Doug Ziegemeier
- Why do you want to be on the board?
It has been an honor to serve this District over the past three years, and I am hoping to gain your support again. First and foremost, I am a father of 3 amazing kids and a lucky husband of a wonderful wife. My experiences as a former law enforcement officer, current business owner and adjunct professor put me in a unique position to understand the complexities of school policy, law, and budgets that govern our district. I know these experiences have helped me be a balanced leader. This is evident in the leadership that I have brought forward over the past three years. I am proud to have been part of the hard work that kept our schools open during the pandemic, while also offering options to families for online learning. The bottom line is that balanced leadership is vital for our district, not hyper partisan politics. I know there are concerns about “Prop S” finances. Some issues were unavoidable (COVID), while others required the Board to make changes in leadership. Please reach out with any questions. Lastly, I am proud that our District is currently ranked 8th in the state and #1 in the County (Niche, nationally recognized ranking).
- What is a current issue in our district that you would address if elected?
I would like to bring back a positive culture in this district. Mis-steps in the district have been acknowledged and steps have been taken to correct these issues. For example, issues surrounding Prop S have been identified by a process audit, which was reported to the Board on 3/16/23. One of the major issues identified was the failure of top district administrators to obtain approval from the board, on plans that significantly altered the budget of FHN. It should be noted that these administrators are no longer employed with the district. I think it is important to acknowledge the missteps and provide transparency, which was done in this report. I believe this will help to mend the distrust in the community. I would also like to continue community engagement, engagement like our round table events and inviting feedback from our district stakeholders. Currently, the district is planning on holding a round table event that will discuss school district finances.
In addition, I would like to keep the partisan political issues out of our district. Currently we have a very vocal political action committee that is involving national and state political strategies in our district. These strategies have been designed to tear down our amazing district and divide our community. The level of misinformation and outright lies are unfortunate. Ultimately, we have a group of adults lying about the successes in our district, to satisfy a political agenda, without understanding these efforts ultimately hurt our students in this district.
- How would you like our district to be viewed from an outside perspective?
This ties to my comments about a need to get back to a positive culture. Currently, we have a negative culture, in large part due to the negative partisan political attacks against our district, and some specifically made towards teachers. Some of these comments from Francis Howell Families Political Action Committee (and their endorsed candidates) have stated that teachers and librarians are sexual groomers and they are indoctrinating our students on social issues. One of their candidates made a comment that if she were to give a child some of the books in our district’s libraries she would be arrested. I am a former law enforcement officer/detective. I can tell you that this is categorically false. I have investigated numerous sexual abuse cases, both adult and children. There is no special carve out in the law that allows teachers or librarians to provide illicit material to children.
I would like to see this level of partisan vitriol die down… because it is effecting our district’s ability to retain and attract high quality employees. The best way to keep these partisan political antics out of our district and help shut down the small group that supporters the above mentioned PAC, is by voting on April 4th for Doug Ziegemeier, Amy Easterling, and Harry Harris.
- What do you plan to do about continued funding issues in our district?
We have not had a tax levy increase in almost 20 years. We need our community’s support to pass a levy so we can properly fund our district. A little information… We have 23 schools in our district, roughly 2500 employees, and educated nearly 17,000 students. We have the lowest tax rate in the county and we are continually ranked #1. 85% of our operating budget is for salaries and benefits. We have only 15% towards funding curriculum, extracurricular activities, keeping the lights on, teacher supplies, transportation, etc. Our employees are also underpaid when compared to benchmark districts. Recently, our district was only able to provide just over a 2% pay increase to our teachers… In a time where we have seen historic inflation. Simply put, we have no “fat to trim” in our budget and we need a tax levy increase.
I know some may be thinking about home and personal property values increasing, which would positively impact our revenues. This is only partly true…. The Handcock amendment to Missouri’s State constitution prohibits revenue windfalls due to large increases in home and personal property values. So, the district does not get revenues that are equal to these increased values.
5. How do you plan to keep top-quality teachers from leaving the district despite several pay freezes over the last 10 years or so?
It would be through a combination of the last couple of answers… we need to improve our teacher and staff’s pay and the culture in which they work.
- Do you plan to do something about the accumulating issues with our school’s functionality, including the frequent flooding, leaking and plumbing issues?
I believe the flooding issues with the busted water pipes were unfortunate, and I believe the issues were identified and have been remedied for future freezing weather events. To your other points, I believe the schools functionality should be continually evaluated building admin. I believe this district empowers building level administrators to make low cost adjustments. However, high cost adjustments may not be as easy, with our limited funds (remember the 15% I previously mentioned).
- How do you plan to increase the amount of janitorial staff? Will you offer more benefits, pay or keep the rates the same?
I am happy to say that I was apart of negotiations that occurred mid year, this year. While I am happy we were able to do something to increase their pay, these increases were not enough. Local corporations have starting pay that is up to $10 more an hour. This again is a reason why we need more funding, and increasing the tax levy is the only way to increase reliable funding.
- A student brought a gun to FHC in early February, how can the district improve on safety that was lacking before?
This issue is important to me. Not only because I have 3 children in our schools; but, because of my law enforcement background and knowledge around school violence. Over the past couple of years, I have been happy to see some significant advancements in our security. But, there are still some improvements that we can make. The district is constantly evaluating our security systems and processes. I am currently the Board rep for the district’s Safety Committee, which helps to promote continual improvements. Recently, I have submitted some low cost options for review. One that I believe is both practical and will positively impact the security of the entire district.
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