Verona Area School District Board Member - At Large
Three-year termVote for one
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John B Porco
(NON)
1. How can your district improve student achievement?
2. Do students and staff in your schools feel safe? How can the school board improve school climate?
3. Do you support any adjustments in programs, services, facilities, or budget to address student enrollment trends?
4. Are there other compelling issues on which, if elected, you think you can make a difference?
5. Describe your specific experience (educational, occupational, civic, and community) that prepares you to effectively serve on the school board.
Home municipality
Town of Verona
Home ZIP code
53593
Preferred pronouns
He/Him
Our administration has built processes for continual evaluation and improvement. We have had success improving student achievement over the past five years, and we hope to continue the steady improvement we have made. Each year the district reviews student achievement data and makes leadership moves accordingly. All of these monitoring reports are available on our district website. This is a reflection of the transparency and process-based model we have implemented.
Safety in our schools probably feels different to students and staff based on their own experiences and perspectives. We continue to provide the resources so that our schools can be as safe as possible, and we work diligently with our community partners to make sure that we are proactively promoting safety. Our school board works to set a tone that welcomes everyone and respects everyone as we go about our work. Our administration works hard to listen to students and staff, to show them that we value their efforts in our district, and they have agency in their own work and learning.
I support the full funding of special education by the state. If they can reimburse private schools at a rate of 90% for special education, then they should give public schools more than 35%. We are (rightfully) mandated to provide special education services, but that mandate is not funded. This is the definition of bad government passing laws that mandate programs without funding those programs in a sustainable way. This is why school funding levels have to adjust according to state inflation numbers. With sustainable funding comes sustainable programming.
The biggest issue facing schools is the lack of funding from the state legislature. They stopped adjusting the revenue limit by the amount of inflation in 2010 so that schools cannot keep pace with inflation without referendums. The state just hoarded the money they saved. Then with the recent increase in per pupil allocations, the legislature cut the "state aid" portion of school funding. Furthering the need for local referendums. The republican state legislature collected 1.3 B in excess tax revenue, and local schools continue to have to ask for operating referendums.
I have been on this board for five years. I am good at listening and compromising with people who bring different concerns and experiences to the same problems. I do not have a narcissistic need to be right or to "win", I just want to solve problems. I recognize that my experience in my own education is dated and often not applicable, and the educational experiences of my kids is anecdotal at best and distracting at worst when you are trying to make decisions for the district at large. I don't latch on to negative news as a way to make my opinion heard. These are the qualities I think make for a good school board member.
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