Rick Yoder

I chose to run as a Republican because the principles I most closely identify with include fiscal responsibility, accountability, local decision-making, parental involvement and a strong focus on academic achievement.

That said, I don’t believe educating children should become a partisan exercise. If elected, my responsibility is to every student, family, teacher, staff member and taxpayer in Goshen Community Schools. I will evaluate decisions based on whether they help students succeed and whether they represent responsible stewardship of the resources entrusted to the district.

Goshen has been my community for 35 years, and all three of my children attended Goshen Community Schools from kindergarten through graduation. I also spent 17 years working in education before becoming a financial advisor. I believe that combination of educational experience, financial experience and long-term involvement in our community gives me a perspective that can be valuable on the school board.

I am running because I want GCS to be a school system families actively choose, employees are proud to work for and taxpayers trust. I believe we can celebrate what GCS is doing well while still asking difficult questions about academics, finances, enrollment and long-term priorities.

Student achievement.

Almost every other decision ultimately connects to that goal: hiring and retaining excellent teachers, maintaining safe schools, improving attendance, using taxpayer dollars responsibly and making sure students are prepared for employment, college, a career and life after graduation.

The board should continually ask a simple question: How does this decision improve outcomes for students?

I believe one of the biggest challenges is declining enrollment combined with increasing financial pressure. Those two issues are closely connected.

We need to understand why families are choosing other educational options rather than simply accepting declining enrollment as inevitable. That means listening to current families, families who have left, teachers and the broader community. Then we need measurable goals for academic performance, attendance, school climate and family satisfaction and hold ourselves accountable for improving them.

Its people. GCS has dedicated teachers, administrators, support staff, students, parents and community partners who care deeply about our schools.

The recent improvement in early literacy is a strong example. GCS reported an 85.1% IREAD-3 pass rate in 2025–26, the highest in district history, up from 70.7% in 2023–24.

My priorities would be protecting classroom instruction and retaining excellent teachers and staff while conducting a careful review of expenditures outside the classroom. Before reducing services that directly affect students or asking taxpayers for additional money, I would want the board to examine administrative costs, programs, contracts, facilities utilization and other expenditures and ask which are producing measurable value.

I don’t believe responsible budgeting means simply cutting across the board. It means establishing priorities. The things most directly connected to student learning, safety and retaining high-quality employees should be protected first.

I would also advocate at the state level for a school-funding structure that recognizes the financial realities facing public schools.

No. I do not support pursuing a tax referendum for Goshen Community Schools.

Before asking families and taxpayers to pay more, I believe the district has a responsibility to live within the resources available to it and make difficult choices about priorities. That means carefully examining administrative expenses, programs, contracts, facilities and other expenditures while protecting the areas that most directly affect student achievement, classroom instruction, safety and our ability to retain excellent teachers and staff.

I believe GCS should focus on responsible stewardship of the resources taxpayers already provide rather than pursuing a referendum for additional taxes.

The board has a significant responsibility. Families have more educational choices today, and I don’t think a public school district should be afraid of that competition. We should learn from it.

I would want reliable data about why students are leaving GCS and why other families choose GCS. I would support surveying families who transfer out, examining enrollment trends by grade and school, comparing academic outcomes and programs with competing options, and making it easier for parents to provide honest feedback.

The best enrollment strategy is building a school system people want their children to attend.

I took the opportunity to meet personally with Jim DuBois for approximately two hours because I wanted to understand him, his leadership philosophy and how he approaches his work at GCS rather than forming an opinion from a distance. I came away impressed.

I would continue to evaluate the superintendent using measurable outcomes including student achievement, enrollment, attendance, financial performance, staff recruitment and retention, school climate and communication with families and the community.

Based on what I know today, including the time I spent personally discussing his philosophy and vision with him and the results GCS is producing, I would vote to keep Jim DuBois as superintendent.

Transparency builds trust, and I believe public institutions should always look for ways to make it easier—not harder—for citizens to understand what is happening.

I would like board agendas and supporting information to be readily available and understandable before meetings whenever possible. Important financial decisions should be explained in plain language. The public should be able to understand not only what the board decided, but why it made the decision.

I would bring an approach of asking questions openly, communicating clearly and remembering that the board works on behalf of the community.

First, we should celebrate the progress. Moving from 70.7% in 2023–24 to 85.1% in 2025–26 is significant.

Next, we should identify exactly what produced that improvement and make sure those successful practices are consistently implemented across the district. I would prioritize strong evidence-based literacy instruction, early identification, targeted intervention, professional development for teachers and meaningful communication with parents about how their children are progressing.

The board’s job is not to tell teachers how to teach reading. Its job is to establish clear expectations, provide appropriate resources, monitor results and hold district leadership accountable for continued improvement.