Meet the candidates: Who is running for Marysville Board of Education?

The candidates running for Marysville school board this November agree on one thing: They all want to see the district continue to be successful.

Eight candidate are competing for four seats on the Marysville Board of Education. Each seat has a term of four years. Marysville school board President David Schmorrow and Vice President Kevin Palmateer are incumbents.

Trustees Michelle Kut and Ben Lasher are not running for reelection.

Pamela Binsfeld

Binsfeld moved Marysville four years ago and is a stay-at-home mom with five children. Binsfeld said that every child has a right to a quality education and every parent has a right to know what their child is learning. She wants to focus academics on the five core subjects: Reading, writing, math, science and history.

“We need a district where parents feel confident and comfortable with what children are learning,” Binsfeld said.

Binsfeld said she wants to address all issues within the district regardless of its size. This includes issues such as school safety, bullying, allocation of district funding, building maintenance and the effects of COVID-19 on education. She also wants to keep the opinions of the parents in mind when making decisions.

“I think whoever sits on the board should be a good representation of the parents so that they feel confident in the decisions being made, too,” Binsfeld said.

Binsfeld said she is willing and open to having discussions with anyone in the district. She wants the community to feel heard by the school board.

Colleen Dodson

Dodson has been a teacher for over 30 years. She is running for the Marysville school board because she believes the district should focus on the students academics. She said she thinks district funding should go into core learning.

“I think we get too busy with side things when we should really be teaching reading, writing and arithmetic,” Dodson said. “We should be getting students prepared to be productive members of society because they are the future.”

If elected, Dodson wants to increase parent and teacher involvement in the district. She said that when she was younger, the Parent Teacher Organization was strong, and she wants to bring that back. Dodson said parents and teachers should work together.

“They should have good communication and relationships,” she said. The kids will really benefit from it.”

Dodson said she does not think politics from either party belong in education. She said the district should focus on what is best for the students.

Kevin Palmateer

Palmateer is the current vice president of the Marysville Board of Education and has been a member of the board since 2001. He is running for reelection because he wants to stay connected to the Marysville community.

“I still want to be plugged into the community and I feel like I can still serve the community to my best ability,” Palmateer said.

Palmateer said he constantly has a renewed interest in education. He said as a board member, he likes to keep up to date on issues surrounding education, news on the other school districts and what the community wants.

“I really keep my ear to the ground to see what’s going on financially and what’s going on in Lansing,” he said.

Palmateer said he is an advocate for public education. He said he wants to focus on students and their achievements in Marysville.

David Schmorrow

Schmorrow has been the president of the Marysville school board for the last eight years. He has been a member of the board since 2010. He is running for reelection because he wants to continue achieving excellence for the Marysville school district.

“I want to see Marysville schools become a place where other schools come to discover what we’re doing right,” Schmorrow said.

Schmorrow said Marysville has high test scores and he wants them to keep rising. He said the board is always looking at the curriculum and seeing what works for the students and staff in the district.

Schmorrow said he has been involved in education for his whole life. He was a teacher for over 40 years. Within Marysville, he taught at all levels for 31 years and worked within the administration for four years. He said he has a good perspective of what works for education at Marysville.

Duane Schunk

Schunk is a retired teacher with over 20 years of experience. He retired from the Memphis school district and volunteered as the assistant coach for the Marysville baseball team. Schunk said he wants to return to education to advocate for students and teachers.

“I want to have my input so the kids will have a successful track in life,” he said.

Schunk said he does not have an agenda and will enter the school board with an open mind. He wants what is best for both the students and teachers in the Marysville school district. Schunk said his only goal for the district is to keep it successful.

“I look at is as a point of pride to empower all aspects of the district,” Schunk said. “It’s about academics, sports, band and the all the extracurriculars. You can’t put focus on just one thing.”

If elected, Schunk said he will listen to all sides and make judgements without bias on the board.

Nick Thomas

Thomas works as a financial advisor in the Marysville area. He said going through the Marysville school district made him the man he is today, and he wants to give back to it in any way he can. He said he wants to bring strong leadership to the board and make Marysville a great place for students to learn.

“I want to improve on this already amazing district,” Thomas said. “I want to create and address policies to make sure things are heading in the right direction.”

Thomas said he will address district issues with a common sense approach to make the best decisions for the students. Additionally, he wants to be advocate for the teachers in Marysville. He said teaching has been a tough profession in the last few years, and he wants to ensure district decisions positively affect teacher in the future.

“The teachers drive success in our schools, so they’re very important,” Thomas said.

Thomas said the education of the students in Marysville is important to him. He said he wants to keep their achievements high in the district.

Catherine Vermeersch

Vermeersch said she knows the importance of preparing children for the future. As a person working in telecommunication, she said technology has changed rapidly over the last 30 years. she understands the value of children, their education and parents input. She said she wants to increase parent involvement.

“As public servants, we are there to serve the public and to keep the best interests of the children and their parents at heart,” Vermeersch said.

Vermeersch wants to keep a focus on the district budget. She said she will make sure that the budget is balanced and used effectively if elected in Nov. Additionally, she wants to ensure transparency for the school board and keep the community involved in the district.

“The voice of the parents and community should be heard, recognized and valued,” Vermeersch said.

Vermeersch said that the students of Marysville should be prepared for the future. She said the parent of the district should also have a voice in their children’s education.

Aleiha Watson

Watson did not respond to requests for comment from the Times Herald before publication.

Contact McKenna Golat at mgolat@gannett.com or (810) 292-0122.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Meet the candidates: Marysville school board election