Waukee is a fast-growing community and so is its school district. School board candidates shared their thoughts Oct. 16 about what the district should do to grow better.
Five candidates are running for four seats on the Waukee school board: incumbents Michael Schrodt, Jaime Secory and Armel R. Traore Dit Nignan, and challengers Jill Burns and Becky Lachenmaier.
The Waukee Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a school board candidate forum Thursday at the Waukee High School auditorium, moderated by chamber president Aly Davis.
Here’s what the candidates said about the near future of the Waukee Community School District.
Is Waukee soon to be second-largest school district in Iowa?
The candidates were asked what they envisioned the district would look like in five years and what needed to be done to get there.
“We’re going to be the second-largest district in the state” only to Des Moines, Schrodt said.
The district adds from 300 to 500 students every year, he said in his response to an earlier question.
As of the 2024-25 school year, Waukee was already the fifth-largest district in Iowa, with a certified enrollment of more than 14,000 students, according to the Iowa Department of Education. The district had Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Sioux City between it and Des Moines at the top of the list. Iowa City and Sioux City only having a few hundred more students than Waukee.
And Waukee as a community continues to rapidly grow. The results of a special census released in December 2024 showed that since 2020, Waukee had grown from the 23rd largest city in Iowa to 16th, adding nearly 8,000 residents in four years to reach a population of 31,823 people.
Secory said the district’s growth has slowed a little but there’s no reason to think it will stall.
And the challenges of growth may soon combine with increasingly unpredictable financial and technological landscapes.
Schrodt said the district should work with the local business community, government and colleges to give students more opportunities waiting for them right out of high school. “We’re already being copied, we need to say what’s next,” he said of needing to be a beacon for other districts to emulate.
Secory said students need to feel included, they should be challenged with rigorous academics and prepared for the next stage post-graduation.
Traore Dit Nignan said the district is preparing for the ramifications of artificial intelligence in schools and the workforce but there’s more that could be done.
Burns said if there is an economic recession, education funding will become a hot topic, and so the district’s funding should be more current — not always catching up to its enrollment — and increased. She also said polling students and teachers would be helpful to learn what’s working and what’s not.
Lachenmaier said the district should work in tandem with surrounding communities and districts — West Des Moines and Dallas Center-Grimes — to coordinate their growth for the sake of the communities, such as in traffic. She also said programs should be expanded for families to understand what their children need to succeed after graduation.
A full recording of the forum is available on the district’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/watch?v=nXP9TVMcf8c.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. Find out more about him online in the Register’s staff directory.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Waukee school board candidates discuss how district can be ready for more growth
Reporting by Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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