SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — 10 out of 11 candidates for the five open seats on the Sioux City Community School District’s School Board came together to meet with local voters on Monday. The candidate forum was held at Western Iowa Tech Community College.

The League of Women Voters Sioux City and the Siouxland Growth Organization sponsored the forum.

There are four, 4-year terms and one 2-year term on the board open. Because there are so many candidates, they were split into multiple groups and asked questions with no rebuttals.

One of the questions asked was about what current problems need the most attention. Some of the candidates suggested the Special Education Program and English Language Learners.

“20% of our kids are in Special Ed. We spend about $40 million dollars a year on Special Ed. And we haven’t been dividing the kids up and providing the requisite service,” SCCSD Board President Dan Greenwell said, “The state hasn’t been forcing that. It’s something that’s been a deficiency, we’ve acknowledged it, we’re revamping that and that’s one of the things we’ve done.”

“They can’t all be thrown into one classroom. They need different leveling systems in order to meet the needs they have to have,” SCCSD Board Member Philip Hamman said, “We need to have staff, we have to retain the staff that we have. And we have to have creative ways to recruit staff. It’s filtering into a lot of problems. We got students who don’t have an adult in front of them.”

The Sioux City School Board Election will take place on November 7th.