State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

school board

  • Nanny State — School Board Edition

    The Ankeny Community School District defined SSA (State Supplemental Aid) as the cost of living adjustment for school budgets. “To keep pace with rising costs, SSA needs to at least match inflation. If it does not, we would need to thoughtfully consider our budgeting strategy and staffing plans,” according to their website. Each cycle public… Read more

  • School Board Election – 2023 Edition

    The Solon Economist reported about the Nov. 7 city and school board elections in its Aug. 31 edition. The article didn’t say much. In particular, the author did not say whether the incumbents were running for re-election. Local newspapers are under financial stress, yet we rely upon them for coverage of local elections. At the… Read more

  • Solon Schools: A Bond and Two Board Seats

    1,515 students attend four schools in the Solon Community School District this year. There is a $25 million bond referendum election in March, and a school board election in the fall. I plan to cover both elections. The school board terms of Adam Haluska and Jami Wolf expire this year. Neither has formally announced whether… Read more

  • Picks for Sept. 12 School Election

    It’s easy to pick three school board candidates from the four running in the Solon Community School District. I’ll be voting for Rick Jedlicka, Nicole Pizzini and Tim Brown. Nothing against Coons, who served previously on the board. Pizzini is the only new person running. She’s a known entity in the community and the board… Read more

  • No drama, no tax increase, results only

    There’s a school board election Sept. 12 in the Solon Community School District and I’m pumped! We all should be jazzed if we care about K-12 education. Like Ahab hunting Leviathan I believe big voter turnout in school board elections is possible. History shows me wrong — in the 2015 school board election only 281… Read more

  • Haying and the School Board Election

    Haying is a social and economic movement and around here farming takes precedence over schooling. There’s a school board election Sept. 12 in farm country. Farmers are buying 9,000-foot spools of Brazilian baler twine, windrow teeth, left and right handed rake wheels, baling wire, reels of bale netting and a lot more. Tens of thousands… Read more

  • Back to a Non-partisan School Board

    Voter turnout in yesterday’s Solon school board election dropped from 834 votes in 2013 (18.4 percent of registered voters) to 281 votes (8.18 percent). What happened? The district is moving on after a 10-year cycle of electing politicized and mostly conservative board members to finding a less political, middle ground focused on doing what’s right for… Read more