T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Senator Elect Kara Warme (R-Ames), left, and Representative Elect David Blom (R-Marshalltown), right, address the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) Board of Education about 2025 legislative priorities during Monday night’s regular meeting.

In just a few short months, two new faces will be representing Marshalltown in the Iowa Legislature.

Representative Elect David Blom (R-Marshalltown) and Senator Elect Kara Warme (R-Ames) stopped by the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) Board of Education meeting on Monday night to discuss their education priorities for the upcoming legislative session and hear from the board and Superintendent Theron Schutte on what they would like to see happen in Des Moines.

After each board member, administrator, MCSD staff member and student senate representative introduced themselves, Schutte laid out the top four priorities from the board’s perspective: State Supplemental Aid (SSA) or “new money” allocated to public school districts, teacher recruitment and licensure, mental health and preschool.

Before former Gov. Terry Branstad’s final term in office, Schutte said districts had been accustomed to receiving a four percent annual increase in SSA, but Branstad reduced his commitment to two percent unless the funding was tied to a new initiative.

“I would contend that the decade or more of leadership since that time and the anywhere from one to maybe three percent at the most of increases contributed significantly to the state being in a position of having to make a significant right sizing of teacher salaries last year — at least at the beginning teacher stage and the 12-year veteran stage — because Iowa had become significantly discrepant from a lot of our neighboring states and competitors with starting teacher salary,” Schutte said. “So hopefully, you know, we can find a better place for annual increases that won’t put us in that kind of position again, but you’ll hear a lot of advocacy for this particular area, I’m convinced.”

Schutte spoke highly of the state’s TPRA program, which pays for paraeducators and support staff to not only continue their employment by covering part of their salaries but also paying for them to further their education so they can eventually become certified teachers. In all, the MCSD currently has 14 individuals in that pipeline.

He worried, however, that the funding for the program, which came from federal ESSER dollars, could dry up, although Gov. Kim Reynolds has committed to finishing off this year.

“That’s been a significantly beneficial and helpful program to fill some of these teaching positions, which have been hard to fill and vacant, so our hopes would be there would be continued efforts to figure out how that program can continue to be supported,” Schutte said. “It also allows for students to be paid to work as paraprofessionals, which can be an initial gateway towards a future career for them in education, to give them a taste of that.”

On mental health, Schutte said the district has a strong program incorporating Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) into the regular curriculum in grades K-12.

“We have partnered with schools from across the country to try to be a lighthouse for how that can be done without it being a standalone program and how we can help all students and hopefully staff feel strengthened in that regard so that they can weather the storm of life and the challenges that come with it in addition to school,” he said. “So again, a lot of that funding has been significantly amplified through the pandemic with ESSER funds, so there are concerns, when those funds are no longer available, how we continue to support those efforts for our young people as well as our adults.”

Currently, the state funds half-day preschool for four-year-olds, and Schutte hoped a way could be found to support full-day preschool.

“It could be a game changer for us. The earlier we can help support these young people to become positioned better for kindergarten, to be positioned better to become proficient learners, the easier it is going to be to accomplish that and to have kids positioned for success in school,” he said. “We truly believe that preschool could be one of those areas, whether it’s fully funding preschool for four-year-olds or figuring out a way to incorporate three-year-olds as well as four-year-olds.”

Warme, who is replacing retiring Sen. Jeff Edler (R-State Center), and Blom, who defeated incumbent Democrat Sue Cahill (R-Marshalltown), then took their turns to speak. Warme, an Iowa transplant, noted her own public school roots in southern California and the fact that her two daughters are currently attending public schools in Story County, and because her day job is with YSS, she said youth issues are a key focus heading into her first term.

She added that she obtained a substitute teacher’s license after the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed that mental health should be a high priority heading into the legislative session. Warme hoped the opioid settlement funds could be used to combat substance abuse and mental health concerns at the local level.

“As a new person, I’ll be just doing a lot of learning, listening, asking questions (and) hearing from you guys (about) what you’ve already tried and also hearing that at the Capitol, so I’m looking forward to partnering with you, for sure,” she said.

Blom highlighted his Marshalltown roots having attended both MHS and MCC along with the fact that his mother is a reading teacher at Hoglan Elementary. He said he was encouraged by advances in technology the district has embraced and appreciated the dedication of staff members who work with students — some of whom may be struggling or need additional assistance.

Schutte thanked Blom and Warme for committing to taking a tour of some of the district’s buildings the next day and hoped it would be an informative experience for both of them.

“I’m super hopeful that between the two of you, hopefully one of you will land on the Education Committee. Obviously, Sue (Cahill) was on there in the recent past, but both Sue and Sen. Edler were strong proponents of education,” Schutte said. “And I really appreciated, even when we had to agree to disagree, how that could be done professionally and then move forward. And then also, I really appreciated the fact that each of them reached out regularly if they had questions — you know, ‘What does this mean for Marshalltown?’ — and quite honestly, sometimes it means something different for Marshalltown as (opposed to) some other places just because of the unique populations we serve.”

Other areas of the state, he added, don’t necessarily serve high numbers of diverse and immigrant students the way the MCSD does.

“So that’s why I’m very appreciative of your willingness to go on the tour tomorrow, to get a taste of what Marshalltown schools is,” Schutte said. “We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.”