SIOUX CITY — Another former Sioux City Schools employee has been selected to serve on the Sioux City School Board.
Philip Hamman was selected Monday to fill the vacant Sioux City School Board position.
Author Phil Hamman reads aloud from his book as he teaches sophomore Language Arts at East High School in this Journal file photo. Hamman was …
Hamman will serve in the position for less than four months, filling Perla Alarcon-Flory’s seat until the November election. Alarcon-Flory vacated her seat to move to Arkansas with her family due to the Dakota Dunes Tyson closure.
Hamman was a teacher at East High School for 37 years in special education and retired this May.
"I could have retired many years earlier but because of my love for education I wanted to see the kids have the best education they can have," he said. "Giving quality education to students has been my whole life."
Author Phil Hamman teaches sophomore Language Arts at East High School in this Journal file photo.
He plans to continue teaching as a substitute in the coming year in addition to serving on the board, which he said gives him another opportunity to help students in their educational experience.
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Hamman was chosen by the board in a 4-2 vote Monday night with Board Members Bob Michaelson, Jan George, Dan Greenwell and Taylor Goodvin voting in favor of him in the final round of balloting.
Sioux City Community Inclusion Liaison Semehar Ghebrekidan received two votes from Board Members Monique Scarlett and Bernie Scolaro. The decision came after only two rounds of voting.
Hamman attended the meeting over video but was sworn in immediately. He thanked the board for the opportunity to serve and said he will give 100 percent to the appointment.
"I'm humbled to be chosen over such great candidates," he said. Hamman indicated he plans to run for a full-term seat in November.
Author Phil Hamman teaches sophomore Language Arts at East High School in this Journal file.
Hamman joins George, Michaelson and Scolaro as former Sioux City Schools employees on the board.
School Board President Dan Greenwell said the level of experience and knowledge of school operations these former employees bring to the board is beneficial.
"Each of them have over 20 years of experience, that has been something that has been incredibly helpful to the board," he said.
Hamman said he is up to date on what is going on in the district and can step into the job knowing what needs to be addressed in the district and has a strong love for teaching.
He believes a focus should be on raising the reading, writing and math scores. He also said one of his top priorities is looking at how to improve support for special education and English Language Learner students.
"We really need to stay focused on the classroom, the students, the teachers," he said.
Authors Phil and Sandy Hamman show the cover art for "Gitchie Girl" in this January 2016 file photo.
With a degree in behavior and emotional disabilities, Hamman has worked closely with managing behavior and said he is an expert at managing classroom behavior without filling out discipline referrals.
This past school year, the district implemented a new cell phone policy that restricts the use of cell phones during school hours, as well as other behavior guidelines.
"We really saw our behaviors improve immensely in the high school," he said. "It was almost as if the students were waiting for somebody to give them more guidance on their behaviors."
Hamman said he likes the direction the current school board and administration are headed.
The board members on Monday thanked those who applied for the positions and encouraged the candidates to run for the five open seats that will be available in November.
Greenwell said he was thankful so many people applied for the position and it shows that people are invested in public education. He said his three priorities for a candidate were someone interested in running for the board in November, someone with broad experiences and who would be best for a short-term appointment.
Thirteen individuals ran for the open seat. The candidates include Chad Krastel, Maria Rundquist and Eric Boe, who ran for the last vacancy on the school board.
The list also includes:
- Former school board candidates Shaun Broyhill and Ryan Baker;
- Former Sioux City School Board Member John Meyers;
- Sioux City School Board candidate Marguerite Cortez;
- Sioux City Community Inclusion Liaison Semehar Ghebrekidan;
- Former Northwest AEA speech pathologist Julie Berens and;
- Community members Jebediah Hibbs, Justin Rhodes and Tashsa Cowan.
Julian Lee originally signed up for consideration, but withdrew his name before the meeting Monday, Greenwell said.
On Monday, each candidate was given a few minutes to speak about their qualifications and reasons for seeking the seat. They also answered questions from the board members.
School Board Member Taylor Goodvin asked each candidate if they are interested in running for the position in the fall.
- Rundquist, Berens and Boe are undecided;
- Hamman, Broyhill, Ghebrekidan, Cowan, Baker, Hibbs, Cortez, Rhodes and Meyers plan to run for a school board position in November.
Each of the candidate’s full interviews at Monday's board meeting can be viewed on the Sioux City Schools’ website.
When a school board member vacates their position early, the board has a few different options. They can hold a special election and allow voters to make the decision, or they can appoint someone to fill the remaining term.
Historically, the Sioux City School District has chosen to appoint an individual.
In August 2022 the school board had a vacancy that drew seven candidates. School Board Member Bernie Scolaro was chosen at the time to complete Juli Albert's term, which expires in November.
At this point, five of the seven school board seats will be up for election this year, including the seats held by Board President Dan Greenwell, Taylor Goodvin, Monique Scarlett, Bernie Scolaro and the seat vacated by Perla Alarcon-Flory.
The ballot will have two items and no one can run for both. They can either run for one of the four, four-year terms, or the one, two-year term, which is the remainder of Alarcon-Flory's seat.
Petitions to have your name placed on the ballot are due by Sept. 21. The election will take place on Nov. 2.
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