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In the Tuesday, Nov. 7 election, the Eagle County School District will be asking voters to elect four candidates to its four open seats on its Board of Education.

The four candidates running for the school board are running uncontested for the four seats that represent the A, C, D and E . The candidates include three currently seated school board members — Kelly Alter, Lucila Tvarkunas and Juan Peña — as well as one newcomer, Harry McQueeney.

The seats for Director Districts A, C and D are four-year terms, and the seat for District E (held by Peña) is a two-year term.

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All school directors are voted on at-large in the county election, meaning eligible electors of the school district vote for one candidate from each director district. All school board elections are nonpartisan.

The school board election will be a part of the Tuesday, Nov. 7, coordinated Eagle County election. Ballots will be mailed on Oct. 16.  For more information on the Eagle County Coordinated Election — including how and where to vote —visit .

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Kelly Alter

It is my priority to listen to teachers and administrators and their needs, as well as the needs of our community. Finally, I listen to and learn from the other board members I serve with. I keep an open mind and ultimately participate in making the best decisions for our kids.

Why do you want to continue serving on the Eagle County School District Board of Education? 
I have worked hard the past four years to learn from students, teachers and community members to tackle challenging problems and help to make a positive change in our schools. Understanding governance policies and working with Superintendent Qualman and the Board of Education to first listen and then respond is a challenge I love.

What is something that you’d like to see the school board accomplish during your next term on the board? 
While growth has increased, I would like to see student achievement increase by 5%. This year, we challenged all our principals to give specific details about how they can improve their school’s performance frameworks.

Additionally, I am excited to complete the housing project next to Battle Mountain High School, the project with Habitat on Third Street in Eagle, and hopefully have some new homes built at Maloit Park in Minturn and Gypsum and a new early learning center in Gypsum — much-needed improvements to retain critical staff.

What do you think the school board’s top three challenges are and how do you believe it should go about addressing these challenges?
Our top three challenges are recruiting and retaining staff, student and staff wellness, and student achievement. Intrinsically tied to these issues are a lack of affordable housing and inadequate funding. Seeking funding at the state and local level is essential. We need fully staffed buildings with qualified teachers and interventionists to meet the needs of all students.

The Eagle County School District has two tax questions on this year’s ballot: Do you feel that these are important to the district in moving forward? Why or why not? 
Questions 5A and 5B on the ballot this November are essential for the district moving forward. More teachers leave the profession every year, and very few new teachers emerge.

The funding mechanism for public education in Colorado is broken. Even though our economy is amongst the strongest in the nation and property values have soared, our schools will not see increased funding. Simply put, our teachers cannot afford to live and work here.

Furthermore, we have yearly requests from the District Accountability Committee for more staffing, particularly interventionists and counselors, but have neither the money nor qualified applicants to fill those positions since Colorado ranks 49th out of 50 when it comes to teacher compensation.

We need to remain competitive in teacher salary with other districts in Colorado that have more local funding. We need to construct employee housing to ensure that we can recruit and retain qualified teachers. We need to expand early childhood education because we have hundreds of families on the waitlist for childcare and preschool. We know that early childhood education and intervention is necessary for student success. We must enhance the safety of our schools, address critical school repairs to protect our investment and update playgrounds and athletic fields. 

If neither passes, how do you feel the district should proceed? 
If we fail to pass the two tax questions, we will continue to move forward with the same priorities; however, it will take much longer to achieve our goals and some initiatives won’t happen.

Harry McQueeney

What is the value that you will bring to the school board?
I hope to bring the value of a lifelong learner and educator to the board. I have had the privilege of serving the district for over 30 years, first as a teacher and finishing my career in administrative roles.

Why do you want to serve on the Eagle County School District Board of Education? 
I believe in public education, and I will do my best to ensure that every child in the Eagle County School District receives the very best education we can offer.

What is something that you’d like to see the school board accomplish during your first term on the board? 
It would be nice to see some significant progress on the housing issue, and hopefully, the Maloit Park project will be progressing and will be close to completion. Additionally, I would also like to see all schools meet or exceed their goals on their individual School Improvement Plans.

What do you think the school board’s top three challenges are and how do you believe it should go about addressing these challenges?
Teacher retention, funding and housing have been concerns for many years and they continue to be major issues today. Current district housing projects are being realized and we should continue to invest in more. I believe working collaboratively with all the stakeholders in the district will improve the quality of education for ALL our students.

The Eagle County School District has two tax questions on this year’s ballot: Do you feel that these are important to the district in moving forward? Why or why not? 
We need to act locally and support our students and our schools since the state funding is moving too slowly, fortunately, it’s going in the right direction.

If neither passes, how do you feel the district should proceed? 
I am hoping the community passes both measures. However, if they don’t pass, some hard decisions will need to be made. Sadly, the students are the ones that will lose out.

Juan Peña

Why do you want to continue serving on the Eagle County School District Board of Education? 
I have served for two years and I feel there is plenty more to be done.

What is something that you’d like to see the school board accomplish during your next term on the board? 
I want our district to be the top district in the state. I also want to keep our kids in school where they can feel that they have a safe environment to learn.

What do you think the school board’s top three challenges are and how do you believe it should go about addressing these challenges?
Teacher retention is still a huge priority. Every teacher makes connections with their students in ways to enhance those growing minds. I believe if we can pay and help provide housing for teachers this will lead to a more stable structure for the children in our schools This will start a butterfly effect on performance and stabilization for our kids, which in turn will improve mental health, grades and build a safer community.

The Eagle County School District has two tax questions on this year’s ballot: Do you feel that these are important to the district in moving forward? Why or why not? 
Yes, Colorado’s education funding is ranked one of the lowest in the country, and yet we have still made many accomplishments to be proud of. Just think what we could do if we could the voters support our schools a little more.

If neither passes, how do you feel the district should proceed? 
If it doesn’t pass, I believe we will have to try again another way. What is the saying? “Back to the drawing board.”

Lucila Tvarkunas

Why do you want to continue serving on the Eagle County School District Board of Education? 
I’ve been serving on the Board for almost four years and it’s been such a great learning experience. Supporting our schools, staff and students is a huge responsibility and I take it very seriously. Doing the best we can for our children is my top priority. The Board has done a great job of working together to facilitate the best outcomes for our children’s education. I look forward to continuing this important work.

What is something that you’d like to see the school board accomplish during your next term on the board? 
We’ve been working really hard as a district to implement standards-based grading. Making sure that parents, staff and students understand standards-based grading is something I’d really like the district to keep working on.

What do you think the school board’s top three challenges are and how do you believe it should go about addressing these challenges?
Housing: We’ve been working on the district’s Housing Master Plan and I believe we’ve accomplished a lot in the past years. Teacher salaries: The board has given raises every time we can. Colorado ranks as one of the lowest states when it comes to teachers’ salaries. New grading system: We need to keep working on implementing standards-based grading and making sure everyone is informed and understands how this works.

The Eagle County School District has two tax questions on this year’s ballot: Do you feel that these are important to the district in moving forward? Why or why not? 
These two tax questions are very important to our district to make up for the lack of state funding for our schools. By passing these, we will be able to improve the safety of our schools, keep teaching enrichment classes, retain great teachers and so much more.

If neither passes, how do you feel the district should proceed? 
We will have to keep working with what we have. But with the support of our community and the voters of Eagle County School District, I believe these two questions will pass.