I support Mary Jurenka and Mike Murray, incumbents in the school board election on Tuesday, for three main reasons.

The first reason is that I think the long-range planning process for the Ames school district, which they have supported and encouraged for more than a year, can be an excellent process. I want to see them implement this process.

The first part of this long-range planning process is to develop educational goals. This part is almost complete. A July 9 draft of the Ames Community School District’s “Comprehensive and World-Class Education Philosophy” is now available on the Ames Community School District’s web site. In its final form this document will be “the umbrella under which the Ames Community School District is addressing long-range planning” — see www.ames.k12.ia.us/School_Board/Boardgoals.html.

I find this document very inspiring, because it was compiled with the intention of involving “many voices in our community throughout the process” and reflects common ground as it articulates the “process, findings and conclusions” from a variety of sources listed in the “Progress Report on 2007-‘08 board Goals, Objectives and Action Items — updated July 9, 2008,” also on the school Web site. Reading it makes me eager to help the Ames Community School District reach its goals.

The second part of this long-range planning process will be to use this document as a basis for making decisions, such as how to use school facilities and whether to expand the pre-K program. I am eager to see how Mary and Mike make the connections between theory and practice.

My second reason for supporting Mary Jurenka and Mike Murray for re-election is that I think they do a good job managing the district’s financial affairs. The Ames school district does not have a deficit, negative cash reserves or negative unspent authority. Its “rainy day” fund is still more than $2 million, more than required by law, despite being reduced by roughly $300,000 this summer because of two events outside the Ames school board’s control — reduced income from fees and for home schooling. These one-time “expenses” are exactly what the “rainy-day” fund was set up to handle.

My third reason for supporting Mary and Mike for re-election is that I find them very open to discussing concerns. For example, Mary was supportive and helpful when I was concerned our grandson would not be assigned to kindergarten in his neighborhood school, and Mike went out of his way to give me detailed reasons why he supported the aquatic center on 13th Street.

I hope you will join me in voting for Mary Jurenka and Mike Murray for school board in next Tuesday’s election.

Holly Fuchs

Alumna

Ames