FAIRMONT — Three seats on the Fairmont School Board will be on the ballot come Nov. 6.

Four candidates — Rufus Rodriguez, Martha Myren, John Gibeau and Michael Edman — are contending for the spots.

Rodriguez currently serves as the school board president. He has been on the board for nearly four years and has had two children go through the Fairmont public school system. Rodriguez is a physician at Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont.

Rodriguez says he is running for re-election because he believes the school district still has a lot of work to do. He mentioned a recent news article that stated that ACT scores in math, reading and science have been dropping for 14 years and are at an all-time low.

“We have momentum [at Fairmont Area] but we need to keep on track with the work we’ve started,” Rodriguez said.

Martha Myren is originally from Fairmont. After recently moving back here with her family, she is running for school board because she says she is passionate about providing the best possible experience for the students, parents and teachers. Myren works at Kahler Automation.

John Gibeau was born and raised in Ceylon and has been involved with city government there. He served as mayor for 12 years and currently serves on the City Council, in addition to working in the insurance business.

Gibeau said he has always tried to give back to his community and would like to serve on the school board to bring a new voice and new ideas to the board.

Michael Edman is an attorney in Fairmont and has lived in Fairmont most of his life. Edman said he is running for school board because he has four children under the age of 9 who will all graduate from Fairmont High School, just like he did, and the health of the school is personal and important to him and his family.

“I previously ran for school board unsuccessfully,” he said. “The outpouring of folks encouraging me to run again was something I could not ignore.”

When asked what assets he can bring to the job, Rodriguez said he has a great understanding of education and has learned a lot as his children have gone through the system. He said he is always reading and researching the status of education in the United States and what experts are saying about it.

Myren said her experience as a parent, volunteer, teacher and office staff member gives her a well-rounded perspective to bring to the board.

“Listening to both sides of an issue and making informed decisions are qualities a good board member needs to have,” she said. “I feel I have those traits.”

Gibeau said, “I am a very steady, reliable person. I am someone who listens to the people and really cares how the school affects everyone. I feel that I am a good leader, which is someone who listens and is deliberate.”

Edman said he has a lot of leadership experience on boards.

“I know how to get things done working as a group,” he said. “I know that we all have the same goals and objectives but we all have different approaches and ways of getting stuff done.”

The candidates were asked what things they need to be improved or changed at Fairmont Area.

Rodriguez said he wants to continue to work on strengthening the education experience for students in term of the STEM fields, but also work on other areas such as English.

“We need to be able to get students, parents and faculty to work collaboratively,” he said. “I started a breakfast with the school board last year and that’s been helpful.”

The periodic breakfasts involve school board members and high school students who share their thoughts and concerns.

Rodriguez said the board cannot work collectively without hearing from parents, teachers and students in order to find out what’s missing.

Myren said she would like any input from the community on issues it may see or be experiencing because there is always room for improvement.

She also said, “Hiring and retaining good teachers should be the top of the list. One way of doing that is offering a scholarship if they are willing to commit to teaching in Fairmont for ‘X’ number of years. Or a loan repayment if they teach for ‘X’ number of years in Fairmont.”

Gibeau sees three areas to work on. One is using a security consultant to see if the school is doing everything possible to make its facilities safe and secure. He would also like the school to institute a “kindness” curriculum for every grade.

“Lastly, I think as a school we need to continue to develop vocational opportunities for our kids,” Gibeau said.

Edman said he would like to see test scores continue to improve, as well as find other ways in which to measure the effectiveness of curriculum, in addition to annual state testing. Edman also said he would like to see a more robust mentorship program.

“I am aware of other schools in our area that have J-term program in which seniors are able to job shadow with participating businesses for two weeks in between semesters to get an in-depth experience on what may be a career in which they have interest,” Edman said.