Post Messenger Recorder -

There will be a Primary election for the New Glarus School Board on February 15, 2022. On the ballot will be five candidates running for two seats on the board. The top four candidates will face off in the General Election in April. Profile requests were sent to all five candidates with a deadline for returning them set for Friday, January 28th, at Noon. Four candidates returned their questionnaires.

Alex Bean

Age: 32

Occupation: Healthcare software management

Years lived in district: 5

Incumbent? No

Have you been on the school board or held any other public office before? If so please describe: No

Why are you running for school board? With schools arguably forming the foundation of community, I believe students and staff deserve our best efforts to always be looking for ways to optimize. As a father of two young children in the district (ages 7 and 4), as a husband to a small business owner in town, and as a resident of New Glarus for about 5 years, I'm very invested in the success of our students and its impact on our community.

Between my experience instructing both middle school and college classrooms and my career as a healthcare IT manager, I have the analytical practice and project management skills that will make me a successful representative of the community on the school board. I'm not running for any sense of personal achievement--I am running because I think I can be a great community representative on the board, and I will ensure that policy and budget decisions are evidence-based and always in the best interest of students, staff, and the community as whole.

What issues do you find most important to the school board? How would you handle these issues? Obviously COVID protocols are foremost on my priority list because we need to ensure students are safe to learn in-person and staff are safe and able to keep the school functioning. As evidence about new developments and best practices comes in, it's our duty to closely scrutinize the options and make updates to our protocols when it's warranted. My goal, and I think all of our goals, is to keep students able to attend in-person instruction, and we do that by reviewing evidence and guidance to limit spread within our schools.

Aside from that, I've always been a big proponent of fighting for and supporting those most vulnerable among us. As such, I want to ensure that our school district is being as proactive as possible in getting the right kinds of support and instruction to those in our special education programs. These children, like all children, deserve our utmost dedication to finding appropriate and compassionate personalized education. I'll work with staff, administration, and other board members to help optimize our program and ensure transparent access to those families that need it.

Any additional comments? While many people have strong and opposing feelings about various school-related issues, I know that we all have the best interests of the students at heart. Keeping this in mind will help us have good-faith discussions on how to best support our students' development.