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Filing were: incumbent Mark Dingmann, incumbent Debora Glenz, David Johnson, and incumbent Allen Schmidt. Incumbent Tami Stanger did not file for re-election.

Polling hours in the west lobby of Paynesville Area Elementary School will be from 3 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

This is the second part in three series of questions posed to the four school board candidates.

Mark Dingmann
Mark Dingmann, 42, has served on the school board for four years, being elected in 2001. He also serves on four board committees: facility and equipment, teacher negotiations, support staff negotiations, and budget.

Dingmann is the radiology manager at the Paynesville Area Health Care System and has lived in Paynesville since 1992 with his wife Kathy. They have three children: Zachary (sixth grade); Nicholas (third grade); and Katelyn (first grade).

What measures should the board take to deal with the impact of declining enrollment?
If declining enrollment is due to students leaving our district and open enrolling elsewhere, we need to know why and investigate each case. Then see what we can do as a district to keep our students here. Declining enrollment can simply be due to a smaller class size. If this is the case, then staff adjustments will need to be made accordingly.

As more budget cuts become necessary, due to declining enrollment, what specific areas - arts, athletics, teaching staff, administration, etc. - would you target for reductions?
Enrollment numbers in our district have been starting to plateau. However, cuts may still become necessary once again due to lack of state and federal funding, increases in overall costs, contracts, utilities, etc. Until all of the numbers are in, it would be unfair to target a certain area for reductions.

As district funds allow, where do you see funding needs in the school district?
In the classrooms. For example: staffing, updating text material, supplies, etc. Other areas would be arts, athletics, building and grounds, advanced electives, college courses, and technology.

Debora Glenz
Debora Glenz, 46, has served on the board since 1994 and is running for a fourth term. She is currently the vice chair of the board and serves on eight committees, including School for Equity in Education, administrative negotiations, budget, and legislative liasion.

Glenz has run a daycare in her home in Paynesville for 18 years. She and her husband Mike have four children: Michelle, Julie, and Ryan are all PAHS graduates and Sean is a senior this year.

What measures should the board take to deal with the impact of declining enrollment?
Maintaining a balanced budget is crucial. Actively sell our school and our community to our public and encourage enrollment growth and retain the students we do have. Keep more part-time college-bound students here on our site and still receiving college credits.

As more budget cuts become necessary, due to declining enrollment, what specific areas - arts, athletics, teaching staff, administration, etc. - would you target for reductions?
As it has been in the past and will continue to be directed at any excess anywhere and administration. Everyone will be asked to do more with less if we don't get school funding that is adequate.

As district funds allow, where do you see funding needs in the school district?
As much as I would love to see our curriculum expand, the reality is we need repairs, such as the roofs and possibly a new boiler. Another school van would be great. There are creative ways to add new class offerings, but repairs are repairs. They have to be done.

David Johnson
David Johnson, 39, is a 1984 PHS graduate who is running for the school board for the first time. He graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1988, majoring in business and history, and from Hamline University School of Law in 1998.

An attorney in Paynesville since 1999, Johnson and his wife Dee have three children: Ella (7), a first grader, and twins Eric and Luke (5).

What measures should the board take to deal with the impact of declining enrollment?
It seems that most of the declining enrollment is simply attributed to the change in demographics in the school district and there really is nothing that can be done in this regard. However, declining enrollment due to student in the district open enrolling in another district needs to be considered and measures need to be taken to keep these kids. With open enrollment, school districts are competing for kids, and Paynesville schools need to offer a product to entice not only district kids to stay in the district but also for non-district kids to enroll in Paynesville schools.

State testing scores and the availibility of college credit courses are two performance areas that I believe are considered by parents when choosing a school for their kids, and our school needs to be competitive in these areas. The school also needs a system to be able to effectively present its strengths when parents are moving to the area and inquiring into schools.

As more budget cuts become necessary, due to declining enrollment, what specific areas - arts, athletics, teaching staff, administration, etc. - would you target for reductions?
I have not had the benefit of being on the board and understanding the nature of the budget discussions, but I am sure these are the most difficult decisions to make as there are no unimportant areas in a budget which has already been excessively trimmed. I hope that cuts will not be necessary under the new funding scheme and our enrollment does not decline as projected. If we need to make cuts, I would favor cuts across the board so none of the above areas suffer completely.

As district funds allow, where do you see funding needs in the school district?
Although I personally do not believe that it is the duty of schools to provide college credit courses and I think that students are missing out on both the high school and college experience by taking early credit courses, I understand the need to offer these courses in order to compete with other schools, and I would support funding in this area, as well as class size reductions and participation fee reductions.

Allen Schmidt
Allen Schmidt, 44, is completing his first four-year term on the school board, having been elected in 2001. He has served as the board chairman for the past two years and currently serves on four committees, including facility and equipment, teacher negotiations, and transportation.

A 1979 PHS graduate, Schmidt works as a live haul supervisor for Jennie-O Turkey Store in Melrose. He and his wife Lori, a paraprofessional at PAES, have four daughters: Sarah, a 2005 grad; Rachel (junior); Nicole (ninth grade); and Megan (sixth grade).

What measures should the board take to deal with the impact of declining enrollment?
I think we are already doing some things to deal with declining enrollment. Programs such as looping and multiage classrooms are having a positive impact for kids. We are also trying to increase our college-level offerings that should help keep students here. We need to keep open minds to new ideas and have staff that are willing to think outside of the normal ways of delivering education.

As more budget cuts become necessary, due to declining enrollment, what specific areas - arts, athletics, teaching staff, administration, etc. - would you target for reductions?
I think all areas have suffered significantly in the last several years. I don't have any areas that I would "target" for reductions. This will most likely be a problem that we will need to address annually. As enrollment declines, staff will have to decline as well. Hopefully, this trend will start going in the other direction, as we have started to see some increases in the younger grades.

As district funds allow, where do you see funding needs in the school district?
If funding was available, it would be great to be able to restore some of the things that we have cut in recent years. I would also like to have some advanced offerings and college-level courses. On a more mundane, but necessary level, the maintenance of our facilities has become increasingly difficult with less dollars to work with each year. Roof repair is becoming a big issue, and we may need to look at other ways to finance it.