James Feudner – Oskaloosa School Board Candidate 2025

Oskaloosa School Board Candidate James Feudner

Please share a little about your family and how long you have lived in the Oskaloosa community. 



I’m James Feudner and my family has lived in Oskaloosa for about 9.5 years. I have been married to my wife Jenny for 27 years. We have 2 adult children that both graduated from the Oskaloosa High School.. My daughter, and her husband, live in Oskaloosa…and they have 2 children. My son is a senior in college and will be graduating and getting married in May 2026.

What is your educational background, and how has it prepared you for serving on the school board? 



I have an undergraduate degree from Upper Iowa University in business….with a minor in Psychology. I also have a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) from Webster University. I think these degrees create a good foundation for making sound business decisions….and the psychology helps me understand social dynamics…and why people do the things they do. With that said, I don’t think anything can replace professional and/or work experience.

What professional or work experiences do you bring that would help you make informed decisions for the district?



I’m currently a Regional President with Bank Iowa and oversee 5 branches (Oskaloosa, Fremont, Pella, Newton, & Colfax). I have been with Bank Iowa for over 9 years and have been in the banking industry for over 23 years….with about 13 years of that in leadership roles. Before my banking career, I worked for the Air Force for 4 years.

My banking experience gives me the ability to review the financial health of the school and make responsible choices and recommendations. The bank currently has multiple public school relationships, so this should give me good perspective on how things are going financially. Also, my trusted leadership/management experience has given me a wealth of experience in human resource management, policy/procedure compliance, and strategic planning.

My Air Force experience revolved around organizational design, strategic planning, and determining how many people it takes to do a job (i.e. very similar to industrial engineering). This experience should help me offer insight on ways the school can set a realistic vision, mission, and goals/objectives.

Have you been involved in volunteer, civic, or community service roles that you feel when strengthen your ability to serve? 



Since living in Oskaloosa, I have been very active in the community- I currently serve as a Board of Trustee with William Penn University, serve on the Mahaska Chamber & Development Group Board, I’m a member of the Mahaska Business Development committee, I’m a member of the Oskaloosa Rotary Club, and serve as chair of my local church finance committee.

Other past volunteer experience I have is that I have served as a City Council Member in Monona, I’ve been a Past President of the Mahaska Chamber & Development Group, a Past President of the Oskaloosa and Guttenberg Rotary Clubs, a member of the Mahaska YMCA board, and a member of the Monona Lion’s Club.

Lastly, I have also been active with the Oskaloosa Community School District- I participated in a community engagement session by helping develop the School District’s Portrait of a Graduate, participated in multiple Oskaloosa High School CTE programs (Career and Technical Education) Advisory meetings, and I have also been part of that interview teams that helped fill open superintendent and Director of Finance positions.

What personal values or principles guide you when making decisions? 




I’m a Christian man, so my guiding principles revolving around those morals and values. I always try to follow the golden rule- “Treat others the way you would want to be treated”.

Leadership and Governance

What motivated you to run for the Oskaloosa School Board at this time?

I have never really aspired to run for school board, but over the last year I have observed lots of turmoil and drama on the school board….and it has only gotten worse over the last 6-9 months. Our community, including myself, are tired of it. Our kids and community deserve better than what we have been seeing. I’m running so that we can get the focus back on our kids. The board’s ultimate job is to make sure we are molding kids into highly productive adults.

The most important things we do as a board is as follows- 1) We hire and fire the superintendent; 2) We help set a strategic plan that drives a healthy culture and excellent student outcomes; 3) We help set a budget that aligns with that strategic plan; 4) We entrust the superintendent and his leadership team to run the day-to-day operations.

How would you approach building consensus on the board when members disagree?

The key to consensus is communication. Open, transparent, and diplomatic dialogue is the key to getting everyone on the same page. With that said, sometimes not everyone is going to agree…..and that is ok. We just need to make sure we accept the majorities decision and move forward.

In your view, what are the top three priorities for the district over the next four years?

Continue to improve student achievement, continue to improve teacher engagement/culture, look for ways to improve our budget…so that we can stay viable for the long-term.

School budgets are very unique, because they aren’t like the private sector where all the money goes into one pot and you can use it for anything you want. School revenue comes in multiple buckets, and those buckets can only be spent on very specific activities. Moreover, those buckets are further limited by standards set by the state that says you should only spend a certain percentage of those buckets on things such as salary and facilities. So, my short answer is that we will always try to run a balanced budget that follows the guidance from the state. If we need more money than the buckets will accommodate for capital improvement projects, we will have to issue bonds to pay for them…..or potentially sell other assets that we have.

Vision for the Future

What ideas do you have for improving student achievement and better preparing graduates for success beyond high school? 



Student achievement is on the rise, but if we want to be the best we need to find out what the best are doing. Once we find that out, we need to replicate what they are doing. On a related note, I would like to see if we can figure out a way that students can get school credit for doing things in the workforce. For example, could someone get math or financial management school credit by working part-time at a bank. Or, could someone get trade school credit by working part-time for a manufacture or other trades type company.

How would you like to see the district address issues of school safety, bullying, and student well being? 



I believe things have improved over the last few years by making kids more accountable. With that said, we still have room to improve. Within the constraints of the law, we still need to find alternatives for kids that continue to be disruptive…and are frankly making it harder for all the other kids be focused on learning and reaching their full potential. When it comes to the success of our children, we cannot be held hostage by rules that don’t make common sense.

In what ways should the district expand opportunities for career and technical education, arts, and extracurricular activities? 



Overall, I think we have plenty of extracurricular activities. The following is a repeat from question #11, but I will say it again- I would like to see if we can figure out a way that students can get school credit for doing things in the workforce. For example, could someone get math or financial management school credit by working part-time at a bank. Or, could someone get trade school credit by working part-time for a local manufacture or other trades type company.

How would you work to strengthen trust and communication between the board, parents, staff, and the wider community? 



I think a lot of information is out there if you are willing to look for, but to improve trust and communication maybe we could produce summarizes of board meetings. For example- post bullet points on social media of what decisions/actions were taken at the most recent meeting. If you want to know more, add a website link that takes them to the full agenda and minutes. Another idea is to have regular meet and greets that makes our board members, superintendent, and other school leadership available to talk. It could be evenings….or Saturday mornings.

Looking ahead, what is your long term vision for Oskaloosa Schools, and how would you help lead the district toward that future? 



My long-term vision would be to be considered one of the best schools in the state for producing students that can be successful at whatever their next step is (i.e. workforce, military, trades school, 4-year college, advanced degrees, etc.). To do this we need to find the schools that are considered top 5 and figure out the pattern of what is working. Once we figure that out, we to adopt those things and try to replicate the results of those successful schools.