Funding improvements to ‘aging buildings’ priority of next Benton superintendent

VAN HORNE — Securing funding to improve “aging buildings” in the Benton Community School District will be one of the top priorities of incoming Superintendent James Bieschke.

Bieschke, 49, who officially begins his new role July 1, said he is “listening to voters” as district officials consider next steps following a failed bond referendum in March.

Residents opposed the $48.5 million school bond referendum for Benton schools with 64 percent voting against the measure and 65 percent voting against a levy to pay the principal of the bond.

Recommended Reading

Bond referendums in three Eastern Iowa school districts being considered Tuesday

“We have aging buildings that need to be improved. Securing funding for those projects is at the top of the list,” Bieschke said.

Bieschke, who has been associate superintendent in the Benton school district since 2020, said he doesn’t look at the defeated bond referendum as a failure. “We gained so much information and created discussion in our community. Those are positive steps moving forward.”

Bieschke said his initial observations gathered from a survey to community members this spring is that the tax impact of the bond, the overall cost of the project and current economy were the main factors influencing the way people voted.

The proposed projects under the referendum included building a new elementary school in Van Horne, renovations and an addition to Atkins Elementary School, and safety upgrades and improvements to the heating, cooking and electrical system at the middle and high school.

Land would need to be acquired to build an 80,000-square-foot elementary school, with the capacity for 600 to 700 prekindergarten to sixth-graders.

It was the first bond referendum in the Benton Community School District since 1979.

“The board knows we need to slow down a little to figure out what might be acceptable to our voters,” Bieschke said.

There are “no plans” to go back to voters with another bond referendum as district officials reevaluate the needs of the schools and community and different funding avenues, Bieschke said.

The district serves about 1,700 K-12 students across eight communities — Atkins, Blairstown, Elberon, Keystone, Newhall, Norway, Van Horne and Watkins — and is growing by 1 to 2 percent every year, district officials said.

Bieschke has years of experience as an educator in Benton schools and elsewhere across the state. His first teaching job was as a business teacher at Benton High School. From there, he went to teach and coach wrestling at Prairie City-Monroe High School in Monroe.

Interested in administration, Bieschke earned a principal licensure at Drake University — where he also later earned a Ph.D. From there Bieschke moved to Marengo to be a principal in the Iowa Valley Community School District.

When the principal position at Benton High School opened up, Bieschke applied, calling his return to the district was a “dream come true.”

Bieschke was promoted to associate superintendent of the district in 2020 when schools closed to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outgoing Superintendent Pamela Ewell, who is retiring, gave “invaluable” guidance and leadership to Bieschke, he said.

“It’s exciting and a little nerve-wracking” to be named the next leader of the district, Bieschke said. “I have so much respect for the people who have been a part of this district in the past. I want to continue the good work. I do feel that pressure, that weight, and I want to make sure I carry on the success of the district.”

  Buy Photo

“I truly believe Benton is a special place and it comes down to the people,” Bieschke said.

Bieschke grew up in Sloan and graduated from Westwood High School. He credits his work ethic with wrestling as a student-athlete and growing up on a farm with his grandparents.

While Bieschke is no longer involved in coaching wrestling, he thinks it’s “awesome” the sport was expanded to high school girls last school year.

“I thought it might take a few years for Benton to get (girls wrestling) off the ground, but there was an immediate outpouring of girls interested,” Bieschke said.

Bieschke is meeting with other school leaders and legal counsel on how to implement new legislation for schools made by the Iowa Legislature, he said.

“We get these mandates and sometimes we really have to search for the best way to go about it,” he said.

Regardless, Bieschke said the district will adhere to their vision of “quality education for a lifetime of learning,” he said.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com