Timothy Petersen, candidate for Mascoutah 19 School Board
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Name: Timothy J. Petersen
Political party (if applicable): N/A
Age as of April 6, 2021: 51
Campaign website or social media page: facebook.com/timpetersenmsd19
Office seeking: Mascoutah School District 19 School Board Member
Are you an incumbent? No
Previous offices sought: MSD 19 School Board 2015
Occupation: Industrial Engineer
Education: Associate of Science Aerospace Electronics. Bachelor’s Advanced Technical Studies, Masters Industrial Engineering
Please list the highlights of your civic involvement: Member of Grace Church Fairview since 2009 where I am on the Technology Team. I have been a Mascoutah Little Indians Football coach since 2010 and currently serve as the Director of Coaches. I served on the MSD19 School Board from 2015-19. I assisted staff at Mascoutah High School in developing the school’s FIRST Robotics team, and currently serve as one of the teams mentors.
Why are you running? Having students in the district has allowed me the ability to experience first-hand the quality education and rigor that MSD19 provides for the students in our district. As the world around us changes, so do the needs of our students. As a result of these changes, I have pushed for the increase of STEM opportunities. Having spent some time researching the annual school report card for MSD19, I noticed that over the preceding few years the district’s scores had been slowly declining in the areas of science and math. My concern for this decline in science and math scores in the past and my belief that “one should act as a solution to a given problem and not just a source of complaints” drove me in the past to serve on the School Board and drives me to serve again.
What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? Finding the delicate balance between achieving the goal of providing the best education we can for the students within our district, and the fiscal accountability to our taxpayers. I believe that this should begin with a periodic critical review of our school system’s current state. This should include, but not be limited to facilities, educational opportunities, curriculum, staff and budget. We should document the things that are working well, and those that are not. With that information in hand, a critical eye should be placed on a 1-3-5-15-year plan for everything from buildings, to teachers, student enrollment projections, assessment scores, support staff and budget projections … with the intention of updating those plans as needed.
Why should people vote for you? I believe I have made a strong and positive impact on our system and the resulting education of our community’s children in the past. I enjoyed being more involved with MSD19. Not only from the point of view of a person that helps define the path, but also as a coach and mentor that helps the kids walk that path. Because of this I would like to serve again as an MSD19 board member.