Meet the 2 candidates running for Roland-Story school board in a special election Tuesday

Phillip Sitter, Ames Tribune
·4 min read

Two candidates are running in a special election Tuesday for one open seat on the Roland-Story Community School District school board.

Matt Triggs and Tosha Whipple are seeking to the fill spot left left vacant by Jasmine Goeders, who resigned in December in part over the district's disciplinary handling of Kade Blume, a high school athlete who was allowed to continue wrestling after he was charged with felony assault. Blume later was removed from competing in high school activities for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year.

Whoever is elected to fill the vacancy will serve for nine months, when Goeders' original seat was up for election.

To help voters, the Ames Tribune asked the candidates to submit biography information and answers to two questions. Their answers were lightly edited for clarity.

More:Roland-Story plans special disciplinary review committee over handling of Kade Blume case

Meet Matt Triggs

Matt Triggs
Matt Triggs

  • Age: 49

  • Current town of residence: Story City

  • Occupation: U.S. Navy and Iowa Army National Guard veteran; former chair of the Iowa Concrete Paving Association; current COO of Absolute Group

  • Political experience: Served one term on the Story City City Council

  • Family: Wife, Brandi, and son, Cooper, who is in 8th grade in the district

Meet Tosha Whipple

Tosha Whipple
Tosha Whipple

  • Age: 38

  • Current town of residence: Story City

  • Profession: Senior communication strategist for a large financial services firm

  • Political experience: Founding member and served on the board of Central Iowa Emergency Services Chaplaincy; served on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Story County

  • Family: Husband, Trent, and three children — two who attend the district and one who is not of school age

What are the most important issues or opportunities in the district that are motivating you to run for school board?

Triggs: The desire to serve and support the current administration, student body and staff is my only motivation. I believe we have the best administration and staff in the state and would like to do whatever I can to keep that intact. I feel a school board member's role is to lead and advise, not micromanage the administration. Also, I love our community and the commonsense approach we take to most things.

Whipple: I have always been engaged in our schools, attending school board meetings and being an avid Roland-Story Parent Teacher Organization volunteer. I have met with members of our administration to discuss ideas and thoughts. Some have already been put into place, like the school staff recognition program I manage through the PTO. Retention and satisfaction of school staff, students and their families are a high priority to me. My candidacy for school board is a natural next step to continue helping our district succeed. I see opportunities to improve district communication, be more transparent of district goals and increase platforms for public feedback.

Would you have liked the district to have disciplined Kade Blume any differently? If so, how, and what would you like the district's policy to be to handle any similar case in the future?

Triggs: As stated above, my intent as a candidate is not to criticize past decisions but instead to serve our communities and schools with a focus on making Roland-Story the best it can be.

Whipple: I think what should have happened, ultimately did, in that a student charged with a forcible felony was removed from extracurricular activities for the year. The current policy has conflicting statements regarding punishment and participation in extracurricular activities and needs to be rewritten. The one-size-fits-all approach needs to be reevaluated, and I would like to see specified tiers of punishments outlined that correspond to the severity of the violation. I do not believe a student charged with a felony offense should participate in extracurricular activities while charges are pending. I also think there were ways the district could have communicated sooner, while still adhering to privacy laws. When there are allegations of this magnitude, it can cause a lot of anxiety and fear for parents and being met with silence can break trust when we need it most.

Where to vote for the Roland-Story school board special election

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at two locations:

  • Roland Public Library, 221 N. Main St., in Roland

  • Harvest Evangelical Free Church, 524 River Hills Drive, in Story City

Voters who live in the school district may vote at either polling location. All voters will vote in Story County, regardless of their county of residence. Some voters in the school district reside in Boone, Hamilton and Hardin counties.

In-person absentee voting is available 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Story County Auditor's Office, 900 Sixth St., in Nevada.

Anyone who requested absentee voting by mail can return their ballot in-person to the auditor's office until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Completed ballots cannot be dropped off or used at polling locations. Mailed ballots must be received by the auditor's office by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.

More election information is available at ia-storycounty2.civicplus.com/1023/2427/Special-Election---Roland-Story-CSD-2142.

Phillip Sitter covers education for the Ames Tribune, including Iowa State University and PreK-12 schools in Ames and elsewhere in Story County. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on Twitter @pslifeisabeauty.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Who is running in the Roland-Story school board special election?