Charles City doctor announces school board candidacy

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A family physician has announced his candidacy for a seat on the Charles City Board of Education, becoming the fourth candidate to file to run for one of the three positions whose terms are up this year.

Also, incumbent Charles City Council member DeLaine Freeseman has filed papers for re-election, and seven other candidates have filed for positions in other Floyd County cities.

Current Charles City Board of Education President Josh Mack has also filed papers to run for re-election, as have Kathryn Fox and Staci Taylor, according to Evan Martin, the school board secretary and district director of finance.

City and school district elections will be held Tuesday, Nov. 2. The deadline to file nomination papers to run for a position is 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16. Affidavits of candidacy and nomination petitions must be turned in by the deadline to the Floyd County Auditor’s Office for city elections, and to the school district secretary’s office for board of education elections.

Dr. David Schrodt MD said in a statement to the Press that he is running for the Charles City Board of Education because, “I want to work with our school district’s administration to develop curricula that by the time a student graduates from the Charles City Community School District, whether their interests are technical, vocational or professional, they will have a solid educational foundation to build a successful, satisfying and happy life.

“Every young person and their parents have the expectation that by the student’s graduation, he/she will have been given a progressive curricula that will accomplish this solid foundation,” he said.

David and Christine Schrodt and their family have lived in Charles City almost 20 years, and eight of their 10 children have graduated from the local school system, he said. They also have eight grandchildren, with two more expected in November.

Schrodt noted that the 2019 state performance report for Charles City’s high school, middle school and both elementary schools gave them all ratings of “needs improvement,” and that two of the district’s goals are “close the achievement gap in our student subgroups” and “increase proficiency scores to above the state average.”

Charles City Community School District schools are lagging behind almost every other school in the seven districts around Charles City, he said.

“Right now, we are not a competitive school district,” he said.

Schrodt said schools also need to complement students’ families as each student grows and develops.

“All students, and their parents, expect that whoever they encounter throughout their days will be kind, considerate, and thoughtful. Charles City Community Schools is trying to create such an environment and for that we are proud,” he said.

“I would like to take my education and understanding of children and curricula to the Charles City Community School Board and work with the district’s administration to substantially improve our school district’s educational product,” Schrodt said.

“I want the Charles City Community Schools to be the school to which families want to send their children and I want our schools to be the reason families want to move to Charles City,” he said.

There are three terms up on the Charles City school board. Missy Freund has said she will not seek re-election. Incumbent Josh Mack has filed to run for re-election and board member Scott Dight has not announced his decision.

Charles City Councilman DeLaine Freeseman also filed for re-election this week, according to the Floyd County Auditor’s Office. The other incumbent council member whose term is up, Gerald Jeorger, has announced he will not seek re-election.

Two people have said they are running for Charles City mayor, the incumbent Dean Andrews, and Richard Severin. Severin has filed nomination papers to be on the ballot, but Andrews had not yet as of Thursday afternoon.

Eight people filed for city positions this week, according to the Floyd County Auditor’s Office. They are:

• Charles City Council – DeLaine Freesman (i).
• Floyd mayor – Trevis K. O’Connell (i); Floyd City Council – Charles Newman (i).
• Nora Springs City Council – Steven Allen Bailey.
• Rockford City Council – Kevin Tegtmeier and Jerome H. Schlader.
• Rudd mayor – Jeff Buland (i); Rudd City Council – Matthew Bouillon (i).

Four people have filed for school board positions in Charles City:

• Charles City Board of Education – Josh Mack (i), Kathryn Fox, David Schrodt and Staci Taylor.

The mark “(i)” signifies that person is an incumbent seeking re-election.

These are the positions that are available this year:

• Charles City – Mayor and two council members.
• Colwell – Mayor and five council members.
• Floyd – Mayor and three council members (including one to fill the remaining two years in a term).
• Marble Rock – Three council members.
• Nashua – Mayor and three council members (including one to fill the remaining two years in a term).
• Nora Springs – Mayor and two council members.
• Rockford – Mayor and three council members.
• Rudd – Mayor and two council members.
• Charles City School District – Three board members.
• RRMR School District – Two board members.