Newly-minted North Tama school board member Marty Dostal, left, shakes the hand of board secretary Sara Forrester after receiving the oath of office during the Thursday, Sept. 26 special meeting held in the junior high commons in Traer. Dostal will serve in the District 4 seat through the end of 2025; the seat will be part of the November 2025 midterm election ballot. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

TRAER – The North Tama County Board of Education appointed and promptly swore in its newest member last week, Traer resident Marty Dostal.

Four individuals interested in the appointment including Dostal attended the special school board meeting held on Thursday, Sept. 26, in the junior high commons.

The District 4 seat became vacant following former school board vice president Haley Blaine’s resignation on Sept. 3.

“It is with a heavy heart that I’m writing this letter to let you all know that, effective immediately, I will no longer be able to serve as a member of the North Tama School Board, as I’m no longer living within my represented district,” Blaine wrote in her resignation letter.

In addition to Dostal, Denny Berger, Allison Blocker, and Kennan Seda also applied for the vacancy. All four candidates were asked a series of three questions during the meeting by board secretary Sara Forrester as part of the board’s appointment process; they were given two minutes per question to answer.

Four individuals residing in North Tama Director District 4 attended the Sept. 26 special school board meeting as part of the school board vacancy appointment process including (from left) Allison Blocker, Marty Dostal, Kennan Seda, and Denny Berger. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Candidates were asked why they wanted to serve on the school board; which issues they felt were important to the district; and to name two ‘points of pride’ they harbored as a North Tama Redhawk.

In response to the first question, Dostal, 50, said he was “excited” by the opportunity to serve.

“I think I would be a great asset [to the board],” he said, in part. “You guys are faced with tough decisions all the time. In my day job, I have issues that come to me that I’m asked to fix. A lot of times, most times I can’t do that on my own. … I have to look at who are the key stakeholders to that issue and bring them into a conference call or conference room and we have to put our heads together … Through that process, a lot of times, what I think is the right answer is not the right answer in someone else’s view. So we have a collaboration.”

Dostal also said his background in construction would benefit the board as the district works to build a new high school addition over the next 18 months.

In response to the second question about important issues, Dostal cited funding and resources as being two issues facing the district.

“In a small community like we have, money doesn’t go a long way, so it’s critical in decisions we make … to make sure we stretch our dollar. … It’s really important to me that the new construction is very efficient. … Let’s make sure every square foot is used wisely.”

When responding to the final question regarding his ‘points of pride’ in the district, Dostal said both he and his wife are North Tama High School graduates who have lived in Traer all their lives, while all three of their kids currently attend North Tama.

“We have strong community spirit,” he said before touching on the “great coaching staff” at North Tama who “instill a lot of sportsmanship” in their athletes.

“I can see it in the kids in how they act. A lot of those coaches, they don’t get paid much and they put a lot of extra time [into coaching]. I’m very proud of what they do.”

Following the applicant interviews, members of the school board publicly discussed the strengths of each of the four candidates. Board president Rod Zobel said he liked that Dostal has a construction background and is part of a team in his day job. Cheryl Popelka also mentioned his construction background as a positive as well as the fact he has kids in the district. Jenny Sniffin touched on his willingness to hear others’ ideas as a positive, while David Calderwood said he liked that Dostal has a coaching background and would “not be one to shy away from asking tough questions.” Doug Dvorak said he liked how Dostal admitted he doesn’t always have the right answers.

“That’s very important,” Dvorak said, “[because] we don’t always agree [as a board].”

Following the board discussion, Popelka motioned to appoint Dostal which Calderwood seconded. Dostal’s appointment was approved unanimously by the board after which he was immediately administered the oath of office by Forrester.

Dostal will fill out the remainder of Blaine’s term which runs through the end of 2025. The District 4 seat will then be part of the Nov. 2025 midterm election ballot.

Also during the meeting, Dvorak was nominated and approved to the role of board vice president.