Meet the Candidates: Election Day is Tuesday, November 7

The school and city election is scheduled for November 7 and this election cycle we have 2 seats on the school board up for election. There are 3 candidates running for these seats and include incumbents Dave Ball, who is seeking his third term on the board, and Amy Thole who is seeking her first full term after being appointed to fill a vacancy. Jared Seliger, who is running for his first term on the board rounds out the slate of candidates for this election. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read about these candidates and be ready to case your vote on November 7! 

Dave Ball, (Incumbent President of the Board) 

Dave is finishing his second term on the Hudson Board of Directors and is excited to be running for a third term and continue to be involved in the great progress the district is making. Originally from Dubuque, Iowa Mr. Ball graduated from Wahlert Catholic High School and served 3 years in the U.S. Army. Post-secondary education includes: Associate of Arts from Kirkwood Community College, Bachelor of Arts in Sociology/Political Science from Mount Mercy University and Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Public Policy from Iowa State University. Dave has worked over 33 years in higher education with 16 of those years spent at Hawkeye Community College as the Director of Admissions, Student Life and Athletics.  Dave is semi-retired and currently teaches adjunct classes at Kirkwood community college and performs consultant services as well.

Dave and his wife Lisa moved to Hudson 14 years ago and have three adult children and 4 grandchildren.

Dave believes equitable and sustainable funding continues to be a challenge and one that doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. Integrating technology into the curriculum continues to be a topic schools districts need to stay on top of as well. Dave hopes to continue offering an objective and unique point of view. He has experience working with numerous K-12 schools across the state. His overall vision and agenda for Hudson schools is to support and advocate for our teachers, administrators, and most importantly our students.

Dr. Jared Seliger

Originally from Jesup, Dr. Seliger is a graduate of Don Bosco High School and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Loras College; a certificate in nuclear medicine from the University of Iowa, an MBA from the University of Northern Iowa, and a PdD in Educational Leadership from Iowa State University. He has worked at Allen College in Waterloo where he started as program director in the Nuclear Medicine Technology program. In 2018, he was named President of Allen College.

Dr. Seliger and his wife Miranda have lived in Hudson since 2010 and are raising one daughter, Tenley who is currently in 2nd grade. He is excited to be running for a seat on the school board and is eager to give back to the community. Jared believes our public school system is the catalyst and foundation to success in life and wants to ensure that Tenley and all children in our community continue to receive an exemplary education. He hopes that by serving on the board, he will be a strong advocate for children in Hudson and work to ensure the education they receive is among the best in the state and country.

From a statewide perspective, he believe the greatest challenge to be an ever shrinking pipeline of young people pursuing education as a career. Dr. Seliger points out that Iowa has numerous small, rural districts that can make it difficult to compete for talent. The inability to attract strong teachers to smaller school districts will make it even more difficult to adequately serve the needs of students in those districts. 

On the other hand, he believes the greatest challenge facing the Hudson Community School District is rapid growth. As more students move into the district, the current infrastructure is not sufficient to meet the needs of a growing student population. While he applauds the current expansion and renovation at the high school, he recognizes that continued student growth will create additional infrastructure challenges. 

Amy Lichty Thole (Incumbent)

The daughter of Tom and Christy Lichty, Amy Lichty Thole grew up on a farm outside of Hudson. Amy and her siblings open enrolled to Hudson Schools and graduated in 2008. Amy holds degrees from Hawkeye Community College and the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor's degree in Business Marketing. For the past six years, Amy has been employed at Hawkeye Community College where she serves as the Associate Director of Athletics. 

Amy and her husband Michael Thole have a three year old daughter, Charlotte and a 8 month old son, Eli. She is drawn to board service in Hudson because of the way Hudson shaped her life during her formative years. Amy believes in the quality of education she received at Hudson schools and wants to be engaged and involved in ensuring successful outcomes are accomplished for all Hudson students. Amy also believes strongly in extracurricular activities as it builds community amongst peer students and leadership roles and provides them with exposure to things such as sports, music, drama, FFA, and much more. Amy's current employment sees the value that athletics plays in collaboration with all the skills and knowledge that are accomplished and the relationship to success in the classroom. She hopes to continue sharing her knowledge and expertise in that area with the board. 

As an administrator at a postsecondary institution, Amy recognizes that mental health is one of the greatest challenges facing educators in Iowa. She feels that it is paramount that we do all we can to connect students with services that will enable them to be successful in life. 

At the local level, Amy is interested in helping address the challenges Hudson will face in the near future as district enrollment grows. As class sizes increase, it will be important to ensure that we continue to provide the smaller class sizes that make our school district so appealing. Amy also realizes that it will be important to ensure we have the programming necessary to meet the needs of our growing community, ranging from early childhood education all the way to college and career readiness. She hopes her service to the board will add a solution oriented voice to address the complex issues facing the district while planning for the future. 

Total PK-12 Enrollment at Hudson Tops 900

When considering preschool through twelfth grade enrollment, the district is currently serving 895 students. Factoring in dual enrolled and part time students, enrollment tops 900. For the purposes of this article, our discussion will focus largely on K-12 full time students. This due to the fact that full time K-12 students are the primary driver for budgeting and funding purposes

Our certified enrollment number is up approximately 11 students from last year (footnote 1). Certified enrollment in Iowa public school districts is the sum total of resident students in the school district. The basic calculation is the number of resident students attending in the local district, plus the number of resident students attending another public school district. The BEDS count on the other hand considers students who are served in the school district. The basic calculation here is resident students attending our school district, plus those who are open enrolled into Hudson. In this case, there is a net increase of 15 students over last year from 822 to 837, or a 2% enrollment increase. Our official numbers track very closely to our projection from one year ago, which suggested enrollment would be 839.

The number of students open enrolling out of Hudson has also increased from 60 to 66 with just over half choosing Cedar Falls 34 (footnote 2). However, the number of students open enrolling into online academies is second, with 14 students spread over 3 schools. There are 183 students open enrolling into Hudson, compared to 172 from a year ago. Waterloo continues to lead, with 130 students open enrolling into Hudson, up from 111 a year ago. A new data set to report this year includes resident students taking advantage of the ESA program. Our data suggests 4 students taking advantage of this program (footnote 3). The primary takeaway is that a net positive of 117 students (those open enrolled in minus those open enrolled out) is a very good sign for the district. 

We had 32 students who were enrolled last year but have subsequently transferred out or moved to another school district. This compares to 28 students who moved out last year and would suggest a more transient population of learners. 

Our first-grade class remains the largest at 87 students, compared to 91 one year ago. This 4 section grade level can be attributed to the influx of open enrolled students from one year ago. A deliberate decision was made this year to cap enrollment, not so much due to a perceived ‘space’ issue; our elementary building has the capacity to accommodate the added sections-but personnel limitations. Adding another section of kindergarten for example, would not only have necessitated the addition of another classroom teacher, but would have required additional sections of physical education, music, and art. Iowa is currently experiencing a labor shortage in the education sector and confidence remains low in our ability to hire additional personnel, particularly when some of those personnel would fill part time positions. It is also worth noting that 21 students applied for open enrollment into Hudson and were denied.

Enrollment projections are calculated based on a cohort methodology that uses a five year rolling average to determine kindergarten size. Over the last 5 years, the kindergarten has averaged 64 students; while in the last 10 years it has averaged 59. Based on both residential enrollment growth coupled with open enrollment, a projection of 64 seems to be right particularly since open enrollment from Waterloo is not anticipated to drop off. With this methodology, estimates from prior years are left static since there is no algorithm to accurately predict transfers in or out of the district. If these projections were come to fruition, we will reach our high-water mark of 865 (K-12) in 2029-2030. Previous attempts have been made to account for residential growth, and assuming 1.9 children per household evenly distributed could push K-12 enrollment into the mid 950 range by 2028-2029. However, I would exercise extreme caution when making this assumption and at the same time understand potential enrollment growth could be significant. You can read the full report here. 

Note 1: We use the term 'approximately' because of what are known as 'fractional' students. When it comes to supplementary weighting, preschool students, students who are part time, and students who are served in our English Language Learner Program; these students carry an additional weight factor. 

Note 2: Fifteen percent of students open enrolling into Cedar Falls from Hudson have a physical address of 700 W. Ridgeway, which is a neighborhood on the northern border of our district—geographically located within the city limits of Cedar Falls. 

Note 3: At the writing of this summary, the validity of those participating in the ESA program remains suspect. Those data ‘flow into’ our SRI system from other reporting agencies and there is no real way to determine whether or not all of those students have been captured. It can be anticipated this reporting process will strengthen over time, allowing a more accurate depiction of ESA students. 

Experience is a Great Teacher

In some ways, a brand-new teacher is like a blank canvas. While they come to us with a vast knowledge of theory and pedagogical skill, the rubber doesn't truly hit the road until they stand in front of their own group of students for the first time. 

Indeed, for our new teachers, the intersection of theory and practice meets on the first day of school. That's not to take anything away from their preparatory programs. Our universities and colleges here in Iowa do an outstanding job of preparing educators for the field. But the fact is that the experiences pre-service teachers have are all artificial. Even when engaged in student-teaching, they have the comfort and safety of a cooperating teacher close by to throw a lifeline when needed. They don't work without a net until the first day. At that point, it’s all on them. 

Fortunately, our principals do a fantastic job of making good hiring decisions, and our teacher leadership team is highly engaged with these young educators, providing close support during their first year of teaching.

Our work with new educators begins a week before the balance of our teaching staff returns to the district. Even though we are confident that we have hired well, there is a lot of work that needs to be done with our newly minted teachers before we put them in front of kids for the first time. We know they’ve got the skills and training to do the job. They know how to teach. So, the focus of our work during that first week is not to make them into teachers per se, but rather to make them into Hudson teachers. 

It is an opportunity to immerse them in our culture—to provide them with an understanding of our values as an institution. And, we let them know we are there to help and will do everything we can to ensure their success. After all, their success correlates to the success of the students in their classrooms.

I really enjoy this week because it is an opportunity for me to get to know our new teachers. Honestly, it is the only time during the school year I am really able to spend any quality time with them. I'm pretty frank with them that once the school year gets underway, I'll largely fade into the background. They are more likely to see me in passing than to have many chances for a personal interaction. 

But that’s not to say I am unaware. I regularly hear of their triumphs and tribulations as they go about the hard work of educating the youth of our community. One point that I really try to drive home with them during our fleeting time together during induction week is how quickly the year will pass by. Truth be told, before we all know it, the year will be over, and those new teachers will be ready to have that “rookie” tag removed.

That transformation that occurs over the course of the year is quite remarkable. We see confidence grow and teaching skills become finely tuned. I would argue the difference between a first-year and second-year teacher is as different as night and day. Heck, the difference between the first quarter and second quarter is quite notable. 

There is a body of scholarly research that suggests teachers hit peak performance around year 7. Anecdotally, I would rather consider those benchmarks in five-year increments. So, I asked our employees: those who are in the 2-5 year bracket of your career, what was the most important thing you have learned about your chosen profession?

Their answers? Well, check them out!

504 or IEP?

Every five years, the district has to review and update our special education delivery plan (DDSDP). This is the plan that governs how our special education program operates. It identifies how special education services are organized and provided to eligible students and ensures that our special education program offers a comprehensive continuum of services to meet the needs of all eligible students in their least restrictive environment. It describes in detail the qualifications for teachers serving in this program and outlines their responsibilities for monitoring and designing instruction for the students being served. It discusses how some services may be delivered as part of a 'pull out program', or a 'co-teaching' environment where the general education teacher and special education teacher deliver instruction whole group. It describes in detail consultation services whereas the special education teacher provides indirect services to the general education teacher insofar as adjustments to the learning environment and specific instructional strategies employed. Indeed it is much more robust that what can be captured in a few paragraphs here. I bring this all up today because we are currently in our review window and a full copy of the plan can be accessed here. If you have questions or comments about our DDSDP, the plan is open for public comment until October 31.

However, that is not the only reason I bring this plan up for discussion today. It is instead to once again illustrate, highlight, and underscore the inherent benefits of the public school system. You see, we are charged with providing a rich and comprehensive curriculum to all students, regardless of their background or disability. My colleagues in the private sector do not have a special education delivery plan because they don't serve special education students. However, in some instances they may attempt to serve students with limited learning difficulties utilizing  section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973. This is commonly referred to as a 504 plan, and is a tool that we too use in the public schools. However to be clear, there are important distinctions between a 504 Plan and an IEP (plan). The fact is, they are designed to accomplish very different outcomes. 

While both a 504 plan and an Individualized Education Program (IEP) are designed to support students with disabilities, they serve different purposes and have distinct eligibility criteria, components, and legal foundations. 

To qualify for a 504 plan, a student must have a disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities, one of which can include learning. The primary purposes of the plan is to provide those students with equal access to educational opportunities and involves accommodations and modifications to the regular education curriculum and environment in an effort to level the playing field. The plan typically includes accommodations and support services such as extended time for tests, preferential seating in the classroom, access to some assistive technology and adjustments to classroom material. It is generally reviewed periodically, usually once a year and is focused on ensuring the accommodations remain appropriate for the students needs. While we do have operable 504 plans in Hudson, they are rarer. Simply stated, the accommodations that are typically employed (mentioned above) are accommodations that by in large are woven into the fabric of our general educational program. 

On the other hand, an IEP is governed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). To be eligible for an IEP, a student must have a specific disability outlined in the Act, and it must adversely affect the student's educational performance requiring specialized instruction. That is a key distinction: where an IEP requires specially designed instruction (SDI), a 504 does not. In other words, the IEP is designed and set up in a manner to not merely mask the disability via accommodation, but to help the student make educational progress through the careful delivery and monitoring of SDI. Indeed the primary purpose here is to provide the student with disabilities with specialized educational services and support tailored to their unique needs. It includes specific goals, objectives, and services designed to help the student make progress in their education. The students individual educational plan is comprehensive, including student's current level of performance, annual goals for achievement, specialized instruction and related services, and a high level of progress monitoring. It is very highly individualized and designed to address the specific needs of the student. The mechanics are highly structured and require frequent reviews. An annual review with multiple stakeholders adjusts the plan, measures progress, and sets new goals.

Both 504 plans and IEPs are designed to support students with disabilities and serve a useful purpose in the educational setting. But they differ in their legal basis, eligibility criteria and purpose. While the choice between a 504 plan and an IEP depends largely on the nature and and severity of the disability and their specific educational needs; there is no question that as a tool designed to foster student improvement, an IEP is superior.