Campaign Phone
608-397-5954
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083106864126
Education
BA-Psychology, Child Advocacy Studies, MS-Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Community Involvement
CASA, Giving Hearts Choir, Co-facilitator The Long Goodbye (therapeutic caregiver group).
As a child and family advocate serving my community as a School Board member seemed a natural progression. I can have a positive impact for children by ensuring the school board listens to parents and provides children a sound education. This also entails accountability to taxpayers by giving them a positive return on their investment measured by our children’s academic success. Communities with high academic achievement draw people and businesses which add to the community. My priorities will be to return our focus to academic achievement.
The La Crosse School Board is responsible for establishing policies and budgets for the district, and for ensuring that students have access to quality education. The board also acts as a liaison between the community and the school system.
I see the role as integral to bringing together the tools to provide for student success. This means honoring parental authority, being the gate keepers from the WOKE and gender confusing culture. It is the job of our schools to educate our children in Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic and providing for artistic and athletic growth.
Researching the reasons behind the flight from the public to private schools is needed to determine how to move forward. The old saying “you can’t fix what you don’t know is broken” applies here.
As far as the budget challenges it is just like you would do in your home, you make cuts where possible. Teacher wages is NOT the area to be looking for ANY cuts. Where is the waste? Let’s start there. Getting innovative is preferrable to closing schools. I think getting some successful businesspeople together to brainstorm ideas is a sound place to start this process. I believe there are many successful business minded people in our area who would gladly invest some of their free time to help our schools.
I bring a passion for education, especially when it comes to the foundations of learning, Reading, wRiting, and aRithmatic. These are essential in equipping our children to pursue any type of higher learning whether it is technical skills, domestic excellence or in white-collar work. Education is often intertwined with our self-perception which effects every area of life. I am therefore passionate about ensuring our children’s education is the secure foundation from which they grow. The most important issue is getting our focus back on the basics of educating our children. Removing the cultural distractions being set in our children’s way and focusing on schools being a place of education and not confusion. Schools are here for academic learning not a place for government or culture to fight parents for control of their children’s destiny. Let’s take the guess work out of education and return our schools to academic learning.
I see this as a challenging relationship. I believe this is going to cause public school boards to be more innovative in order to attract families to the education offered in a public school versus a private school setting. It will cause us to play to the strengths of the public school system and what could be offered there that isn't offered in a private school or offering it in a more appealing way. I truly believe this is going to force school boards to be more fiscally responsible, reducing waste, and being more accountable to taxpayers as well as to parents and students. We are going to have to offer something more desirable than private schools can offer. We're going to have to bring our A game. We're going to have to think outside the box and I am able to do that.
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Molly-for-La-Crosse-School-Board/61571897391179/?sk=about
I am running for school board because I firmly believe that public schools are the foundation our future is being built on. I want to make sure that my kids and all kids in the community have a strong public education.
Inclusivity is important. Every child should feel seen, supported, and safe. Fostering a good environment for all children will allow them to be able to concentrate on their education and futures.
Supporting our teachers and making sure they have the tools and resources they need. I would love to listen and work with our educators to understand how we can best support them.
STEM opportunities! I am passionate about giving students STEM opportunities.
The role of a school board member is to be an advocate for the students.
The challenges facing the schools will require some creative solutions that will require collaborative work with the schools administration, teachers, and the school board. We need to listen to the teachers to know what they need to best serve the students. We can also potentially combine some programs in the schools to offer a better variety of courses as there have been some classes that are no longer offered due to not enough enrollment. Furthermore, I think that we can look into STEM programs and other programs to boost the school system. If La Crosse can be seen as a city with some of the best education in the state, more families will likely want to live here.
I would like to see graduation rate in the high 90s instead of the low 90s. I also think that preparing students for continuing education, whether it be university, community college, or trade school is equally important.
Private school vouchers take much needed funding away from public education.
contact email
merideth.m.garcia@gmail.com
Campaign Phone
5129176058
Education
I have a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. I hold Master's degrees in Curriculum and Instruction from UT-Austin and English Literature from Middlebury College. I completed my PhD in English and Education at the University of Michigan
I am a former public school teacher and a current teacher educator at UWL, and I am running because I think it is important to have a voice on the board that understands the competing demands on teachers' time and resources. My priorities as a school board member are to ensure that the work of faculty and staff is celebrated and adequately supported so that students can thrive.
A school board member contributes to setting district policies that support students' well-being and achievement. We supervise the acquisition and disposition of district property, and we oversee the work of the superintendent. At every meeting, we evaluate the evidence that the district's administration brings forward to demonstrate that the district is using resources effectively to meet legal requirements and advance student learning.
Addressing the problems created by declining enrollment and years of underfunding schools requires collaborating with district faculty and staff, parents, and community partners. We've made some progress in addressing aging buildings and combining programs so that students continue to have access to opportunities no matter what school they attend. I'd love to see us expand 4K and early childhood offerings. I'd also like us to press our state legislature to fully fund special education. Finding ways to support each school in developing meaningful solutions to their localized challenges will be key.
I want every student in the district to feel a sense of safety and community at school, and I want every student to have the resources and opportunities to pursue their interests and academic goals. This means supporting both curricular and extracurricular initiatives that provide opportunities for young people to discover new interests, develop new skills, exercise their talents, and build community. The recent Sugar Shack project at Summit, the success of the co-operatively run La Crosse Show Choir, and the phenomenal partnership with La Crosse Community Theater are good examples. Maintaining a commitment to smaller class sizes and supporting time for teachers to collaborate and engage in professional development are all critical to keeping curricular offerings strong.
I don't believe taxpayer dollars should be used to fund private schools that don't meet the same standards that public schools are held to.
Facebook
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571669513610
Education
Ph.D in Economics
I love our schools and want to see them continue to be a great place to send our children. With two children in elementary school, I have been paying much closer attention over the past few years to the school board's referendums and decisions.
Some of the greatest challenges facing the school district are fiscally related. Even after passing the recent referendum, the school district faces a long-ter budget deficit. With my experience in public finance, I hope to return our school district to a budget that is fiscally sustainable.
My top priorities are fiscal sustainability and teacher retention. I have seen how the referendums and continued planning have created worries for families and children. With community input, the school board and superintendent must prioritize a long-term sustainable plan for the district. We also have many excellent teachers in our district who go above and beyond for our children. The school board should prioritize their recognition and retention.
A school board member is a leader in the community and should stand for all things the school district supports. In La Crosse, our school board's responsibility is to promote student achievement, support our teachers, and evaluate the superintendent.
I attended public schools and I want the same quality education and sense of stable community for my children and all of our children. We know that high quality K-12 public school is one of the single biggest opportunities to improve the well-being of youth, our workforce, and our community.
We have excellent schools that draw families to La Crosse. While we may not have as much open land as many of our bordering school districts, real estate developments within the La Crosse School District, including River Point District, the 5th Ward Residences, and Copper Rocks, for example, offer opportunities to flatten the trend of declining enrollment over the next decade.
I would like to see the school district focus on improving the existing buildings it has instead of continuing to develop new properties. As part of the school board, I would look at options to monetize soon-to-be vacant buildings, such as offering additional educational opportunities or partnering with local organizations and the City of La Crosse.
I want to see continuous improvement in our student achievement measures. I trust our teachers and educators. They do an incredible job that is underappreciated. I want to keep and retain the great staff we have and continue to recruit the best teachers in the region. Our biggest barriers are fiscal challenges and I hope to contribute to steering the school district toward a more sustainable path.
School vouchers offer valuable educational choices, allowing parents to select the best learning environment for their children. I love that our school district offers a variety of school choices and different schooling options to promote student learning. I understand that vouchers have the potential to decrease enrollment in public education, but I also see how a diversity of schooling options continue to promote innovation and higher-quality education in our public schools.
contact email
hundtforschoolboard@gmail.com
Facebook
www.facebook.com/people/Kevin-Hundt-Against-La-Crosse-School-Board
Education
History, UWL
We need to fire the Superintendent, end the so-called "coherent governance" policy that puts all the power in the hands of the Superintendent, and clean house at Hogan. It's clear that the Superintendent has irreconcilably lost the trust of the community. I'm running for School Board because I seem to be the only person willing to say this. My motivation is that the 2022 referendum was a terrible idea for a plan which was so sparse as to be most accurately described as nonexistent. I was particularly upset that the location would have forced hundreds more students to become drivers than might be necessary at the current high school locations, which would have been devastating to efforts to reduce car dependency and use.
He and other Administration staff have also been very dismissive of community concerns and input for over two and a half years, and probably longer. He should not be in this role.
The Board should be the medium by which parents, the community, and teachers govern the school district. At most, its members should be convenient investigators of District records, documentation, personnel, and processes. The Board should not be a ruling body that makes decisions on behalf of the aforementioned groups, since rigorous public input and negotiation should be how decisions are actually made.
I disagree with the question: the problem is not declining enrollment and aging buildings, but a lack of strategy, planning, vision, and communication- in other words, mismanagement. It's clear that the current District leadership is bad at planning and communicating, the strategy is questionable, and the vision is nonexistent.
I believe that there are many, many ideas in the community that could address these issues and pave a better path forward, but which the District leadership has ignored. The "Facility Advisory Committee" in 2023 is a great example, because it brought together really the best and brightest of the community, people and groups who I'm sure could have come up with some great ideas if allowed, and then essentially told them that they were only allowed to decide what elementary schools to close. Unacceptable!
Firing the superintendent is the necessary first step to solving any of these problems.
I don't know what "student achievement" means specifically and I suspect nobody else does either.
That said, I believe that making school meals free for all students and hiring some nutritionists to revamp the menus is long overdue, and we should source as much as possible from area farms. I have some ideas for how to do that.
The main impediment to teacher effectiveness is an overbearing administration that actively impedes teachers rather than assisting them. Empowering teachers means giving them control over their workplaces as much as legally possible. Administrators should be subservient and deferential to teachers and other workers, not the other way around. Teachers should be allowed to make planning decisions and then tell the administration to implement them, not the other way around. Empowering teachers will take a great weight off their shoulders and allow them to focus on the task they're passionate about.
I believe in public education as a public good which is necessary to give people the skills and knowledge necessary to have a fulfilling life and to be responsible members of the public. Everyone has this right, and we have a healthier society when the public education system is robust. I uncompromisingly oppose any and all privatization efforts and anything that smells like privatization at all. If private schools cannot be abolished then they should be forbidden from spending more per student than public schools do.
contact email
jjacksonschoolboard@gmail.com
I want to continue being a voice in the community sharing the great things the District does, especially the unique and innovative academic programing offered. This success comes from the hard work of teachers and staff making sure all kids have the opportunity to learn and grow and be their best. My priorities are ensuring these programs continue to be available and working to balance the District’s budget for long-term sustainability. To meet our budget needs the District must continue to make choices about their priorities. The community supported referendum to build a new elementary school in a more central location, and putting an addition on State Road Elementary will allow the District to close three of our oldest buildings. During my one-year term on School Board in 2023-2024, we made the decision to proceed with bringing that plan forward as the best option available, I would love the opportunity to see it through to completion of the new elementary school.
The Board of Education fundamentally sets goals, monitors data, holds the Superintendent and District accountable to those goals, help with visioning for the future, and community engagement to educate and gather feedback. I think it will be especially important as Board Members as we move forward in the process of closing two elementary schools and opening a new one that we are routinely engaging with our families, communities, educators and stakeholders to ensure that all needs are being met during this process. Further, there is still work to be done and challenges ahead for the Board and District to ensure that we can continue to provide quality education and programming for all students, provide adequate resources to address growing mental health challenges, support our educators and maintain a balanced budget with declining enrollment. I look forward to the opportunity to work with Board Members and engage with our community to solve these challenges.
If the State of WI budget stays static the District will continue to have budget challenges in the future. My goal as a school board member is to support teachers and students, keeping class sizes down while ensuring there are specialists to support all student’s needs. With teachers and staff being the districts largest expense, we will need to continue to find other ways to keep our budget balanced. This leaves facilities, administrative support staff, benefits, extracurricular and programming adjustments to try to align our budget. Ideally, the State of WI could choose to allocate more of the state budget to education which would be tax neutral while allowing the district additional funding to meet the needs of the community. Outside of additional State funding we will need to find ways to cut costs while meeting our academic targets set.
Foremost, my goal is continuing to provide access to the most diverse academic programs in the area while closing the achievement gap. Further, it’s important to look at student achievement holistically, focusing not just on testing and proficiency but also social-emotional development, equity and inclusion and critical thinking and problem solving for our students. All of this also requires technology integration, family and community engagement and teacher development and support throughout our schools. As we focus on budgeting, it will be important to keep these goals at the forefront of our decision-making processes.
Every family has access to a quality public education. When a family chooses to enroll their child in a private school they understand that there are financial requirements. Private school vouchers pull funding away from public schools while also sending money to schools that are not required to provide the same services to their students. The School District of La Crosse is federally mandated to provide special education support to all students attending a state recognized private school within the District’s boundary. Further, the District is required to provide bussing to all students regardless of which school they attend. All of these costs pull public tax dollars away from public school children. Additionally, private schools are not held to many of the same standards as public schools despite taking public dollars. This can cause inequities. While private schools have their place, it is not through the support of public taxpayer dollars.
