. This doesn’t negate the fact that we have aging buildings and a promise to our community to update the buildings that were approved by the voters. It is imperative that we move forward on improvements to Grant Elementary now that Columbia Ridge has been completed. This is going to take deep consideration of what the best path forward is for the district. Ephrata needs to move forward to have two elementary schools that complement each other and best serve our most precious resource. The reality is that construction costs have soared in the years from the approval of the most recent construction bond and financing these improvements will take a lot of work. It’s important to realize that our schools also serve as an economic engine to our community and long-range planning for our vision is important to help our community both grow and be supported by that growth.

What will you do to engage parents and students in the district to ensure you are addressing their concerns?

Fleurkens: I’ve always been approachable and enjoy conversations with parents, students, and members of our community in general. I want to hear concerns, ideas, and get feedback as this is the reason I’m doing this. It is not for personal reasons, it’s to ensure our entire community is properly represented. If I fail to meet their expectations, then I expect to be held accountable and I want to hear from them again. As previously mentioned, I regularly attend board meetings and I have for several years now. That won’t change in the future, regardless of whether I’m elected. Folks can always catch up with me there. I consistently attend events in our community, school functions and sporting events, which has always been a great opportunity to get to know District staff, other parents, and community members. My campaign email is fleurkensforesd@gmail.com and Facebook is Mike Fleurkens for ESD POS#2. People are always welcome to contact me there. So far I’ve been able to respond to messages within a day.

Hansen: I will engage parents and students wherever they are so that they know their voices are being heard. I believe that we need to have community listening sessions around topics that are top of mind for our community. I believe that we need these forums to be modeled around civil discussion and be collaborative where we model to each other and our kids that we can come together to discuss any number of topics. Ephrata is a special community where we look out for each other and I believe is a place where every student should feel welcomed, seen and accepted.