Jeff Andrews Pledges Common Sense Approach for School Board

Incumbent and Board President Jeff Andrews pledged to bring a common sense approach to the School Board if reelected. He said that the main issue for the school was money; he said that with the federal government giving out less and less money to schools, the school had to be even more vigilant with its finances. The school was helped with more state funding as their enrollment dropped below the level required to qualify for Small Schools funding. Andrews said that the administration was doing a good job of watching every penny; he said that the goal of the school board was to put personnel in positions where they could best help students. He said that as a board member, he wanted to hire well-qualified teachers who were willing to stick around.

Regarding buildings and facilities, Andrews said that went back to finances. "If we don't have a well-managed school, it's not conducive to the education of our kids," he said.

Regarding baseball, Andrews said that he didn't want to spread the other programs too thin. Worth County also offers track and boys golf during the spring. In Iowa, schools play baseball and softball during summer, which allows even the smallest schools to offer girls volleyball in the fall and track and boys golf in the spring. He said that for Worth County, it was a matter of working things out in a way that would not take away from other activities.

He said that the biggest accomplishment of the school was the partitions as well as the personnel. "I was told that the partitions could not be done, and the first question I asked was why?" Andrews said. He said that the personnel were the ones most responsible for keeping the school afloat. "Everyone has been pulling together to keep the school afloat," he said.

Andrews said that the biggest area in need of improvement was testing. He noted that the scores were gradually going up and that it was a constant challenge to identify areas to work on and work out better teaching methods. "We're fortunate to have people to place who make sure that's happening," he said.

Andrews said that he had been asked to run again. "I just want to do what's best for the students and the taxpayers," he said. "The taxpayers have a vested interest in the school and I'm always open for questions, concerns, and ideas from the public." Jeff is the son of John C. and Jo Andrews. He is married to Karen (Thompson) Andrews and they have two daughters, Claire and Tess, both of whom are students. He is currently employed at the Wool Shop north of Grant City.