Position Statements

In this divisive age, so many want a statement on what you're for and against. Lowell seeks to be known for what he stands "for", and works very hard to listen and consider all viewpoints, knowing that he is a representative for ALL students and families. Lowell works to leave his personal political beliefs/opinions at the door, bringing an open-minded and thoughtful approach to topics that arise. School boards are not law-making bodies, but are sometimes are called upon to make difficult decisions applying laws, and therefore need to remain apolitical to the best of their abilities. Lowell is not beholden to a political party or ideology and simply seeks to make decisions in the best interest of the CFCSD and CF taxpayers. With that being said, below are a few statements on topics that are commonly asked of school board candidates.

AEA Restructuring:

I have to admit that I don't know as much as I'd like to about the structure and make-up of the AEAs to have a conclusive position on this issue, but I do have a few thoughts. While I always push for ways to be more efficient and lean, and save the taxpayer as much as possible, I thought that gutting the AEAs to the extent that the legislature did was not rational or productive. On the other hand, I have experienced some personal frustrations with the AEA being "greener pastures" than being on the frontlines in our classrooms, and seeing top talent go to the AEAs for better pay and less . At the end of the day as a CFCSD board member, to the extent that I've reviewed it, I believe our district will be able to continue offering most/all services with minor impacts, but smaller rural districts could really struggle. If AEA cost-cutting was critical, my view is that we should have had a more thoughtful and rational approach to cost-cutting measures at the AEAs.

School Choice:

I'm a firm believer that free and fair markets are the most efficient at driving consumer value and fair competition drives innovation. I'm all for increased options and innovation within our educational systems, but school choice legislation needs to be "free and fair". Public schools are not only open and welcoming to all students, but compelled to, while private schools can accept whom they want to according to whatever set of criteria they choose. I do not believe it to be "free and fair" for private schools to have access to the same SSA amount that public schools do and not be held to the same standards of acceptance, transparency, and publicly-elected government. This is not political or ideological to me; it's simply my rational conclusion based on the definition of free and fair markets. 

Religious Instruction (LifeWise Academy):

I am a Christian myself and we are raising our daughters in the Christian faith, and that primary responsibility rests with me, my wife, and our church. I don't look to my local public school to raise my kids in the faith. Cohesive with all of my other statements and positions, I also try to make teachers jobs easier, and the logistics of certain kids coming and going throughout the day is in conflict with that goal. I believe that this is a non-issue in Cedar Falls though, because we have almost 2 hrs of built-in PLC time throughout the week that I value highly for a number of reasons, and would also be perfect for a program like this. We actually face some criticism sometimes for our built-in PLC time, but I've always defended that on the basis of the value that it brings to our teaching staff and ultimately our students; to remove more instructional time out of the week would be logistically challenging for teachers and it is unnecessary, since the free time for students is already there. So, I am supportive of a religious group utilizing weekly PLC time, but not further encroachment on instructional time. 

On a somewhat-related note, freedom of religion is a constitutionally-protected freedom that does not stop when students go to school, and I support students' religious expression at school, which includes student groups like FCA.

Old HS Sale Disposition:

This was a tough board decision during my first term, and there were many factors involved. Of course, I recognized and acknowledged the potential conflicts of interest and the student attrition risk to the district. At the end of the day though, the board had few options. As it turns out, there isn't a very large market for 50+ yr old school buildings that are approaching end of life. In the end, I personally felt the most important things were doing what was right by the taxpayer and engaging in an open bidding process with a price floor that ensured the most transparent and open process, which resulted in the highest sale proceeds going back to the District. Other options would likely have cost the District or in best case broke-even, while also tying up valuable time and energy from our superintendent that should be spent ensuring we have a positive and engaging learning environment. There also was a new Iowa law in play that restricted options, and