MARSHALL — Candidates for the Marshall Public School Board discussed a wide range of issues in a candidate forum Tuesday night, from education and finance to decisions about the upcoming search for a new schools superintendent.

A total of five candidates took part in the event, including current school board members Matt Coleman, Bill Mulso and Bill Swope, and new candidates Trudy Madetzke and Muna Mohamed. Candidate Ben Walker was planned to be part of the forum, but was unable to participate Tuesday, moderators said.

There are a total of three seats on the Marshall School Board that are up for election Nov. 3.

Besides ongoing goals like continuing to educate students and address achievement gaps, candidates said MPS faces short-term challenges that will be a priority for the school board. The most immediate one is the COVID-19 pandemic, they said.

Incumbent candidate Bill Mulso said MPS will be “Trying to manage that situation and provide the support that our families need, but also that our teachers and our staff need.”

“I think we need to continue to inspire our kids every day. And not only our kids, but our teachers,” said incumbent candidate Matt Coleman.

Getting COVID-19 case numbers down was also important for Marshall students’ educations, candidate Muna Mohamed said.

“Just recently, West Side was closed down,” she said. “The sooner we get control of that, the better it’s going to be for our students. It’s not easy to deal with online classes, especially at a young age.”

Incumbent candidate Bill Swope said he was concerned with how the economic impact of COVID-19 was going to hit the state Legislature and public school funding.

“We’re going to have a $4.7 billion budget deficit going into this budget biennium,” he said. “My highest priority right now is to save as much money for the public schools in Minnesota as possible.”

Candidates said other priorities included the search for a new superintendent at MPS, and finishing infrastructure projects like the construction of the new Southview Elementary School.

Candidate Trudy Madetzke said another of her top priorities was making sure that everyone had the opportunity to be heard at MPS.

“Everyone has to feel respected,” she said. “Otherwise, there’s going to be an element of fear among parents, that if they speak up their children are going to be harassed, if teachers speak up there’s fear they could lose their jobs, and students are concerned about being harassed by teachers if they speak up.”

The impact of COVID-19 came up in the discussion in an unusual way during the forum. Candidates were asked if they thought MPS should stop construction of Southview Elementary in light of the financial impact it could have on already struggling taxpayers and businesses.

“First of all, I’ve never heard anybody say that,” Coleman said of the question. The construction of Southview Elementary addressed serious facilities needs in the district, and was approved by voters, he said. “You just can’t stop construction of something that the city of Marshall, and the school district of Marshall voted for.”

“Our community worked very hard to get the facility problems we had in front of us addressed,” Mulso said. “I’m happy to see it move forward.”

“One of the reasons why we went there with a new Southview school is, to bring West Side up to code would have cost $17.8 million,” Swope said. “I know it’s a tax burden. And that’s why it’s important for all of us to meet with our legislators and say ‘Don’t shortchange K-12 education.'”

“I would be interested in knowing how many people would find it a hardship,” Madetzke said. She said she didn’t know what financial position other families may be in, and would want to hear from them before moving forward. “Because if it is a difficulty, you know you can always make do as long as you’re still educating children.”

The search for a new superintendent will be a task facing the school board early in the coming year. Candidates weighed in on the qualities they thought a superintendent candidate should have. Good communication and integrity were high on the list, candidates said. Mulso said a successful superintendent would be willing to get to know school staff and community members.

“Somebody who is a people person. The business of kids is about people,” Swope said. He said the new superintendent should also be a good listener and problem solver.

“The biggest quality, I feel is integrity. A guy has to be honest with everybody, and build trust as he goes,” Coleman said. Mohamed said she would also include traits like respect and transparency in the list, as well as being willing to grow and to see the good in people.

“I think they all go hand in hand with each other,” she said.

Madetzke said good communication skills were important for a superintendent. “I would also say being very supportive, and making sure everyone at the school feels supported,” she said. Madetzke said a new superintendent should be aware of recent incidents at the school district where some parents and students felt they weren’t supported by the school.