Three Seek District 1 Seat On Warsaw School Board
October 23, 2018 at 5:12 p.m.
Three Seek District 1 Seat On Warsaw School Board
By David [email protected]
Candidates are Michael Coon, South Trail Ridge Road; Keith E. Manuel, South Ferguson Road; and Wendy Fairchild, West CR 400S, all of Warsaw. District 1 is currently represented by Matt Dick, who chose not to seek re-election for a third term.
A candidate forum with the three candidates is scheduled for Oct. 30 at the Warsaw Community High School Performing Arts Center. Doors open and a meet-and-greet begins at 6:30 p.m., with the forum starting at 7 p.m.
Recently, the candidates for District 1 sat down for interviews and gave some background on themselves and their thoughts on issues.
The Candidates
Coon grew up in Leesburg and Warsaw, attending Leesburg Elementary before going to Warsaw middle school and high school, and graduating in 1983. He met his wife, Christine, in high school.
He went to Butler University in Indianapolis, graduating in 1987. He worked for a while in pharmaceutical sales in the Indianapolis area. After he and Christine married, they moved to Kansas City for three years before moving back to Warsaw in 1995, when he began working at DePuy.
“We both knew Warsaw was kind of our roots and we wanted to raise our family here,” he said. They have three children — Corinne, Olivia and Ellis — who graduated from Warsaw.
After 20 years at DePuy, he moved on to Nextremity Solutions. He also has served on the YMCA and the Kutoa Project board of directors.
Fairchild graduated from Tippecanoe Valley High School in 1984 but has lived in Kosciusko County since then. She’s been a hairdresser and small-business owner for about 30 years. “I really love living in Warsaw and raising my family in Warsaw,” she said.
She and her husband, Tim Ellis, have an eighth-grade daughter, Piper, at Edgewood Middle School.
Manuel grew up in Bourbon and graduated from Triton Jr.-Sr. High School. He went to Saint Francis in Fort Wayne for two years and then Kentucky Christian College. He played basketball in college and got a degree in education. When he came back to this area, he worked with his dad for 15 years in construction. After his dad retired, Manuel moved on to Heckaman Homes in Nappanee.
He is married to Cara and they have a son, Cameron, a seventh-grader at Edgewood Middle School.
Why Run?
“I feel like it’s a great opportunity to serve my community,” Fairchild said. “I’m in the service business and I feel like I’m really good at that, and it’s an extension of my talent to serve.”
As her daughter went through elementary school at Claypool, Fairchild said she fell in love with the public school system there, what they’re about, as well as the teachers and administration she came in contact with. “So that’s near and dear to my heart, and this just turned out to be an opportunity to continue to be involved at another level,” she said.
Fairchild said she feels there’s a real need in all the schools throughout the system for educational assistance, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and custodians. “We need all those. There’s a deficit at every school, and I’d like to see those needs filled,” she said.
Fairchild said she wants the families, as well as the students, to know about the opportunities at WCS and find a really effective way to report that to the people.
Coon said the main reason he decided to run for school board was “Of course, you want to help the kids. But in order to work with the kids the front lines are the teachers, and I think we need to do a wonderful job of supporting our teachers and staff, and that does involve compensation. Unfortunately, Indiana has kind of fallen a little bit behind other states in teacher compensation, so teachers are leaving Indiana.”
Manuel thought about running for school board for a while before throwing his hat in the ring.
He said he’s a pretty good team player and runs a business where he can use his decision-making skill set.
“There’s two things I can help with. ... One is the construction part of it that they’re doing. And you always want to keep building, either you get bigger or you get smaller, you never stay the same,” Manuel said. “A lot of people have told me, the communication end of it, not so much the information isn’t out there, it’s just really hard to find. Some people say that. I don’t have that personal issue. … Getting information out there differently might help, and I deal with that every day at work.”
Student Activity Center
WCS has begun building a student activity center at Warsaw Community High School, with the projected completion date set for July. The project was bonded for around $10 million.
Manuel said what the SAC can provide to students goes hand-in-hand with what it can provide for the community. “Anytime ... people talk about spending money ... that’s what stimulates a market, and having a great school allows for people wanting to live here. We’re a big orthopedic town, but you don’t have to live here to work here. So if you’ve got a great school, you’re going to recruit great people in your community, and that’s going to make your housing prices start to go up. So it’s a really small investment because our (property) taxes aren’t quite as much as most in the area, so it’s really small investment for a really good return,” Manuel said.
“I’ve learned a little bit more about (the SAC) over the past couple of months and I think that if it’s used as a community facility as it’s intended to be, I think that’s going to be great for our community,” Fairchild said.
Coon said the cost of facilities is always a big discussion.
“Obviously, any kind of athletic facility, activity center gets used by the community, as well as the students. I am always interested in the cost of anything,” Coon said.
Social Emotional Wellness
One area that WCS has focused on over the past couple of years is students’ social emotional wellness.
“That is something that is a passion for me. In the way I grew up, the way I moved from school to school. Yes, the social emotional outreaches that Warsaw Community Schools are doing, I want people to know about that, too,” Fairchild said.
She said from what she’s heard and learned, parents want what WCS is offering as far as social emotional wellness and WCS is “really committed to that.”
Coon said, “Social emotional wellness is an unfortunate reality of where we’re at. The needs continue to grow. From when I was in school, it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as what it appears to be today. My wife also has a degree as a counselor so she’s very ingrained and understands what goes on with students’ lives. Many people have come from difficult home situations, so, unfortunately, it is a huge need for our schools and it does put an ever-increasing demand on our teachers so I do think it’s critical our teachers are given the proper training.”
Manuel said it’s needed but he doesn’t know anything more about it.
Taxes
Fairchild said local property taxes are all part of living in a great community and having a great school system.
“I think people move here sometimes for the great school system. There’s a price tag for everything and I don’t think ours is out of line,” she said.
Coon said, “I’m an extremely financially conservative person. We don’t set the tax rates. My goal is to make sure tax dollars are used very, very wisely. I’m not a proponent of increasing anyone’s tax burden, whether it be bonds or anything, without good public input.”
Manuel said, “It really depends on the value of what’s going in to it. Not everyone has kids going to school, but everyone reaps the benefits of a school. If you take a school and you pull it out of a town, the town dies in just a matter of months or years. If you have a big school and it’s not handled well, if it stays idle, then your property values go down. Our property values are great right now, so much so that when the economy took a dump 10 years ago, you could go north, south, east or west and find the same-size house for less. We would have builders from cities like Fort Wayne come into town and set up shop. That’s a good sign. That means our school has value and people want to live here, and the school corporation represents a lot of that. Going back to taxes, our tax rate is low for the value we get out of it.”
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Candidates are Michael Coon, South Trail Ridge Road; Keith E. Manuel, South Ferguson Road; and Wendy Fairchild, West CR 400S, all of Warsaw. District 1 is currently represented by Matt Dick, who chose not to seek re-election for a third term.
A candidate forum with the three candidates is scheduled for Oct. 30 at the Warsaw Community High School Performing Arts Center. Doors open and a meet-and-greet begins at 6:30 p.m., with the forum starting at 7 p.m.
Recently, the candidates for District 1 sat down for interviews and gave some background on themselves and their thoughts on issues.
The Candidates
Coon grew up in Leesburg and Warsaw, attending Leesburg Elementary before going to Warsaw middle school and high school, and graduating in 1983. He met his wife, Christine, in high school.
He went to Butler University in Indianapolis, graduating in 1987. He worked for a while in pharmaceutical sales in the Indianapolis area. After he and Christine married, they moved to Kansas City for three years before moving back to Warsaw in 1995, when he began working at DePuy.
“We both knew Warsaw was kind of our roots and we wanted to raise our family here,” he said. They have three children — Corinne, Olivia and Ellis — who graduated from Warsaw.
After 20 years at DePuy, he moved on to Nextremity Solutions. He also has served on the YMCA and the Kutoa Project board of directors.
Fairchild graduated from Tippecanoe Valley High School in 1984 but has lived in Kosciusko County since then. She’s been a hairdresser and small-business owner for about 30 years. “I really love living in Warsaw and raising my family in Warsaw,” she said.
She and her husband, Tim Ellis, have an eighth-grade daughter, Piper, at Edgewood Middle School.
Manuel grew up in Bourbon and graduated from Triton Jr.-Sr. High School. He went to Saint Francis in Fort Wayne for two years and then Kentucky Christian College. He played basketball in college and got a degree in education. When he came back to this area, he worked with his dad for 15 years in construction. After his dad retired, Manuel moved on to Heckaman Homes in Nappanee.
He is married to Cara and they have a son, Cameron, a seventh-grader at Edgewood Middle School.
Why Run?
“I feel like it’s a great opportunity to serve my community,” Fairchild said. “I’m in the service business and I feel like I’m really good at that, and it’s an extension of my talent to serve.”
As her daughter went through elementary school at Claypool, Fairchild said she fell in love with the public school system there, what they’re about, as well as the teachers and administration she came in contact with. “So that’s near and dear to my heart, and this just turned out to be an opportunity to continue to be involved at another level,” she said.
Fairchild said she feels there’s a real need in all the schools throughout the system for educational assistance, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and custodians. “We need all those. There’s a deficit at every school, and I’d like to see those needs filled,” she said.
Fairchild said she wants the families, as well as the students, to know about the opportunities at WCS and find a really effective way to report that to the people.
Coon said the main reason he decided to run for school board was “Of course, you want to help the kids. But in order to work with the kids the front lines are the teachers, and I think we need to do a wonderful job of supporting our teachers and staff, and that does involve compensation. Unfortunately, Indiana has kind of fallen a little bit behind other states in teacher compensation, so teachers are leaving Indiana.”
Manuel thought about running for school board for a while before throwing his hat in the ring.
He said he’s a pretty good team player and runs a business where he can use his decision-making skill set.
“There’s two things I can help with. ... One is the construction part of it that they’re doing. And you always want to keep building, either you get bigger or you get smaller, you never stay the same,” Manuel said. “A lot of people have told me, the communication end of it, not so much the information isn’t out there, it’s just really hard to find. Some people say that. I don’t have that personal issue. … Getting information out there differently might help, and I deal with that every day at work.”
Student Activity Center
WCS has begun building a student activity center at Warsaw Community High School, with the projected completion date set for July. The project was bonded for around $10 million.
Manuel said what the SAC can provide to students goes hand-in-hand with what it can provide for the community. “Anytime ... people talk about spending money ... that’s what stimulates a market, and having a great school allows for people wanting to live here. We’re a big orthopedic town, but you don’t have to live here to work here. So if you’ve got a great school, you’re going to recruit great people in your community, and that’s going to make your housing prices start to go up. So it’s a really small investment because our (property) taxes aren’t quite as much as most in the area, so it’s really small investment for a really good return,” Manuel said.
“I’ve learned a little bit more about (the SAC) over the past couple of months and I think that if it’s used as a community facility as it’s intended to be, I think that’s going to be great for our community,” Fairchild said.
Coon said the cost of facilities is always a big discussion.
“Obviously, any kind of athletic facility, activity center gets used by the community, as well as the students. I am always interested in the cost of anything,” Coon said.
Social Emotional Wellness
One area that WCS has focused on over the past couple of years is students’ social emotional wellness.
“That is something that is a passion for me. In the way I grew up, the way I moved from school to school. Yes, the social emotional outreaches that Warsaw Community Schools are doing, I want people to know about that, too,” Fairchild said.
She said from what she’s heard and learned, parents want what WCS is offering as far as social emotional wellness and WCS is “really committed to that.”
Coon said, “Social emotional wellness is an unfortunate reality of where we’re at. The needs continue to grow. From when I was in school, it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as what it appears to be today. My wife also has a degree as a counselor so she’s very ingrained and understands what goes on with students’ lives. Many people have come from difficult home situations, so, unfortunately, it is a huge need for our schools and it does put an ever-increasing demand on our teachers so I do think it’s critical our teachers are given the proper training.”
Manuel said it’s needed but he doesn’t know anything more about it.
Taxes
Fairchild said local property taxes are all part of living in a great community and having a great school system.
“I think people move here sometimes for the great school system. There’s a price tag for everything and I don’t think ours is out of line,” she said.
Coon said, “I’m an extremely financially conservative person. We don’t set the tax rates. My goal is to make sure tax dollars are used very, very wisely. I’m not a proponent of increasing anyone’s tax burden, whether it be bonds or anything, without good public input.”
Manuel said, “It really depends on the value of what’s going in to it. Not everyone has kids going to school, but everyone reaps the benefits of a school. If you take a school and you pull it out of a town, the town dies in just a matter of months or years. If you have a big school and it’s not handled well, if it stays idle, then your property values go down. Our property values are great right now, so much so that when the economy took a dump 10 years ago, you could go north, south, east or west and find the same-size house for less. We would have builders from cities like Fort Wayne come into town and set up shop. That’s a good sign. That means our school has value and people want to live here, and the school corporation represents a lot of that. Going back to taxes, our tax rate is low for the value we get out of it.”
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