Eden Prairie School Board candidates address student concerns in final forum

Four candidates for Eden Prairie School Board recently participated in a final candidate forum led by students whose educations and school experiences they will potentially oversee.

Jon Cermak, Kim Ross, Dennis Stubbs, and Jody Ward-Rannow attended the forum held in Eden Prairie High School (EPHS)’s auditorium on Oct. 24. The other two candidates, Ann Bradsher and Kim Johnson, said they could not attend due to prior commitments.

These six candidates are competing for three open spots on the school board, each for a full four-year term, in the Nov. 5 election. Ross is completing her second four-year term, having also served on the board from 2008 to 2012. Stubbs is completing a partial two-year term, filling a seat vacated by another board member.

The audience included high school students, community members, and state Sen. Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-49, Eden Prairie), a former EPHS civics teacher.

Zahara Umar and Vandana Ramanathan, both seniors at EPHS and the forum’s organizers, led the candidates through a series of questions.

Keeping in mind the discussions at the League of Women Voters school board candidate forum in September, the Eden Prairie Local News Voter Guide, and other articles, these questions revolved around issues that students felt either had not been answered or needed to consider student perspectives. “Youth representation was the overarching goal,” Umar said.

Some questions were submitted in advance, and others were submitted live during the event. Umar said that while they did not have time to cover everything, most questions revolved around student diversity, including accommodations for different cultural traditions and customs, cellphone usage and cyberbullying, and student input in school board matters.

The candidates agreed on many issues while highlighting a few that were especially important to them:

• Jon Cermak said he wanted students to feel safe, included, and respected. He highlighted the importance of early childhood education and mental health.
• Kim Ross said she would work to increase student engagement and voices on the school board. She also said she would focus on policy enforcement.
• Dennis Stubbs stressed the need for a respectful school environment, handbook enforcement, and student and community involvement.
• Jody Ward-Rannow focused on empowering students, involving the community, and prioritizing well-being and mental health resources.

The candidates also discussed the challenges of balancing student autonomy with safety, the impact of COVID-19 on achievement gaps, and the importance of inclusive policies for diverse student populations. A full list of the questions and brief answer summaries can be found later in this article.

After the forum, Ramanathan said, “I personally appreciated how the candidates took the time not just to address the actual questions, but also to answer from a youth perspective.”

Umar said she was pleasantly surprised by the candidates’ openness to involving students more in the future. “You don’t usually hear them talking about including students, and I thought that was really important,” she said.

Increasing youth civic engagement in local politics

While they were happy with the event, Umar and Ramanathan said student turnout was lighter than hoped. They attributed this partly to the 4 p.m. after-school start time, which meant regular buses were gone and most students had left for home, jobs, or activities.

However, Umar said she also noticed a trend of student burnout and disengagement from politics, particularly due to the controversial climate around the presidential election.

Ramanathan added that a lack of education at school and in society about the importance of local elections, as well as about the candidates, was also to blame: “There’s not a lot of education surrounding local politics, like school board, city council, county commissions, as well as state Senate and House.”

As a result, she said, “A lot of people hold misinformed judgments or don’t know what these officials do.”

Ramanathan said she was hopeful for positive change with Minnesota’s commitment to prioritizing youth civic engagement and education through the state curriculum. Starting with students who are ninth graders in the 2024-25 school year, students will be required to take a credit of civics education in 11th or 12th grade, as part of the 3.5 social studies credits needed to graduate.

However, Ramanathan said she believed schools also needed to focus on what is happening in their own community politics, including discussing specific candidates and issues. She said it would help if local candidates and incumbents visited schools and spoke with students, especially during election season.

When asked why it’s important for students who are not yet old enough to vote to pay attention to politics, Umar said, “Because they will be able to vote soon. And paying attention when you’re younger gives you time to learn while you’re still with your parents, and you can hear their opinions. You can prepare for when you actually will have to make choices.”

Ramanathan also pointed out that voting is not the only path open to youth interested in civic engagement. She said preregistration and election judging, which is open to 16- and 17-year-olds as trainees, can prompt young people to start thinking about politics and being informed. “There’s also volunteering and canvassing, which are always options for getting more involved,” she said. “That teaches you a lot about the people around you, your community.”

Questions and answers at the forum

Q: Regarding school breakfast and lunch: Food is a basic need of students, and meat is a key source of proteins. Since kosher and halal meat options are not available, students practicing Jewish and Muslim faiths have to go for vegetarian options. How can you improve this situation?

• Ward-Rannow suggested asking district leadership about the barriers to providing inclusive and equitable meal options and the logistics of serving kosher food.
• Stubbs mentioned that lunch menus follow state guidelines and that he’s been hearing concerns about meal quantities being too small.
• Ross said this would fall under the treatment of students policy and that she would need to know more about the logistics of providing kosher and halal food and understand student preferences.
• Cermak said he was happy there was free lunch but advocated for a dialogue with students and district leadership to reflect the diverse student population in meal options.

Q: Current board members Stubbs and Ross: What have you done to bring student voice to the school board?

• Stubbs discussed the Community Linkage Committee’s efforts to engage with students at events and the importance of being present and available.
• Ross said she has advocated for intentional engagement with specific student groups and values hearing diverse voices in the community.

Q: Describe what makes you distinct from other candidates.

• Ross spoke about her long-term residency in Eden Prairie and two terms of board experience, along with her commitment to hearing student voices.
• Cermak discussed his motivation for running, focusing on creating an emotional connection with students and addressing safety and respect issues.
• Ward-Rannow highlighted her legal background and experience in building inclusive policies, along with her commitment to empowering students.
• Stubbs mentioned his project estimator background and his connection with elementary parents, emphasizing the collective strengths of the current school board.

Q: When you were in high school, would you have wanted someone like yourself on your school board?

All the candidates answered “Yes” to this question and then elaborated.

• Cermak said he is open-minded, a good listener, and advocates for transparency and respect from both staff and students.
• Ward-Rannow said her goal is to empower young people and understand and address student needs.
• Stubbs said that when he was in high school, he found the board members unapproachable, and he now tries to be accessible and relatable.
• Ross said she is committed to hearing student voices and advocating for their perspectives, especially for those whose voices might typically be silenced.

Q: Current board members Stubbs and Ross: Achievement gap data gets diluted by high-performing students. Did you get a chance to take a deeper dive to identify which communities are suffering the most, especially post-COVID?

• Stubbs emphasized the importance of reviewing each student’s test data to ensure individualized support and help every student succeed.
• Ross said the district does do a deep dive into data. She discussed the district’s progress in closing achievement gaps and the need for targeted improvements in reading proficiency.
• Ward-Rannow also asked to answer. She said that, if elected, she would ensure the district uses reliable testing methods to understand the root causes of achievement gaps and to develop inclusive policies.

Q: The current school year has seen a significant decrease in autonomy for high school students with increased restrictions such as being unable to use the school study and lounge spaces during open hours, and students having to sit in the Performing Arts Center during that time, which does not make it possible to do homework or study. It also does not reflect the increased privileges upperclassmen used to get. What would you do to restore high schoolers’ access to our buildings, including the many lounge areas and study spaces that were created with district money for students to use?

• Ward-Rannow said she would first seek to understand the issues that led to these policies from both a student and administrative perspective, then work to mediate a solution that allows students to feel respected.
• Stubbs said he’d like to know more about why these changes were made and if there was a way to facilitate discussion between students and staff.
• Ross said that student voice is important but that, ultimately, it is up to the principals to establish a culture and a safe and respectful environment.
• Cermak said that if students are being prevented from using all the spaces the high school offers, it would be valuable to examine why and seek solutions.

Q: Can you elaborate on how you would ensure students have equal opportunities to celebrate at least two to three major festivals related to their faith?

• Stubbs said the district tries to recognize religious diversity and provides excused absences for religious holidays but noted there are limitations on granting days off for non-secular holidays.
• Ross said the district has to follow the federal calendar but said the district’s multi-faith calendar tries to ensure respect for all holidays.
• Cermak emphasized the importance of understanding the impact of current policies and the need for inclusive practices.
• Ward-Rannow said if certain holidays result in large groups of students missing school, that was a non-secular reason for considering making it a non-school day.

Q: Eden Prairie has a very diverse student population, with incidents of bullying in school and cyberbullying on the rise in general. What steps can the school board take to provide safe learning environments?

• Ross said it was important to create a culture of respect and to have anonymous reporting mechanisms for students who are bullied.
• Cermak said this issue was of utmost importance. He advocated for early childhood education and a respectful culture to prevent bullying and promote inclusion.
• Ward-Rannow highlighted the need for overhauling the handbook to address cyberbullying, as well as improving mental health identification and resources.
• Stubbs discussed the importance of enforcing handbooks and supporting teachers to create a safe environment.

Q: We have seen rising rates of mental health issues among adolescents. What are you doing to ensure that we empower students and their education when it comes to their well-being?

• Cermak said that early intervention was extremely important and that he would support dedicating additional budgetary resources to address mental health.
• Ward-Rannow discussed her work with Girl Scouts and said providing additional mental health resources for parents and students would be a priority for her.
• Stubbs said student mental health can fluctuate from day to day and that community support was needed to recognize potential mental health issues.
• Ross emphasized the need for students to have strong relationships with trusted adults and also to address the stigma around mental health.

Q: How do you feel about cellphone use in school? Which policies would you implement, and are there any that you would take away?

• Cermak advocated for no cell phone use during class hours to ensure respect and focus but said it was acceptable for students to have them outside of class.
• Ward-Rannow said she understood concerns about safety and families’ desire to contact their children and would like to learn more about the reasons behind current policies.
• Ross said it was most important to teach students to use technology judiciously and emphasized the need for intentional use.
• Stubbs said that while digital citizenship was important, he supports current rules because it was more important to minimize distractions in the classroom.

Q: Last year, 25 fights were recorded at the high school and 17 at the middle school. What are you going to do to fix this?

• Ward-Rannow said it was important to hold district leadership accountable and address the root causes of fights. She stressed the importance of handbook enforcement, mental health resources, and building community.
• Stubbs said the reason why there are stricter new guidelines, including restricting large student gatherings in the buildings, is due to the fights. He said numbers are already improving this year because of the crackdown.
• Ross highlighted the importance of understanding the reasons behind fights and addressing them through collaborative strategies.
• Cermak advocated for prioritizing student safety and ensuring that rules around bullying and violence are enforced.