001Good evening and welcome to the 2025 Dallas Grimes School Board Candidate Forum. My name is AJ Ellingsson. I serve as the communications director at Dallas Grimes. I'll be the MC for tonight's school board candidate forum. There are three seats up for election in 2025, director district number one, director district number two, and one at large seat. Joining me on stage tonight are the four candidates running in our 2025 election. To my far left is Nick Fiala. He is running unopposed for the director district number one seat. Next to him is Monica Malberg. She's running unopposed for the director district number two seat. They're seated together tonight, but they are not running against each other. To my right are the two candidates for the one at large seat. Julie Quant and Will Rubble. That means Julie
002and Will's names will be the only two that every voter in Grimes and Dallas Center will see on the ballot. Nick's name will only be on ballot number one, in district number one, excuse me, and Monica will only be in district two. We appreciate all four of you for being here tonight and sharing your ideas and thoughts with our community. Here's how the forum will go tonight. Each candidate will have two minutes for an opening statement. We'll then have four questions. Each candidate has 90 seconds to answer those and then an additional two minutes for a closing statement. DCG business manager and board secretary Michelle Wermouth is sitting in the front row and she will be our timekeeper. She has a sign for 30 seconds and a sign then for final time when that limit
003has been reached. There will be again time for individual conversation after the conclusion of our forum while we set up for the bond referendum town hall beginning at 7 also right here in the DCG high school auditorium. We now begin with a two-minute opening statement from each candidate. Nick will go first followed by Monica, Julie, and Will. Nick, when you're ready. >> Good evening. My name is Nick Fiella. Um I grew up in Calendar, Iowa. um small town, northwest Iowa, about 200 people. I graduated 96. I entered the Air National Guard upon graduation. I served 20 years um in the Air National Guard. Uh retired in 2016 or 2016. Um I owned a small business in Urbandale. I have a seventh grade son and a senior or a daughter that's a senior. Um, I this
004is my I ran two years ago, two and a half years ago for the uh open seat that was created um in 2023. And so I'm running for uh reelection now. Um I've really enjoyed the last three years. I'm looking forward to the next three. >> Okay, Monica. >> Hi everyone. I'm Monica Mullenberg. I have lived in Grimes with my husband for the last 14 years. Uh we have one child who graduated from DCG a few years ago. She's now a junior at Uni. And then we have a freshman and a seventh grader. And then we also have a one-year-old nephew that I convinced my sister-in-law to move to Grahams because he also needs to go to DCG. Um, I work for one of the large employers in the De Moines area. Um, and my
005focus is on project management policies and procedures when I'm at work. Uh, I have been on the school board for the last four years and I'm looking forward to another four more. >> Julie I just wanted to thank everyone for coming tonight. It's definitely a fall night um with the rain and I know schedules can be really tight this time of year. So, thank you for showing up. Um nice to see some smiling faces out here. Um my name is Julie Quant. Um I am running for the atlarge position at Dallas Center Grimes. Um and um I just wanted to kind of let you know a little bit about why I am running. Um my husband Nick and I moved to Grimes 21 years ago. We fell in love with the small town feel. Um
006the small class sizes, all of those things that a lot of people come to Grimes for. Uh we have three children, uh twin senior boys, uh that go to school here at the high school and a daughter that's a seventh grader at Oakview. Um one of my biggest passions is showing up. Um I truly enjoy showing up at my kids events, um events that other people have, the community. I just really love seeing all that is out there and really talking to people. Um, face tof face interaction is very important to me just because I feel like that's a lost art nowadays. Um, these phones tend to take up a lot of our time and when I can have a face tof face conversation, I can read people and all of those type of things.
007Um, I have a huge heart for volunteering. Um, my kids always make fun of me because I'm always the last one to leave an event because inevitably I end up talking to someone and they're mad and sitting in the car waiting for me. But again, that's my heart. That's what I love to do and I'd like to share that with you. Um, I've been actively involved in a lot of different things throughout my years, um, here in crimes from PTO, um, to junior achievement. I'm on FO, which is Friends of Fine Arts. Um, it's a big booster club for the fine arts. Um, SCAK committees. Um, and the last year I've been on the bond referendum committee, which has been a huge eye openener for all the things that have gone into that bond referendum.
008Um, I'm in my 10th year as a local um full-time realtor. And so I specialize in um new construction and residential attorney. I guess my time is done, but um thank you for your time. I appreciate you letting me speak, >> Will. >> Uh yes. Uh thank you for hosting and thank you everyone for showing up. Uh my name is Will Rubel. Um I've been married for over 35 years. uh lived in Grimes for 25 years and both my daughters have graduated from DCG. Uh my background is primarily in accounting and IT. Um I have a bachelor's uh of science from Drake University in accounting. Uh passed a CPA exam in ' 92. Have an MBA um in organizational development. Um I went on active duty as a supervisory financial analyst for the an FBI
009task force. Um, I also spent 10 years as a grants administrator overseeing approximately $80 million grant uh grants to the state of Iowa. Um, in 2011 I retired um got to do what I I enjoy doing my passion which is software development and have been working with businesses to uh modernize their IT systems and reduce cost. Um for those in the audience in the IT field primarily DevOps, dev devs sec ops and m machine learning ops. Um so why am I running? Um two years ago I came here and what I saw was was concerning. I went home um started doing some research online. I saw that folks in our community were attacking our teachers, attacking our students, and attacking our schools. And maybe it's just me, but you don't attack our schools, you don't
010attack our teachers, and you don't attack our kids. Um, since then, I've been attending nearly every school board meeting, going through the packets, going through the bills, uh, line item by line item, reviewing the contracts to find out what's going on and see how we can do better. Thank you. >> Okay, we will move to our first question of the evening. Uh, in your opinion, what defines an ideal school me school board member at Dallas Center Grimes and what role will you play in making our district the best it can be? Monica will go first, followed by Julie, Will, and then Nick. >> I think what makes the best school board candidate is or member is someone who is actively involved in our community and our school district. um going to the volleyball games, the
011football games, the fine arts events, just being visible, whether it be in your church or whatever activities you're involved in. That is when people truly get to know you and get comfortable with uh asking you questions. Like, no one's going to send an email and ask you when we're going to renovate the stadium and why we're out of bleacher space, but if you're sitting there at a Friday night football game, people are going to ask you those questions. So, just being the a face out in the community, super important. um being a person that they know that they can go to and if we don't know the answers, you're going to get the answers for them. You're going to help bridge that relationship between the community and the school district and the administrators. And I
012feel like for the last four years, I've done a really great job of that. When I uh first joined the board four years ago, transparency and communication were two of my biggest things. And I think we've done a tremendous job in that area and looking forward to um continuing that relationship and helping others build that relationship and make those connections that maybe they don't already have. >> Thank you, Julie. >> For me, what defines a schoolboard leader are great communication um and listening. Um I really feel like sometimes when you just shut your mouth and listen to people, you can learn a lot about them. Sometimes we're too quick to speak, to talk back. And when you just really sit and listen to people, you can learn a lot about them. Um, and so that
013would be one thing that I would like to do is listen. Um, listen intently. I might not agree with what you are saying, but I will listen and try to find a solution together that meets everybody's expectations. Um, I'm a big communicator. I think communication is huge. Um, things can get lost in translation. um things can get bigger than what they're meant to be when we don't o um openly communicate with people. So that's a big thing to me. Um and I feel like when people are heard and validated, they just feel better. Um and so being able to one be able to get a hold of me, to be able to voice concerns, I will take that to heart. I will take it to the board. We will try to find a solution together.
014Um and I think the other thing is keeping everybody up to date. It might not be the solution that you want to hear, but letting them know the good, bad, and the ugly just keeps people all in the loop. >> Thank you, Will. >> Yeah. Uh, what makes a good schoolboard candidate, whether it's a a school board, city council, or mayor, um, the folks need to be prepared. They need to do their homework. They need to be showing up at the school board meetings. They need to be looking at uh, section 279 of Iowa code. Um, they need to be looking at the policies. They need to be looking at the regulations. and they need to know what they're getting into because what happens usually is if you take a look at all the school
015board elections, whether it's DCG or our surrounding communities, we have folks who are showing up um usually it takes about a year for a school board member to go through all the classes with the Iowa Association of School Board to get up to speed. So, the first year they're not even effective as a as a good school board member. So, it's just I believe a good school board member is doing their homework, getting involved, um, and and making sure they know what they're getting into and so they can hit the ground running. >> Thank you, Nick. >> Yeah, I would echo a lot of what they said. Um, I would add to like just a positive attitude in every situation. you know, there's a lot of things that come up that you could easily take
016a negative route, but like Monica said, you want to keep a positive attitude and um be open to every anyone that's anybody that has a different point of view. Um I would also echo that it's it's a lot of time too. So like it's important to a good school board member that they have the time to take away and go to workshops that we for to help guide the the district's um vision for the future. >> Thank you. Our second question, how will you engage with our parents, staff, and community during your tenure on the board? What do those conversations look like? And how will you advocate for our community and the district at the same time? Julie will go first, followed by Will, Nick, and Monica. >> I think a lot of this is
017going to be um how we engage is again like I talked about that open communication, knowing that the door is always open. Um, and I think also like that that clear trans that clear transparency of we're working together for the greater good. We're all here for the best of the schools, for the kids, all of those type of things. Um, and I think we're here to work together. And sometimes I feel like it can be us against them, and that's not what it's about. Um, and I and I believe that we need to be advocates for the kids. At the end of the day, that's what we're here for. Um and I just feel like that um if I were on school board um one I just want to say that I have no political
018agenda and that's been a lot of questions that have come up like have come to me is what is your political agenda? I don't think there's any room for politics in the school district or that. So I would like to make sure that that is addressed right off the bat. Um and I think that ultimately we just need to be there for our teachers and our students and our staff. You know they give of their days. um a lot of them um give of their their time and their money to the to this to helping our kids and the least we can do is communicate with them and help them the best that we can. >> Well, how would I communicate with parents, staff, and community? That's a uh I think that's one of one
019of the misunderstood things. Um and when I've been out talking to folks because once you take the oath of office and you take a look at our schoolboard policies as an individual school board member, I'm very restricted in what I can say and do um with our community. And so um any operational conversations, they get referred to the school or the superintendent. Um I can I can talk policy with them. I'm not allowed to talk about um anything that's schoolboard business. Um when it comes to the staff, um the communications to the staff, all operational issues are the superintendent. And so I would communicate through utilizing the the chain of command on the school board to the board president who would then communicate to the superintendent and that's how you communicate with the staff. Um
020yeah, so it's it's it's very restrictive. Thank you, Nick. I find the best communication is face to face if out in public. I think most I've been approached at football games just on the street. Um, and you don't need to get into details, but people there's a lot of things that we can talk about that we we don't need to be secretive about that we can people just want to know um just some general things and I think it's okay to like hear them out and give them a reasonable explanation of um why a decision might have you know why we were the whole story on behind a situation. So sometimes people don't hear the whole story and it's it's nice to give people the other side of it at the same time. >> And
021Monica I would say open, honest, and uh transparent communication are so important um between the staff, the families. You know, last night at the board meeting, I asked a teacher who was doing a presentation a question about she was talking about transitional kindergarten and I asked her opinion about it because she's the expert. She knows. So just being able to have those conversations whether it's with the staff or with our communities um family members students um whoever um sorry just uh just knowing that um there are things that we can talk about and yes there are things we cannot talk about but when we goes into those closed sessions obviously that is not able to be talked about but if someone has a question um about something on the agenda we can certainly talk about
022with that and a lot of times it's just explaining and educating a little bit more that they need to know so we are able to talk about those things and just once again if we can't talk about it being able to direct them to this teacher this principal or the superintendent. >> Thank you. Our third question uh recruitment and retention have been two topics that connect every aspect of DCG and two of the areas we've been focused on the last several years. Please use the next 90 seconds to showcase how you as a schoolboard member will help recruit and retain our staff and also recruit and retain new families to our district. Um I'm sorry, Will will go first, followed by Nick, Monica, and Julie. >> Recruiting and retaining uh staff. I'll I'll be I'll
023be quite honest. Uh my background is in IT and accounting. I'm going to probably uh lean on experts. So, uh, for example, on the school board, if we have a problem and let's say we have a problem with recruit recruiting and retention, um, we we'd probably, uh, set up an ad hoc committee and get the experts in there to take a look at it. Um, we have to admit as school board members, hey, we're we're not an expert in this area. So, we bring in the experts, we have them make recommendations to the board, and we go from there. Nick This is an area that we've really focused on the last two years. We've made a concerted effort to like we spent a lot of time on in a workshop outside the school board meet
024a meeting to go over the staff surveys that the staff fil, what things are going well. And we do make a concerted effort to uh address the the areas that were graded low in those in those um in the surveys. So there's a lot of good in those assessments. You can tell this I think we've done it twice and our numbers were way up on the positive side the second year that we've done this. Um, so I think we've made a good effort to retain we, you know, we're looking at this, we want to retain those teachers and staff that um that are here and if they have something, some input, they're taking time to fill out a survey, we're taking the time to address those issues. And so I think we spent the whole
025afternoon going through that. And I think it from what I can tell in the district, I feel like the culture that people are happy with the direction that it's going and um I think we've retained a lot of good staff. So we hope to continue that. >> Monica, >> I think we do a really great job of showcasing DCG uh thanks to AJ and all of his amazing work. But I would just say we continue showcasing all of the awesome things that are going on here. And then like Nick said, that staff survey, listening to our staff, what do they want to see? what do they want to change? And then whatever we can change or to make a difference, we do that. One of the things a couple years ago, we always heard that
026teachers can make more money down the road. You get paid so much better at other districts. Michelle and her team did a comparison to look at is that truly is it an applesto apples comparison or you know the benefits package plays into that. So her team put together a benefit statement for all of our staff so they could actually see this is the pay, this is the benefits. So a lot of that is just teaching and um providing trainings and education and awareness for our staff. Uh we've also had a lot of staff come back to DCG. So over the last few years we have had a few that have left and they have actually come back because they've missed our district and our administrators and everyone here. So when we say that we're a
027family, we truly are still have a family culture in this district. >> And Julie, >> well, I wish I could stand up here and say yes, I would advocate for higher teacher pay, all the things, but in reality, as much as I would love to and advocate for it, I think there are different things that we can also put into place to help incentivize those teachers. Um, and I think what we need to do is ask the teachers, um, ask for feedback. what would in you know add more value to your room, add more value to you and really take a look at what those answers are and see if that's something that we can do. Um I think the district does a great job of the PLC where like the planning um the collaborative
028things on the Wednesday early outs. I know a lot of teachers that have been around for a really long time, a lot of group of teachers um I'm looking at some South Prairie teachers um that we they just have that great community. They love the students. They love and they work so well as a team. And I think that is one thing that DCG does really well is that those great teachers stay because one the culture is amazing and two they love what they do. Um I also think that it is a it's a community event. Like I do not think that it is all the teachers responsibility to do take care of learning. It is me as a parent and I'm willing to step up and help those teachers. So if that takes volunteering
029in the classroom or doing those type of things, I think more parents need and should stand up for more of that to walk handinhand with the teachers. Thank you. And our fourth question tonight, there's a lot of work that goes into being a schoolboard candidate and then even more as a director. What have you learned in the process? Why do you want to be a school board member at DCG? And what makes our district the place you want to be that schoolboard member? Nick will go first, followed by Monica, Julie, and Will. >> Well, I want to be a director because I enjoy Grimes. I enjoy the school. Uh, my kids had a great experience here and I want to make sure that it's a good experience for years to come and it's fun to
030be part of something that's growing every, you know, guess our enrollments dipped just a little bit the last couple years, but you can see by all the development around the area here that we're going to be on the uptick of enrollment here very soon. And so, it's just an exciting time to see buildings getting expanded, everything getting bigger and better. And I just it's just a a fun time to to be a part of it. And more importantly, it's about the kids and the teachers and um just want to make sure the focus is on, you know, learning and making sure that they're prepared to go out in the world as productive citizens. >> Monica, >> in the last four years being on the board, I've learned a lot about what it takes to be
031on the board. It's so much more than just showing up once a month on a Monday night for a meeting. Um, if you have not come to our open workshop where Michelle talks school finance, you should um because you learn a lot [laughter] about fiduciary responsibility. But, um, you know, Will was right. It takes a little bit when you first become a board member to learn the ins and outs of being a board member. But, I think we just have so many awesome things going on in this district. I love the people. I love our administration, our staff, our students, everyone. Um, it's just such a fantastic district. I love it. I tell everyone that they should come live here. I tell everyone I know they should come work here, be a bus driver, whatever.
032Uh, so yeah, I just am looking forward to another four years, like I said, because I really, really do truly love this district. Julie, >> what I have learned through this process um started about a year ago when I was asked to be on the bond referendum committee. And wow, I went from knowing nothing to couldn't get enough of it. And I'll be honest, that was what kind of prompted me to put my, you know, put my foot into this running for school board. Um it's been a huge eye openener seeing the you know the committee start with talking about needs, talking about what our district needs. Um talking about how much we need to to spend to get what we need with not overdoing it. Looking at renderings, talking about student displacement, like what's
033going to be best for our students and and I thought about this. I'm like this is what is on a daily basis in our district. This is what they're constantly doing. And that's what really prompted me and and lit a fire under me to really want to become involved in this. Like I said, my passion is I love being relational. I love talking to people. Um my job is real estate. So that's what I do. I show people um some of the biggest investments in their career and I or in their lives and I feel like that what they can take what I can give to the to the school board and you guys is that knowledge of current market conditions. Um, I also have negotiation skills and um I I would just like to
034do that um to kind of help with everything. So um yeah, that's it. >> And will >> well [clears throat] my background or I have an MBA in organizational development and so I spent two years and all I did was study organizations. I mean studied the organizational structures, the climates and and things like that. And so the past two years that I've been going and and sitting in the back very quietly at our school boards, I've just been watching that. I've been watching our our culture. I've been watching um the interactions between the board. Um seeing the teamwork that's going on um things like that. And so but what I noticed was we have some blind spots like um we the intent is to have a board that works together as a team that brings
035all kinds of different perspectives. We have uh we definitely have to have a construction um expertise. We have to have school teacher on our school board. We need to have special education expertise on our school board. We have policy um and change management expertise. We have business expertise. But the the two things that I noticed missing was uh we're missing it cyber security expertise. We're missing accounting expertise. And those are two things that I have and I'm offering up to the community to help out. and um I think DCG has a great culture and I want to be a part of it. Thank you. >> Thank you. And finally tonight, we will give each candidate an additional two minutes for a closing statement. Monica will go first, followed by Julie, Will, and Nick. Monica, when
036you're ready. >> Thank you. Well, first of all, just thank you all for coming out tonight on this rainy night. uh you know I I don't have anyone running against me so it's not as difficult maybe as running against somebody but I will just say that we've done so many awesome things the last four years we've this master planning of our facilities planning our strategic planning uh we've started implementing that but to see that come further and further and the um the bond passing and all of the great things that we're going to be doing in this district I just really am looking forward to it and I just really encourage everybody to get out and vote next Tuesday uh for both your board members and for the bond. Thank you, >> Julie. >> Well,
037I think we've had a good discussion tonight. Um I hope that throughout this discussion, you were able to kind of understand what my values are, what my views are. Um at the end of the day, each one of us is here for the betterment of the schools and the students and to make sure that they're in a safe environment. Um, and so I think that any anybody here would do the job wonderfully. Um, I promise you I will put my heart and soul into this. Um, I don't do anything half. It's 100% or nothing. Um, and I just I I really hope that that that shows through um to everybody. I also just want to say thank you to all of the love that I've felt from so many people calling to say, "Hey, can
038I can I take a yard sign? Can I help you with campaigning?" All of that. It just that's what truly is makes DCG the culture and that's what I truly love about this community. So I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you to Dr. Bloom. Thank you to AJ for moderating this. Um I just feel like it's a great opportunity for us to really be us and show you who we are. So um would really ask for your vote um next Tuesday, November 4th, um for the atlarge seat. Thank you. Well, I think we're at a critical moment because of school choice. Um, it's no longer I have to go to DCG or this school district. It's I want to go to DCG. And so, what makes a family want to come to DCG?
039Um, I believe it's our our teachers and our staff. They are the heart and the backbone of our district and our culture. They give everything they have every day for our students and for our community. They are really DCG. And if we support them, they will do great things for us. And so I I just want to remind everybody, we're all part of DCG and I'd be honored to have your vote. Thank you. And Nick, >> um I think Will mentioned I do agree with that that he said that it does take about a year to get spun up before you're like an effective schoolboard member. And it's I remember the first year that I was on the board, it felt like I was back in the military. there's so many acronyms and different lingo
040that it takes a while to like get in the flow of what's going on and what's and so um now that I've been on two and a half years, I feel like I'm following along with the financial uh that Michelle does every every month. And so, um, I feel like I'm in a really good position to to be a productive board member more so the next three three or four years than I am the last couple because I've I know the system better. Now, um, I'm not running against anybody, but I'm still working hard and getting my best with the district. >> That concludes the 2025 DCG School Board Candidate Forum. Would you please join me uh in thanking these four candidates for their commitment to our district and their willingness to serve. [applause] I'
041I'd also like to give a quick shout out to Jake in the back for the help with the AV equipment and the video recording. Uh this session has been recorded. It'll be uploaded to our district's YouTube page tomorrow morning. We have about 20 or 25 minutes before we begin the bond referendum town hall which begins at 7:00. Please use this time for any individual conversations that you would like to have. And once again, we appreciate your support, those in person and watching online. The bond referendum begins at 7 o'clock. We'll see you then.