Mary Jo Fletchall says School Funding Issues Critical

Mary Jo Fletchall said that funding issues were the main issue for the school given the ongoing federal and state budget cuts to smaller schools. A perennial candidate for school board, Fletchall said that the reason she ran was that she was passionate about the school and about Worth County in general. "The school and community have a responsibility to our kids to provide academic and education opportunities," she said. "We have to do the best we can and I believe I would be able to make a difference."

Fletchall serves on the school's PACE committee, a committee set up by the school to look at parental and community involvement and potential partnerships with the school. "We're looking at ways we can bridge the cap and help make students successful," she said. "Serving on that committee is a real eye-opener for me. We're looking at ways that people and organizations can partner with the school." Fletchall said that it was a matter of creating leaders for tomorrow.

Regarding buildings, she said that she wanted to make sure that they were properly maintained. "I've seen buildings that were great and then fell apart because they were not properly maintained," she said. She said that if elected, she would want to see facilities that were safe, ADA compliant, and energy efficient.

On baseball, she said that there were a lot of things that would be great to have, but that she wanted to make sure that it was affordable and that the school provided equal opportunities for both boys and girls. She said that it would affect boys golf and track; she said that she wanted to study the issue and see if it was feasible first.

Fletchall has two children, Trent and Hannah. Her children are eighth-generation Worth Countians; she is the daughter of Danny and Jolene Fletchall and the granddaughter of Orville Fletchall. She is the director of Community Services. "I believe I've been put here to serve and help," she said. She said that there was always room for improvement at the school and that everything should align with the goal of providing a quality education. She said that the biggest accomplishment of the school was that they were sitting well financially even though they have dealt with ongoing federal and state budget cuts. "Worth County has a dying population, so having a highly qualified school is a huge accomplishment," she said.