Ames School Board Candidate Profiles

have filed to run for five seats on the . AmesPatch asked each candidate to answer the same questions and their answers will be posted on AmesPatch each day leading up to the Sept. 13 election.

School board member John Hascall was appointed to the board to fill an unexpired term until the Sept. 13 election and faces challenger Mike Espeset.  

Name as it appears on the ballot: John Hascall

Age: 49

Family: Wife, Janeane; one son, David, 18, a senior at Ames High School; one daughter, Lyra, 6, a first grader at Edwards Elementary School.

Occupation: Team Lead for Network Infrastructure, Authentication and Directory Services at Iowa State University.

Education: Bachelor's degree in computer engineering, Iowa State University.

Previous elected experience: Ames Community School Board: 2000-2003, 2010-present. I served on the Policy & Insurance Committees all five years, additionally one year on the Board for the Education Foundation and one year on the School Improvement Advisory Committee.

Why are you running and what issues are most important to you?

 The answer to both of these questions is to help the district continuously improve toward the goal of each child reaching his potential.

It has been said that the cost of construction inflation has not been accounted for in the current $65 million bond project for six elementary schools. If it's approved, how will you ensure that all projects are completed and that buildings are built to last?

There are a number of factors which will affect the final cost. One of these is rate of inflation between now and the letting of the last bid, but there are several more. One very important one is that the design concepts from StruXture, which are the basis for the $65 million figure are very much "all inclusive" designs. It is my belief that the actual buildings will be less grandiose and thus less expensive. In addition, the district has other considerable resources (SILO, PPEL, Potential Land Sales) available to bridge any gaps.

How much of SILO (School Infrastructure Local Option Sales Tax) funds are you willing to contribute to the current elementary school project before the voters?

I would like to see the SILO funds split equally between the elementary project and the future high school project. Assuming that sales tax collections follow past history, that should be roughly $35 million for each project.

If voters do not approve the bond issue what will you do to address the needs of school facilities?

The first step will be to analyze what factor(s) accounted for the defeat and then to devise another good plan which addresses those factors.

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