2023.03.06 School Board Election Candidate Forum

001staff Whitnall families and members of the Whitnall community my name is Ava sturban and I am the president of student council and I want to sincerely thank you for coming out and showing your dedication to the Whitnall community I would also like to thank the candidates for their participation and for their passion for the future of the district good luck to all of you and lastly a sincere thank you to the league of women's voters for moderating this event today we are extremely fortunate to have them tonight this year there's an opening for three of our spots with six candidates in the running on April 4th you will be able to vote for the following candidates Laura Fowley Christopher Adams Rachel share Christopher porterfields Jesse stokowiak and Casey Rayner to fill our three spots on

002the school board and to serve again good luck to the candidates and thank you all for coming out tonight thank you very much Ava all right so welcome to the candidate forum for the Whitnall school board thank you very much to our sponsors the Whitnall High School student council my name is Julie Bowles and I will be your Forum moderator this evening I'm joined by other volunteers from the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County who will help us run today's forum the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee county is a non-profit nonpartisan membership organization that promotes informed and active participation in government as a non-partisan group The League never endorses a political party or candidate it is important to be an educated voter so we thank you for taking time to learn about the

003candidates we also welcome you to join the League of Women Voters which despite its name also includes many men as members some questions for this candidate Forum were submitted prior to the Forum by voters in the Whitnall Community questions are also being gathered from you here in the audience if you have a question please write it on the cards being distributed and pass it to one of the student or League volunteers if you need another card also ask ask for another card questions cannot be directed to just one candidate every question will go to all candidates and we will focus on questions pertinent to the elected office you'll likely have too many to present in the time allotted for the Forum so where possible we'll try to combine questions so we can cover as many

004topics as possible you may see me or another lead volunteer sorting cards by topic marking duplicates or combining questions before we start please take this opportunity to silence your cell phones we also ask that the audience refrain from clapping or cheering or other demonstrations of support of or against any of the candidates thank you for your cooperation today's candidate Forum will be recorded and posted to the Whitnall District YouTube channel and a link will also be posted to vote411.org six candidates are seeking election for three positions on the Whitnall School Board four of those candidates are present this evening Rachel Sharer Christopher Porterfield Jesse de hoviac and Laura fell also on the ballot are Cassie Raynor and Christopher Adams so the candidates have chosen to be addressed by their first names and we will now

005begin with two minute opening statements from each candidate followed by the questions with one and a half minutes allowed for each answer and then we will end with two-minute closing remarks and we're aiming to go for about an hour and a half here so lots were drawn to determine the order of speaking the order of first response to a question will then rotate between the candidates candidates you will see a sign with our timer over here indicating when you have 30 seconds left to speak 15 seconds left to speak and when you must stop so please honor the guidelines for the Forum so that we may make the best use of our time for this forum opportunity so let's now begin with opening statements the first speaker was selected by a random draw in two

006minutes or less please share your opening comments and we'll begin with Chris Porterfield good evening and thank you up front to the league and to the student council to illustrious groups thanks for facilitating tonight I appreciate it and thank you for coming out tonight and uh to everyone tuning in as well my name is Chris Porterfield I moved to Greenfield with my wife and daughter in 2020. we came here for the schools it's a destination District brought us in from West Allis um I have been a musician for the last 10 years been on the road touring for most of it and then when covet hit all touring stopped and so I found myself with some time I've always been uh well if there's an opportunity to be useful I try to do it in

007West Allis I was appointed to the community block grant development committee when we moved to Greenfield I called City Hall and said hey I'm here they appointed me to the zoning board of appeals and then when covet hit the district needed substitute teachers really badly and so they emailed all parents and said hey if anybody has any time any proclivity to do that could you please think about getting sub-certified so I did I got sub-certified and now I've been in all four of the schools in our district helping out whenever they need me um so in the course of being more and more involved I was appointed to the core 4 board the group that governs our little charter school for our K4 learners and I'm just getting you know more and more involved and

008the more time I spend thank you very much 15. this is going to be great [Laughter] um you know I raised my hand to be useful and so here I am raising my hand to be useful I see a need and here I am thanks much thank you next Jesse your opening statement hi I am a current Whitnall board member and current board Treasurer I have two students that attend Hales Corners Elementary one in fourth grade and one in fifth grade I'm really doing this for them that's my primary goal I'm also a taxpayer I live in Greenfield I think it's valuable to have parental input on these type of things and I'm the only candidate that is an incumbent sinking re-election and I think that's important because I can bring a sense of leadership

009and a sense of guidance to two brand new board members at a minimum I think that that's a huge piece of why I'm seeking re-election there's only seven members on the board so I think it's important to keep the momentum that we've made so far uh going there's a lot of things that I've approved as a board member including curriculum and in terms of Middle School curriculum six through eight for math we just approved the English English language arts curriculum and I'd like to see that moving forward there's a lot of work that has to still be done and we have to hold the teams accountable for getting that work done and making sure that the students are successful while at the same time making sure taxpayers aren't feeling a hit from the work that

010we're doing and I think that there's a good way of managing that and my role as treasurer I have not raised taxes I don't plan to do that going forward I think there's ways of managing funds appropriately that we can continue to give our students what they need and make sure that our district is a place like Chris said that remains a destination District because if our schools do well property values go up people want to come here people want to buy homes here people are invested in the community the other things I'm involved in I've helped coach youth basketball I also volunteer at my church St Mary's Hales Corners I believe in being involved in the community as much as I can and I feel this is a great way to continue that service

011thank you thank you Laura you're next good evening uh thank you to the League of Women Voters Whitnall student council those present here both here in person and Online for being a part of this event this evening my name is Laura fowell I am a proud parent of an Edgerton Elementary fourth grader my husband and I purchased our Greenfield home in 2016 prior to our daughter starting k-4 we love this area and appreciate that our daughter has had wonderful teachers along the way of her own educational Journey my career as an educator includes teaching English language arts and social studies instructional coaching serving as a dean of students as well as coordinating curriculum efforts and adoption I am passionate about the educational experience student achievement and providing valuable opportunities to all students as a mom

012and Community member I want what all parents want for their own and that's a second to none experience for all of our kids I have a master's degree in educational leadership and I am especially passionate about curriculum and instruction I have proven experience in working towards continuous Improvement strategic goal setting using instructional data to inform practices progress monitoring and implementing best practices as a parent and homeowner in this community I am doubly invested my hope is for Whitnall to remain competitive with our surrounding districts I see three main areas for potential growth achievement raising Proficiency in both math and reading staff Recruitment and Retention and opportunities for students that ensure every Whitnall student has ample experience to explore a wide variety of interests and talents each Whitnall student deserves a second to none experience our

013Educators and support staff will be empowered when they feel valued and supported our community will Thrive having a sought after school district known for both high achievement and unique opportunities I am eager to bring my experience and expertise to the Whitnall school board and I look forward to sharing my thoughts and ideas this evening thank you and just as a note to all the candidates the mics aren't live they're only for the streaming so make sure you speak up so that the people in the back of the room can can hear you and Rachel your opening statement all right thank you first of all I wanted to thank the League of Women Voters for having us this evening and also the student council continue to take up space and use your voice I love to

014see it um I'd also like to thank all of you that are here today and also everybody listening in our um virtual audience as well my name is Rachel Sharer I bring over 23 years of experience in education 16 of those years were spent as a classroom teacher in middle school and high school the other seven have been coaching mentoring teachers and providing professional development for districts as well as teachers I have a masters in reading and I'm also licensed as a reading teacher and as a reading specialist I have presented this year at several educational conferences including the Wisconsin State reading Association conference and the Wisconsin Association for gifted and talented for the past year and a half I've been working as a professional development specialist for an educational consulting company that partners with

015districts and schools across southeastern Wisconsin I provide workshops and Implement educational programs covering topics such as the science of reading gifted and talented differentiation brain-based learning theories increasing rigor in the classroom using state standards and assessment and personalized learning just to name a few I also lead School Improvement programs for at the district-wide level to support Wisconsin dpi's model for Effective instruction and intervention besides my work in education I'm also an active Community member volunteering at events like Pumpkin Fest Christmas tree lighting ceremonies are July 4th parade and Mattress races I have two beautiful artistic children at the high school and they are my biggest why thank you so now we'll move to questions submitted from the Whitnall community and those of you that have your questions done just hold your hand up and one

016of the volunteers will come and collect those cards um okay so you'll have one and a half minutes now to answer each question and again the sign will let you know when you have 30 seconds 15 seconds remaining and then when you must stop and we'll begin with Jesse for the first question which is what do you view as the role of school board members do you see yourself primarily as a representative of the community or as a representative of the school system I think a school board member is somebody that operates at a 20 000 foot level um the best way to describe it is let's take a company like Target for instance they have a board of directors they're not going directly into this the stores and evaluating each store individually they're looking

017at Target as a whole and how Target can prosper I think that's how the school board should operate as well I believe in being a Community member uh first and foremost that has input as a school board member I think that school board members need to learn about the budget and learn about what students need and in order to do that you have to take the time to invest in learning both learning about the budget and then learning about what students need in our district specifically and that's relying on your experts that are within the school system your administrators your teachers and getting parental input as well as to where this District should go great thank you Laura would you like me to repeat the question what do you view as the role of the

018school board members do you see yourself primarily as a representative of the community or as a representative of the school system as a school board member I realized that I would be elected by the community so I believe primarily in that way a representative for the voice of the community that being said I believe that school board members do provide important governance over a school district and so the way I see it the role involves being an advocate who brings their knowledge to the table their background and experiences in order to serve the students staff and the community and it's sort of a blend of all three it's a commitment to the larger Community as members are elected to be the voice of many many primarily being the steward of community sentiment um providing oversight

019and remaining inquisitive learning along the way thank you moving on to Rachel can you repeat the question yes what do you view as the role of the school board members do you see yourself primarily as a representative of the community or as a representative of the school system I believe that the role of a school board member is actually a bridge between the two I believe that both entities are um our biggest stakeholders number one the school board has a responsibility to be a governing body and I am elected by the community so I would love to hear the feedback of the constituents however I believe that we are also part of the structure of the inner workings of our school district so I also feel it's important to be that bridge to make sure

020that our policies are in place and our students achieve a student achievement data is moving forward so again I believe it's it's a bridge between the two right thank you and Chris um no need to repeat the question I believe as a board member uh you represent the community that empowered you to represent them and you then interface with the district and administration in ways that you know Foster good relationships as a board member we're not elected to be uh professionals necessarily were not elected to be the ones in the classroom doing the things or be the ones Gathering the data necessarily Like Jesse said we need to be sort of big picture thinkers about this and we can't get lost in the mud we got it we gotta we gotta keep the big picture

021and the most important thing is relationships I think it's the relationships with the voters the people who empowered us to be there and its relationships with the administration and it's a as Rachel said and as Laura said too you know it's it's a triangulation really it's not one thing it's all of them and it's the board to sort of be the one that's responsible for triangulating all of those things great thank you so we'll move on to the next question which is uh what do you view as the Whitnall School District's strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats and we'll start with Laura um first and foremost I believe a real strength um is the community itself this community is very proud this community um is really invested in their schools and they want to see the

022schools do well we have a very dedicated teaching staff who really care about the kids and really care about the relationships that they build with them and I think that's what makes our schools in this small four building School District so special and unique some of the challenges that I believe Whitnall faces especially as we come out of pandemic is really trying to figure out how we support kids at this point in time how we best support learning how we raise achievement and Proficiency in areas like reading and math and in order to do this work we we do need to understand what the data is telling us about their needs in the classroom and then we also need to understand the whole child what are what are their needs to feel supported in order

023to do this work and learn along the way so um sorry I got lost in my words there I do believe that we have definite strengths in our district to build on and a lot of work to do great thank you Rachel what do you view as Whitnall School District's strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats so I was an employee here in Whitnall school district for three and a half years and one of the strengths that I would like like to Echo here today is our student body is amazing we have a really great group of kids throughout all four of our buildings that potential is amazing I also believe we have really dedicated hard-working teachers here and we are a really close tight-knit community and we have that family feel it's definitely a plus to

024be in a small unique District um there are a couple areas that I believe that we can grow in most pressing for me is Staff retention thinking about my time in the community the last eight years my children have as well as other people's children have lost some really um important staff members of many who were really close to them and critical in in helping them achieve goals in various subjects and also in music and art I think I'd really like to dig into the data and figure out why our turnover is so great that would be the most pressing to me all right thank you uh Chris would you like me to repeat the question no I think I got it strengths weaknesses opportunities threats set those are interesting categories our biggest strength is

025our staff our teachers are incredible our support staff are phenomenal our principles are outstanding having been in the buildings all four of them I see you know every time I go in how hard they work how much they sacrifice they are incredible people and really inspiring um a weakness I think as somebody who's sort of new to the community there's a weakness to the community that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the district but the lack of dedicated press I think it's hard for people to figure out uh the truth of what's going on and I think um that allows sort of rumors and speculation to spin off in ways that maybe other communities don't quite have opportunities we've got a lot of opportunities coming out of kovid which was a generational thing that

026everybody had to go through everywhere and we're coming out of a new round of surveys and testing and all of our numbers are heading up they're going in the right direction we have the opportunity to see this through and continue to grow threats um I think it goes back to some of our weaknesses uh sometimes our community can seem divided and uh going against itself [Laughter] laughs looks like my daughter in the morning [Music] I guess while we're waiting here we're pausing uh just as a reminder I guess to the volunteers in the audience when you're ready to to bring some of those cards up to me I can take them if you want to pass your card to a volunteer go ahead and do so okay we'll see how that works uh so Jesse

027now what are the dis what do you view as the district's strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats I think the strongest thing in our district are really our students that was really evident by the way they came out of the pandemic and how they have adapted to a completely different learning environment and I think we got a lot of good information out of that pandemic and how we can approach learning in a different way and that feeds into another strength which is our staff and our Administration they were able to keep our students in the schools pretty much throughout the entire pandemic aside from one semester where we went virtual I think that's a huge plus and a huge strength another strength is our special special education that is huge um we are a destination district

028for special education and it is a place that people want to be that we can't bring everybody in that we'd like to that's how popular it is and how great it is a weakness I'd say is the fact that we received zero dollars from the state for the biennium budget that's something that we didn't cause ourselves but it is something that we've had to work through and has been very difficult there have been districts that have had to go to operational referendums to cover the funds that were not provided by the state and luckily we have not been able to do that opportunities I think the new curriculum that we recently rolled out is a huge opportunity for our students to increase their ability to be successful and at the same time give the teachers

029the tools that they need to make our students successful and then for threats I'd say it's the legislators again making sure that we get and all the schools get the funding that's needed to operate successfully and make our students successful and give our staff the tools that they need to make those things happen and I think working with the legislators is a huge part of that and that's something that we need to keep an eye on moving forward and keep lobbying them to push for schools all right thank you so moving on to the next question we'll start with Rachel this time we hear a lot of the candidates say they would like to see more transparency from the school district please explain how you would like to see transparency improved um I think about

030um trans I Define transparency as open communication among all stakeholders where nothing is a surprise it's all out in the open when I think about our adoption our current adoption though it's definitely a vetted resource high quality material um I think that some people in our community felt that that wasn't transparent enough so I would like as a school board member to kind of listen to that feedback if that's an area where we could have let people know sooner brought more voices to the table had a parent panel have a teacher panel that's really the transparency that I would be looking for having teachers involved as well as parents involved all right thank you Chris we hear a lot of the candidates say they would like to see more transparency from the school district please

031explain how you would like to see transparency improved honestly from where I sit that's not a problem for me I don't see it I see a district that communicates through the newsletters weekly I feel like I know what's going on in the schools as far as you know curriculum I don't know I feel like all that stuff is there to be seen uh you know when when the the Committees present in front of the board that's open to the public you can kind of do your own research I don't know I don't see it that isn't an issue that I have um that being said of course you know we need to stay in communication with each other it only works when parents care and it only works when uh Administration cares about what parents

032think it's all part of a cycle but it's not one or the other and I don't know that uh you know am I curious about some things sure but some of that is Personnel issues some of that goes in closed session in the board uh there's a reason for that you know some of these things have to do with privacy too so yeah I agree there are some folks who are running that are all about transparency transparency I think I can see through it just fine thanks all right thank you Jesse would you like me to repeat the question I know I got it okay I'm I'm in the same boat as him I see no issue with transparency if there is a question or concern the board's emails are out there we send out

033the weekly Whitnall window the board members that are currently on the board are heavily involved in community events whether it be volunteering at football games or going to PTO meetings there's plenty of events out that allow us to reach out to those people that are in the community and to parents like I said we have every email listed on our website we have the meetings uh videotaped and put on YouTube you can go back and watch them we have a new system in place for our board agendas that makes it very easy to go into each and every single agenda and look up every single item that's there so if you ever had a question about oh yeah I remember something happened a few months ago and I I can't remember where that information is

034it's called board docs you can go there you can check it out and all the information is there I don't believe that there's anything being hidden if there's concerns from community members as a current board member I'm open to feedback I'm open to seeing that information there's something that is concerning you we want to hear about it there's never been a time that I've told a Community member no I don't want to listen to what you have to say I think every every person's voice is important and that's the way to stay transparent is by hearing feedback from people and sharing information that we can within legal limits thank you get the word transparency I just to me that's how you build trust and this idea of building trust is ongoing work of any educator

035any District any school board that represents a community and so yes our district really does openly communicate on social media through the connect through um individual School newsletters um my I can speak from my own experience my daughter's teachers communicate with us frequently but when I think about transparency I mean that we're able to talk openly without becoming frustrated with one another that we can appreciate all voices that the community has empowered to be a part of this school board that we appreciate the backgrounds that people have everybody brings their own level of expertise to the board that we can openly speak about our curiosity and ask questions um I know Rachel talked a bit about the curriculum adoption um the the T the team that presented shared great information I would have loved to

036hear more from teachers there was one teacher voice on that panel so ultimately transparency to me isn't controversial and it's not anything that's necessarily wrong at this moment in time but it's just a measure to build trust all right thank you uh so maybe a related question we'll start with Chris what are your thoughts on community involvement both parents and the many non-parents in the district how would you ensure that the community is engaged and their input is valued in the decisions made for our students and the district uh uh yeah absolutely more the merrier parents community members everybody get involved for sure we'll take it teachers can't do everything it takes you know it takes a village that's a true story um what was the part about making sure uh how are you ensured

037that the community is engaged and that their input is valued and taken into account in the decisions made um well I guess you know civility is a big thing for the board for the community for our schools for our whole area and civility is basically just paying attention to each other you know and when we pay attention to each other we hear each other and our responses are better and the quality of all of our lives are better so if you want to be heard excellent get a you know come to the meetings make your voice known um you can't just bark on the internet and expect everyone to hear you you have to show up to these things and you have to be a part of the process if you want a voice you

038got to come to the table and uh you know that's part of what I'm learning is I've been coming to these board meetings and I think that's a good lesson for all of us Civility and citizenship you want a voice get involved and it's welcome right thank you so Jesse what are your thoughts on community involvement both from parents and non-parents in the district how will you ensure that the community is engaged and their input is valued in the decisions made for our students in the district I think Community involvement a huge thing and I think there's a lot of things that we're doing right now that that hit that Mark um you mentioned the core4 charter report that's community members that are part of that we have another group that is being spun up

039that involves community members in establishing questions for some facility work that we're taking a look at that needs to be addressed those are all community members that are being involved in those decisions we have realtor breakfasts to engage with realtors in the area involving the community we had the legislator meeting a couple months ago with all the legislators in the area I had talked about that there are mentorships there are programs that get kids involved that you know you want to be a mechanic or you want to do something in the trades we reach out to employers that are in the community to get them those roles and get them that experience and then when it comes to decisions when it comes to the schools we're always open to feedback the meetings are always open

040to anyone who wants to come and I think that the more people that can show up and submit comments or concerns on items that we have on the agenda it's only going to make things better because we're going to get to know what's important to you I think that needs to continue great thank you Laura um you know I believe that Community engagement is really a solid foundation of a successful school system so it's really worth the the time and effort spent um to have the community be engaged in the work that we do and there's various ways that that can happen um you know as a board member participating in functions that take place throughout the district being available and willing to listen to what people have to say acknowledging where people are coming

041from and knowing what their concerns are or what their celebrations are as well so being available for those kinds of things and then as we engage as a school board a model for the community how we do this work and how we engage with one another we can seek feedback as data to let us know if we're on the right track or if we need to go in a different direction um and ultimately just treating each other with a level of understanding all right thank you moving on to Rachel I think that I would like to piggyback off of what everybody says I think the district um does have a nice level of community and family participation but when I think of your question I think about the difference between family participation family participation and

042family engagement when we're talking about the word engagement that means that there's another level to how the Community member members interact with certain policies certain procedures having that voice being able to make decisions the decisions that the board um may make come from voices from the community we actually look through that data we hear we have listening sessions and then we may revise our decision based on what we've heard from family and community members um I think I will end on that right before time is out thank you all right so for the next question we'll start with Jesse every Community is faced with tough decisions on how to reduce expenses while still maintaining Services what are your priorities in this regard I think the main priority right now is to utilize what's remaining of

043what are called Esser funds that we have left these were funds granted to US federal funds that are granted to us that basically are the reason that we don't have the increase from the state and these are specifically used to address learning loss and it's a substantial amount of money what we've done recently is I mentioned the curriculum the new curriculum I use we've used that money to purchase new resources for that curriculum and that curriculum entirely um the Esser funding is something that will be going away it has a time limit on it so it's kind of you either use it or lose it and it's using those funds to offset some of the problems that we ran into before when I say that our budget is balanced every single year we've not had

044any problems with that but this year we had kind of an anomaly due to increased Insurance costs and so what we did was we used some of those Esther funds to address those costs so that way we balance the budget properly um like I said it's kind of an anomaly with the insurance costs are high much higher than usual but that would be one of the the things that we could do and then just keeping an eye on on where costs are going up and adjusting our budget accordingly to have the funds available for that when next year rolls around great thank you uh Laura every Community is faced with tough decisions on how to reduce expenses while still maintaining Services what are your priorities in this regard um so our district has a strategic

045plan that goes through 2024 and so when I think about budget and spending and how do you prioritize the first thought that comes to my mind is aligning the budget to District priorities that are outlined by the Strategic plan that's crucial for our accountability to students and the community when spending is tracked against the district's objectives we can ensure that it's intentional and that it is of value to student performance which is ultimately of value to the community spending options are seemingly Limitless for schools especially post pandemic when we're trying to um make up for all the things that were lost out on during that time but it's important to remember that funding dollars are finite um when I'm thinking about the Strategic objective around comprehensive learning um there's been a little bit of talk

046about this new English language arts curriculum that's been developed so in my mind in order to prioritize effective spending I'd be very interested in monitoring the progress that's being made um and being able to reflect and plan for any future needs thank you Rachel would you like me to repeat the question yes please every Community is faced with tough decisions on how to reduce expenses while still maintaining Services what are your priorities in this regard I think this goes back to the question we had previously and I I actually wanted to add to that that it's important to to have uh Equity of voice that we're not just hearing from the loudest Community member in the back but that we're also seeking out um marginalized populism popular populations and underserved populations here in the district

047um when we think about that when we also think about the budget and the user funds I think we have to really take a look um in regard to equity students who need remediation and also those students who are gifted and talented and and need more support to accelerate um so I bring that around to my priority for the budget would be student achievement not only academic achievement overall but also looking at that remediation and acceleration also with that um it's vital to provide professional development to teachers when a new high quality resource is implemented so I think that's a really important thing that is often overlooked I'll finish there all right thank you um Chris yeah um yep there's not unlimited money for everything we want to do it'd be really great if there

048was uh as far as my budget priorities I don't have an agenda I'm not coming in here with an ax to grind I will support our students at every opportunity and our teachers and our staff and I will uh as a board member I will listen to what the professionals suggest I will mull it over and make a decision based on that but I'm not bringing myself to the board I don't have an ax to grind a horse in the race other than our Student Success all right thank you so a related question we'll start with Laura what is your opinion of the district's 10-year Capital Improvement plan debt structuring and a possible facilities referendum in the future um when I'm thinking about a possible referendum in the future I'm thinking about that that balance

049and that delicate conversation that we have to have for the community um knowing that our facilities do need some upgrades in particular uh the the pool and the science Wing at the high school um balancing that with the fact that Hales Corners residents are being faced with um two different referendums on the next um election and so making sure that we balance the needs of the district with what we can feasibly ask people to do all right thank you Rachel is next what is your opinion of the district's 10-year Capital Improvement plan debt structuring and a possible facilities referendum in the future I really just have to Echo what Laura said I think it's really important that we balance the needs of the students what will benefit our students I think about our theater space

050and our pool I think about possible possible technology needs I think about adaptive technology um but I also just like Laura said worry about the burden to taxpayers and there are two referendums for the village of Hales Corners and I think we have to weigh that carefully and I think we do have to ask for Community feedback in moving forward thank you Chris I am honestly super impressed with uh the district's financial position and planning uh hats off to everybody in admin who does a really good job figuring that stuff out um they've been very responsible custodians of our money and our district we need to make sure that we continue to invest to make this a destination District but at the same time uh you know I don't think anybody it's amazing honestly districts

051all around us have had to go to referendum just to operate and the fact that we haven't had to do that that shows that we are doing a good job with our money and we can't let stuff slide uh it would be great to get a new pool in a new Auditorium and a new piano and all these things this year uh I wish we could but we can't we have to be responsible and prioritize these things but I think honestly they're doing a good job and uh yeah I'm pretty impressed frankly great thanks Jesse what is your opinion of the district's 10-year Capital Improvement plan debt structuring and possible facilities referendum for the future I think the capital Improvement plan is great because it is an entire system that grades the need from each

052and every piece of our facilities and it gives it a ranking and it stays in front of everybody's face it's it's something that's very visible you can see it you can see what's out there and every so often things will shift depending on what condition those pieces are in perfect example the pool where you place the liner on there we put a we put a Band-Aid on the pool but it's to use a figure of speech or taking time bomb it is something that will not hold up and will not last and the capital Improvement plan isn't going to be able to cover that that is where referendum discussions come in and that is why we're engaging community members to see what's important to them what they are able to live with with the understanding

053that there are facility pieces that we want to be proactive on we don't want to be reactive on because then you as a taxpayer are going to end up having to pay for it either way do you want to pay for something that breaks or do you want to address something ahead of time and pay less for it um I think that taking those things into consideration is important and I think having discussions around a referendum is important so that we're not charging taxpayers for something that breaks we're being proactive about it not reactive or getting things done but at the same time within the Comfort level of the public thank you and I just went in here but maybe just one one minute for this question because I don't think it'll take too long

054and we'll start with Rachel um do you have any background in finance and are you able to interpret the different budgets that are put before the board I do not personally or professionally have any personally yes I balance my own budget but professionally no however I'm reasonably educated and have done well um learning new material and so I feel um completely confident that however I needed to move and work within the parameters of budget I can quickly adapt all right thank you Chris uh nope no background in finance I was a small business owner with employees for a while um and I do my homework I'll be fine Jesse I have no professional background in finance I am the current board Treasurer so over the past year I have gained a decent amount of experience

055working with the district in general reviewing our budget getting to know what each fund does so I feel like I'm well equipped to handle those situations going forward I was professionally no however being part of a school system I am aware that there are different budgets for different areas or buckets so to speak okay great so now we'll move back to one and a half minutes um and we'll start with Chris academic proficiency is a big concern for the district would you support reducing spending on non-academic priorities in order to fund priorities focused on increasing reading and math proficiency such as hiring additional reading and math interventionists if so where might you be willing to reduce spending it's a lot of hypotheticals um I think I'd be interested in hearing what our current reading and

056math interventionists have to say about that um seems like our reading and math numbers are on the rise currently based on the most recent test results so I am not going to suggest some hypothetical cutting of some figment of my thoughts in order to justify uh what seems to be on the right track as is thanks all right thank you Jesse do you want me to repeat the uh no I I don't see any need to reduce anything to operate efficiently and get our students what they need I think all those extra pieces that as Chris said are hypotheticals are important to people in different ways and I don't think that there's any program that's specifically receiving more dollars than any other one I think that we're doing a good job we're trending in the

057right direction in terms of student achievement we have to see where that goes and then at the same time trust in our Administration to tell us the staffing needs that they have and making sure that we budget for that there's no reason to have to cut something else to make up for positions that we need to hire for all right thank you Laura would you like me to repeat the question if you could please yeah um would you support reducing spending on non-academic priorities in order to fund priorities focused on increasing reading and math proficiency such as hiring additional reading and math interventionists if so where might you be willing to reduce uh no off the top of my head I don't think that any Cuts need to to happen I am aware that there

058were um staff members hired to support reading and math proficiency with Esser funds so I do think there will be some future conversation with how do we sustain what we built when that temporary funding goes away but I don't think that's necessarily a cut it's just practical realistic conversation in regards to reading and math proficiency those are high priority areas for the district right now part of the Strategic plan currently are um math and reading prevention or math and reading proficiency scores are below 50 for both the middle and high school so I think it's really important that we continue to monitor that um and invest in making growth in those areas thank you Rachel can you repeat the question yeah would you support reducing spending on non-academic priorities in order to fund priorities focused

059on increasing reading and math proficiency such as hiring additional reading and math interventionists if so where might you be willing to reduce spending I think this is a really complex question and I don't have all the the data before me where I can analyze it and then give a definitive answer however like the rest of the panel talked about hypothetical when we think about third graders right now this is their first real normal year going through the pandemic there are a lot of gaps especially when we take a look at the science of reading we look at Scarborough's rope there's strands that go into reading part of decoding vocabulary all those things and if those are missing by third grade that Gap is going to increase and asking our teachers to do not only tier

060one tier two but also tier three because we're not staffed adequately would concern me but again I don't have all the data before me is there are we spending on something that could be shifted because really academic achievement if we're talking about 50 percent of our students are not proficient that's pretty urgent and so to me that's something we should be taking a look at that's an equity issue literacy is about equity all right thank you um so Jesse the next question we'll start with you in your experience or your view does the district do an adequate job of addressing bullying within the district what if anything should the district do differently to address bullying I think that no system is ever perfect you can't predict what a child is going to do or what

061situation a child is in but we do have programs in place one of them is PBIS so it's in enforcing positive behavior I know at the elementary level my kids go there and they have what are called falcon feathers so they do something that is positive by being safe being kind being respectful and then they're kind of rewarded with these falcon feathers and if they get enough of them they get to pick something out of the Falcon fire which has a bunch of annoying little toys but uh that end up you know probably in the garbage at home because they annoy their parents but it's fun at the time for them and it enforces good behavior from those students and there are other factors that go into it but I think that with programs like

062that I know there's another one at the high school slipping my mind but with programs like that and enforcing that positive behavior I think that really mitigates the bullying piece of it and really emphasizes that more of a community they have class falcon feathers as well for example so if you really want your class to have a pizza party at the end of the year you're going to work really hard to get these class falcon feathers because they're important and you want the pizza so I think it's a big positive and a big plus and I think Elementary's schools are doing a great job with that as well as the rest of our schools thank you uh Laura in your view does the district do an adequate job of addressing bullying what if anything should

063the district do differently to address this bullying is a really complex issue in any school in any system it does occur sometimes it occurs within the schools sometimes it stems outside of school and it comes in and and that's where it becomes really complicated Whitnall does have systems in place to help mitigate bullying but at the same time all systems come with imperfection so it handling bullying needs consistency across the board it needs continued Focus for future learning to make sure that all kids feel safe and protected when they're here at school and it needs conversation and acknowledgment that it does exist and that we work hard together there is also a board policy outlining bullying in our systems and steps to be taken when bullying is occurring and I think that just hinges on

064that consistency piece that I was talking about that all administrators apply that policy equally thank you thank you Rachel so I don't believe that as a district we can ever say we have ever arrived when it comes to bullying we will always have something new something different there will always be children from diverse backgrounds or with different likes who may be jeopardized among our peers we do have board policy however as a parent of two high school students that both have experienced bullies and have also experienced recent bullying in hallways in our schools I think that no I think that we should make sure we're asking our students do they feel safe if students don't feel safe in a classroom they're not going to learn their brains will be in fight or flight and then

065no learning can take place we need to make sure that all of our students feel safe and I don't think we we have arrived yet I think that's something that we continually need to talk to parents and students about thank you Chris yeah the student satisfaction survey that came out um bullying was a huge issue a lot of our students said that they don't feel like that is being addressed the right way they had good things to say about administrators teachers but each other they had a really hard time with and that should be a big red flag for us as a board member I'm going to fight for all of our kids you know anybody who feels diminished or left behind and uh you know my whole life I've tried to stand up for

066the little guy and that's a real passion of mine my first grader at Edgerton today brought home an exercise where they were saying if I were president this is what I would do she would she said if I were president I'd say No More Bullies it's an issue and we got to deal with it openly and honestly and big-heartedly all right thank you [Music] all right so we'll start with Laura and uh related but somewhat broader question uh what are your thoughts on how we can make our schools a welcoming and supportive Community for all students regardless of their background and their needs I mean I think that's the ultimate goal of every school system that's out there it's so incredibly important to build relationships with kids get to know who they are and what

067they bring to the table to make sure that they feel supported and they have the things that they need to be able to attend to their learning throughout the day without an adult connection within a school building a student can easily fly below the radar and feel unseen or unheard and so it's it's worth the time to build that understanding and connection with the kids who enter our enter the school buildings um foreign Rachel would you like me to repeat the question yes please uh what are your thoughts on how we can make our schools a welcoming and supportive Community for all students regardless of their background and needs well all is the operative word so I definitely go back to the idea of equity and Equity of voice the loudest voices aren't the only

068ones at the table sometimes we need to seek out those students and make sure that they feel safe and represented one way we can do that is making sure our high quality material adoptions um are representative of the way America looks today that we have diverse um back read about diverse people from diverse backgrounds with different histories I think our students need to see in our hallways doors and mirrors and windows our students need to see in our even in faces of those who teach them someone who looks like them think it's really important that that isn't going to just happen we have to seek to celebrate diversity on purpose we have to fill our um classrooms with diverse materials on purpose thank you uh Chris amen amen amen representation matters the books we keep

069in our library matter the books we have in our classroom matter uh there are groups across the country who are sowing distrust trying to turn us against ourselves to pulling books out of classrooms pulling books out of libraries it's happening in Florida it's happening in Michigan it's happening here it's happening here we gotta be eyes open on this stuff folks they're trying to divide us and they're trying to pull us apart we need to keep our books available for our kids Banning books is a slippery slippery slippery slope thank you and Jesse I think we need to meet each and every student where they're at no matter where they are and that starts with the first day that they started our school and the last day that they leave and not not give up on

070them I think a good way of doing that they've done a good job at the different schools of having introductory days to kind of get to know things get to know your teachers I think our teachers do a really great job of remembering every single kid um on top of all the things that they have in front of them I've had some really great teachers with with my kids that have gone above and beyond in my opinion I think some of the things that we're doing at the school help I know at my kids school there is a specific bench that you can sit at if you're looking for somebody to play with so it's a really neat idea that uh you got nobody hey maybe I'll go play with that person today and get

071to know them another thing that was really interesting to me is that the school is able to bring back wheelchair basketball it's something that I think is really eye-opening because you know it's the misconception of somebody in a wheelchair can't really do much I'll take a look at these basketball players and the kids had a wonderful time there and I think we need to have more events like that to kind of show a broader spectrum of what people are out there and what people are capable of doing so that you aren't isolated you feel like you matter and you feel like you can contribute to whatever situation that you're in thank you um let's see so we're going to start now with Rachel um do you have any thoughts about a special curriculum or a

072different curriculum for non-college non-college bound students can you repeat the question yeah do you have any thoughts about the district's curriculum or any changes to the curriculum for non-college bound students uh I'm not quite sure that curriculum would address non-college-bound students I am not from the school of thought that everybody needs to go to college my father and my brother are both Tradesmen and have a wonderful talent in that regard so I don't push students into college and that is the only Pathway to supporting a family or living a high quality life I think that there's other things the district can do um to provide opportunities for students to explore I think that for me is an area of growth that I'd like to see happen at the high school for example I'd love to

073see culinary arts I'd love to see Hospitality I'd love to see fashion design web design I'd love to see um welding Auto some of those trades now that's a huge wish wish list but operating within a budget we can make some alternative Pathways happen for students who don't see College in their future thank you Chris could you repeat the question uh yeah do you have thoughts about the district's curriculum or any changes to the curriculum directed at non-college bound students I agree with Rachel it's not a curriculum issue but there could be an extracurricular issue um I know that the high school has been partnering with different uh different groups and companies to provide experience in the trades I don't know much more than that I'm not a board member yet I just you know

074read what I see but I know that they've been having some success with that and also there's programs through I believe MATC as far as like electricians and and plumbers and things like that so I really think we're doing a good job on making those kind of things available I don't think it's a curricular issue we're still accountable to the state for curriculum but I don't think everybody needs to be College Bound you know I got a degree but I never used it I've been an itinerant musician for the last you know 12 years um so everybody's path is different and everybody's path to success and Independence in a fulfilled life is going to look very different you don't have to go to college to get it um I think uh would we should continue

075to explore ways for folks who aren't college-bound to find fulfillment and uh success thank you Jesse I don't think any changes to the curriculum are needed in in that aspect I think all students need the building blocks of what the curriculum is in order to move on to those specific things at the same time yeah there's work to be done in terms of keeping an eye on which things are popular and which Trends are you know happening right now there's a lot of classes that we have like maker space there's a various amount of different classes that can be taken but at the part of it that is interesting is you have to balance out how much you can offer in all those different areas and then at the same time evaluate who you can

076bring on to do these things because some of these require very specific certifications or teaching requirements and that is where I think we've done a good job of partnering with the community and with organizations like MATC to provide those pieces of it where we're not able to physically staff those those educators thank you and that others have already said it's not so much a curriculum issue as it is continued thinking about the programming that's offered to students um I think every student should have ample opportunity to explore interest talents and different career Pathways whichever way they'd like to go be that for your University to your tech school trades armed forces are right into the workforce um when I talk about programming I think about our math programming within the district currently all 8th graders

077take algebra and it's not taught by a high school certified teacher so they don't earn credit for it that leaves high school students with one track in high school they take geometry followed by Algebra 2 followed by pre-calculus so if somebody was not interested in going into a four-year University School would they need pre-calculus in order to be successful in their career Endeavors likely not so I do think that is something that we should continue to look at and talk about as a district all right thank you okay uh so then Chris we'll start with you for the next question uh recently the CDC added the covid-19 vaccine to the childhood vaccination schedule as a board member would you favor a policy requiring children to be fully vaccinated in order to attend school I would

078defer to the medical professionals on that all right thank you Jesse that's I have the same response I'm not a medical professional so I can't speak on that all right same thing defer to the medical profile right Rachel can you repeat the question yeah recently the CDC added the covid-19 vaccine to the childhood vaccination vaccination schedule as a board member would you favor a policy requiring children to be vaccinated in order to ascend with I would definitely refer to the medical professional but um again with Equity of voice I would not be in favor of such a broad base strategy policy all right thank you um okay so now we're starting with Jessie data are essential to making informed objective decisions if elected what would be your important sources of data for your decision making

079I think we have to look at a variety of data when it comes to decision making if it's Financial look at what pieces are contributing to our budget and what are costing us you know what may be a cost to us in the future if it's education wise it's keeping an eye on our test scores making sure that we're identifying What specifically needs to be addressed you could say oh there's a problem with math but if you don't have data behind what the actual problem is you're just kind of throwing darts at a board and saying well I think it's this or I think it's that and it's really engaging all of the staff in that process and you may think oh it's a building problem well until you get to the building and you

080get involved with who's in the building you have to dig deeper you have to find what the actual source is you can't just say well I think it's this or I think it's that you have to have the data behind it and I think that with the data person that we have right now we've got some really good things brought to us in terms of student achievement how our students have done on specific tests how they may be trending moving forward and what we can do to address those specific issues as they come up thank you Laura data are essential to making informed objective decisions if elected what would be your most important sources of data for your decision making um data really tells a story I think there's all different kinds of data that

081we can look at in order to move the system forward when it comes to things like curriculum adoptions we can look at achievement data and have professionals within the system present um Student Success on classroom data to ensure that we have the right measures in place to help students learn and be successful I think it's worth looking at things like staff retention data if staff members are leaving to look at why they're leaving and understand that data so that we can build a system where staff come and want to stay we can look at survey data from staff from students and community members we can drill down that data so there was recently a staff satisfaction survey it would be interesting to look at that data in regards to how long the teacher has been

082in the district you know look at the staff satisfaction data for teachers who have been here for over 10 years 20 years by building by Department in order to help us have a better understanding of what staff satisfaction looks like and we can drill down the same way for our students and community members as well in order to make informed decisions for the district thank you Rachel would you like me to repeat the question yes please data are essential to making informed objective decisions if elected what would be your most important sources of data for your decision making I guess that would depend on what decision I'd make if I'm looking at my Platform One area if of improvement is academic achievement so that those pieces of data that I'd look at would be our

083Universal screener which I'm not sure if it's star or map I'd like to look at overall proficiency rates are we are we looking then at the forward and are we seeing the same things from our classroom data to our standardized testing data if we're not where's the breakdown is there a certain grade are there trends that we're seeing where are we can pinpoint with data and and really drill in and find exactly where the gaps are especially when we're looking at math data and English data the other thing I'd like to take a look at would be some data around Exit interviews because another part of my platform is that I am concerned about staff leaving and I'd like like to know the story behind that and I'm sure there's data through exit interviews that

084would tell that story so I'd like to look at that and ask those critical questions there thank you Chris the question is which data would I listen to well um what would be your most important sources of data for your decision making well the district gathers all kinds of data from the classrooms to the to the building leadership teams to the administration to the board I've never been privy to an organization that's so data driven frankly I mean it's one of the core practices of its high performing teams rating within the Improvement plan is regularly planned do study act on student data and then the data can be used to refine everything it's a very data-driven district and it's frankly pretty impressive from somebody who doesn't come from a data background and because I don't

085come from a data background I would find myself probably trusting the people responsible for the data and also for the Consultants that we use to analyze the data outside Consultants it's not just the people within the district that look at these numbers they hire people to tell them what the numbers mean in a lot of situations so I would leave it to the pros all right thank you uh so I think we'll try to get through two more questions uh so the next one we'll start with Laura as a fiscally responsible board member would you be in favor of giving our teachers a raise uh I'm in favor of keeping teachers in the district um so there have been longtime veterans staff members who have left the district for other teaching positions some have left

086the profession but certainly others have left and went to other places be that for a better Financial package better benefits whatever it may be I do believe that turnover is costly every time teachers leave we have to start over with things like um their professional Learning and Development and that ultimately impacts the achievement of kids so in regards to the the man hours and and the cost of that that goes into professional learning for teachers versus being competitive with area districts I would be in favor of exploring that idea thank you Rachel um so I was part of a study in a previous District that I worked in that made some salary comparisons with other districts and then they took a look at their district and then adjusted salaries based on experience um and also

087credentials so when I look at our data and surrounding districts we are not as competitive in salary as other districts and that may be one of the reasons why we're losing staff so I'd absolutely look into that and I would also like to conduct some market research on on surrounding districts to really see if that holds water Chris teachers are the best of us and it's the most important job in the world and I personally would love to shower them with as much as we can give them your question about physical responsibility could you touch that one yeah as a fiscally responsible board member would you be in favor of giving our teachers a raise yeah as much as a fiscally responsible board member can absolutely thank you Jesse I would say yes as situations

088dictate um I think we've done a good job of taking care of teachers over the past few years especially during coven we got zero dollars from the state we still ended up paying our teachers and giving them giving them money I think there's a lot of other pieces that go into staff retention other than just fiscal uh pieces of it another thing to consider is we've done some adjustments in terms of market so I don't think that that's something that we're lacking on we're taking a look at those specific things so if if we see that we have somebody that's valuable and they're well below what Market is we're going to take a look at that we're not going to let that slip through the cracks we need these professionals here to teach our students

089and we need to keep track of the valuable resources but at the same time we don't have an unlimited budget so we really have to decide on what is needed most where the resources are needed most and keeping that within the budget is is important but yes I I believe that a small piece of that is staying compensated and and feeling like your value will continue to retain teachers within the district thank you all right so this will be our last question and we'll start with Rachel if elected what would be your top one or two priorities and how would you work to achieve them I think I've been able to pepper them in throughout the night my three priority areas are academic achievement staff retention and opportunity for all all students expanding the opportunities

090offered especially at the high school um I think that if elected I would be a strong supporter and dig into the data and ask the right questions to make sure that we really have the true story I think I would be able to bring my expertise in the science of reading in um understanding how to develop professionals and I can make some recommendations I also believe that I would be an advocate um for providing cost-effective opportunities and expanding our opportunities here at the high school using the staff we currently have thank you Christopher if elected what would be your top one or two priorities and how would you work to achieve them well first off I want to thank you for moderating tonight you get to give your closing statements okay cool but thanks anyway

091um I'm not coming in with with an agenda I'm coming in as a listener and as a citizen um I believe that whoever sits in these chairs should be a custodian of the values of the district and the community and as a board member I promise to listen to you I will hear you and I will consider you um you know ultimately I want our kids to leave Whitnall with a broader world view than when they come in I want them to be ready for the world I don't want him to be so protected that the world is a shock to them I want them to be ready for it and I want him to be ready to be leaders out there and I want to bring us all together frankly there's a lot of

092points of view represented in this room and I want to be able to work together to find the messy Middle where all the work gets done thank you Jesse I think the main part of this role is student achievement we're here for the students if they're not successful we're not successful that is number one I don't care where a kid is at I want them to be successful if they're in Reading intervention I want them to make their way out of reading intervention it is not supposed to be a Band-Aid it's supposed to be something that helps them make their way out and make them more successful and move on from where they're at another thing is student safety that's a huge thing you don't feel safe in your schools you're not going to want

093to come to school you're not going to want to learn and the last thing would be fiscal responsibility making sure that we handle the things that are upcoming I mentioned some of the items that are you know at risk and some of the things that could be detrimental to taxpayers I want to make sure we get those under control ahead of time and that's pretty much it thank you and Laura if elected what would be your top one or two priorities and how would you work to achieve them I think student achievement is something that I personally feel very passionate about in addition to the opportunities that we offer students my role as a board member is to remain inquisitive ask questions listen to constituents their ideas and what they have to share to Advocate

094on their behalf and to remember that I if elected to the board that I've been elected to be their voice um and share my knowledge and lens and expertise um when appropriate so that I can help move the district forward thank you all right so we'll now have two minutes for each candidate to give their closing remarks and we'll begin with Chris go ahead now I thank you for your moderation and I thank all of you for being here uh and for caring um it's going to take all of us working together to continue to move this District forward we never will arrive we can only continue to aim and we only land in a good place if we continue to aim there's a lot of work to do there's a lot of good work

095that's been done if you choose to elect me and I think maybe you should um I will listen to you and I will bring people together I'm not bringing my own agenda to the thing although I will stand up for kids who are marginalized I absolutely will bullying is not going to be a thing if I you know it's that's that's that's my one um listen I believe in Civility and I believe in citizenship uh I want what's best for our kids I want them to be ready for the world um you know I see a need and I'm raising my hand uh I will listen I'll ask good questions I will seek out good information I will learn about the context and I will vote for the best interests of our kids I'm not

096a teacher I'm not an educated and professional I am a dad I am somebody who cares I have time I'm a Community member and I am here to work for you and also our kids thank you Jesse your closing statement I just want to say thank you for spending your Monday evening with me I know there's nothing better than uh Forum on a Monday evening after probably a long day of work for some of you so I appreciate that um I think I bring like I said leadership I know I bring leadership I know that I bring experience and the only incumbent seeking reelection I was elected Treasurer unanimously by my peers so it shows that I can be trusted by the people that I work with if I'm reelected I'm gonna have to be

097working with two new people they require guidance there is no training manual it is you're thrown into this here you go make the decisions it is not an easy job I think I've gone through and I've learned enough to be effective and moving forward be even more of a leader and help the people that are coming onto the board I'm willing to work with whomever is there I don't care what your political affiliation is if you have an opinion I want to hear it I want to know what's important to people and I'm open to those conversations I'm not running from anyone if you want to come speak to me after this I'll stick around as long as I can to answer any questions that you have I'm really open to all ideas all inputs

098and I want what's best for our children and for our taxpayers plain and simple No Agenda that's all I'm here for I want my children and the rest of the children in this District to be successful I want it to be a place that people can say wow they're doing great things there I think that you know the stickers on the back of the cars are an indicator of that people are proud to be in this community and I want to see more stickers on the back of the cars even if they're not parents I want to see about community members cars because they want to be proud of living in this community and I think that I can I can really do that if I'm re-elected thank you Laura first of all thank you

099to all involved for hosting our candidate Forum this evening I hope that if you have learned one thing about me it's that I'm an advocate for students in education I feel strongly that the role of the school board is to provide leadership vision and oversight when making decisions ensuring accountability and working on behalf of the community this means that the work won't always be easy tough conversations will have to happen and different points of view should always be considered as we seek to answer two questions how will we ensure that all students receive a high quality education and how will all stakeholders in this community work together three main areas if you will that have prompted my desire to engage in this work is student achievement staff Recruitment and Retention and the opportunities offered to

100all Whittle students I do bring a unique lens and background for truly understanding the work of a school board and while I have a lot to learn my experience in the field of Education in many different roles including a former educator within this district and a current curriculum professional helped me to analyze understand and ask the right questions um I understand instructional data and therefore can easily identify strengths and areas for growth our current board members definitely bring valuable and varying experiences to the work but currently the board does lack members with a deep background in education and while this is not a requirement of any school board out there I am certain that my professional experience will be greatly impactful serving as a member of Whitnall School Board would be a humbling honor and

101I would love to make an impact on this system I am seeking a seat on the board to be a Difference Maker and would appreciate your vote on April 4th thank you and Rachel thank you all for coming I'm glad the students spent a Monday night with us as well I believe that two seemingly contradictory things can be true at the same time first I believe that Whitnall has some of the very best teachers staff students and families in southeastern Wisconsin schools are a great place to send your kids to learn secondly I believe that the Whitnall school district has room to grow and evolve to meet the rapid pace of our changing world I believe that the experience that I have in educating and supporting teachers students and districts can be a value to

102Whitnall as we push for improved achievement and math and reading I am commit committed to making sure also that Whitnall attracts and retains the very best educators why vote for me I'm a Mom first and an educator second the Whitnall School Board needs the perspective of someone like me who understands the needs of students has training and perspective to meet those needs and can advocate for them like a mom with passion and vision as you review your choices for Whitnall School Board I ask you to consider the following an idea candidate will ask the right questions listen to all stakeholders bring proven ideas and best practices and effectively work to build consensus and Implement policies that position Whitnall students and staff to do great work together I believe we achieve that goal by honoring the

103humanity of each teacher and student and equitably equitably preparing each student to reach their own full potential I will work to make the Whitnall District an environment of belonging safety and connection for all students and adults to engage and Thrive thank you so this concludes the candidate forum for the Whitnall school board on behalf of the Whitnall High School student council and the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County thank you to the community for your questions and thank you to our candidates for participating in the Forum and for running for a position on the Whitnall School Board so thank you to each of you Rachel Sharer Christopher Porterfield Jesse stahoviak Laura fowell and also as a reminder that Christopher Adams and Cassie Raynor are also on the ballot a recording of tonight's Forum will

104be posted to the Whitnall District YouTube channel as well as vote411.org and as a reminder the election will be held April 4th information on voting and elections can be found at vote411.org the League of Women Voters Milwaukee County website and at myvote.wi.gov after March 15th please visit thevote411.org website to view your sample ballot information on your candidates and a detailed question and answer section polls are open April 4th from 7 A.M to 8 p.m and with proper documentation you may still register when you go to vote you may also vote in person absentee at the Greenfield City Hall for March 21st to March 31st the League of Women Voters reminds you that our democracy depends on citizen involvement I trust that you all intend to vote in the election on April 4th and I hope

105that you will increase voter turnout by