MCCUNE REJOINS SCHOOL BOARD FOLLOWING APPOINTMENT

Three months after losing his bid for reelection to the Freeman Public School Board to incumbent Emily Andersen and challenger Chris Sayler, Doug McCune was appointed to fill the final year of a three-year term held by Karissa Podzimek, who resigned from her seat at last month’s regular meeting after taking a position as the school’s assistant volleyball coach.

McCune was then elected to serve as the board’s vice-president after being nominated by Andersen; Andersen was then re-elected to serve as the board president after being nominated by David Downs.

Meanwhile, Chris Sayler took his seat as a new member of the five-person board and, in his first official votes as a board member, said “no” to ceasing nominations for both board vice president and board president, although the votes to elect both as such were unanimous.

All of this marked the start to a new fiscal year as the board reconvened and reorganized for the 2024-25 school year Monday, July 8.

This week’s meeting included a short wrap-up of old business with four board members at the table: Andersen, Podzimek, Downs and Cody Spangler. Then McCune, who Andersen noted at Tuesday’s meeting was the only person to apply for the one-year vacancy left by Podzimek’s resignation, took the oath of office and rejoined the board.

“Welcome back; we missed you while you were gone,” Andersen said.

Sayler was next to take the oath of office to begin his first three-year term on the board. The former employee of the district took out his nominating petition for school board earlier this year after abruptly resigning as head wrestling coach and PE teacher in February — just before the Marion-Freeman Rebels entered the postseason.

In the city/school election on April 9, Andersen won with 296 votes of Sayler was second with 277; McCune finished third with 235.

With a new board in place and positive results from a recent climate and culture survey, Andersen said she is looking forward to continuing to move the district forward in a positive way.

“The true test is going to be the ongoing monitoring,” Andersen told The Courier. “We need to make sure we keep our fingers on the pulse of the staff and the district.”

She noted that, especially with a change in leadership with the arrival of new secondary principal Mitzi Wynia and former secondary principal Katie Juhnke moving to the elementary side, communication will be key.

“It’s important to make sure we’re seeking feedback from the staff,” Andersen said. “We’ve seen a lot of growth in our district and we’re trying to be more proactive instead of reactive.”

That ongoing process will include transparency and an open door policy, she said, and a focus on excellence.

“There’s a reason we have so many teachers who stay, because the culture has been so positive,” Andersen continued. “We want to maintain that culture so we can keep the good folks we have in our school.”