LARNED — A forum sponsored by the Larned Teachers’ Association featured a large field of candidates who filed for the Nov. 7 general election for the USD 495 Fort Larned Thursday evening at Jordaan Memorial Library.

Filed candidates include: position 1, district 1-4, Brent Hemken, incumbent, and Heather Helvie, challenger; position No. 2, district 2-5, Jade Meyer, incumbent, Jeremy Myrick, challenger, and Kevin Tyson Atteberry, challenger; position No. 3, district 3-6, Jessie Miller, incumbent, and Tyson Steffen, challenger; position No.7 at-large, Brian Carlton, incumbent, and Michael Myrick, challenger.

All but two of the candidates, Meyer and Steffen, were present for the forum. 

Linda Becker, instructor at Fort Larned Elementary and president of the LTA, served as co-moderator along with Cody Ratliff, history instructor at Larned High School. 

Following candidates’ introductions, each candidate was given two minutes to answer prepared questions from the moderators. While there were approximately 30 patrons in attendance at the forum, no questions were allowed from the audience.

Questions ranged from: changes to existing educational outcomes; views on the district’s strategic plan, mission and vision statements; how they would rank academic performance; and budget and facility utilization in terms of School Board priorities.

The candidates were in agreement regarding students as top priority in opportunities as well as a focus for performance goals. Several candidates noted that while a college-based career path was important, more attention should be given to vocational and trade opportunities for non-college bound students. Several candidates also noted that the board should be attentive to district teachers’ wants and needs regarding discussions of curriculum and facility concerns.

The hour-long forum was digitally recorded for live stream and is currently available on the Jordaan Memorial Library Facebook page

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