001we're going to get started in just a moment once I have all of the candidates oh my gosh right yeah no I don't want hi there good evening thank you to the booy community and the candidates for attending the first annual spring candidate Forum which is co-sponsored by Wisconsin policy monitor LLC and eyes on blit School Board uh we will have Eric Olsen coming from Madison um he is with Wisconsin policy monitor he's stuck in traffic so he'll introduce himself in between the school board and the city council forums my name is tor champany and I'm pleased to be invited to be your monitor for tonight's Forum we have six candidates for the blit School Board five of them are with us here tonight uh starting down on the end we have uh Megan Miller
002Juan Romero Joanne Rue I'm Tor champany uh Bill Johnson and Greg Schneider and there is also Kenda Roman who unfortunately was not able to join us this evening I just want to go over a little bit of the Forum procedure to start each candidate will have one minute for opening remarks next we'll have our question rounds candidates were provided the questions in advance one of those questions will be drawn at random for each individual candidate to answer the order that you're sitting does not matter each candidate does not answer the same question each candidate will get their own question the initial response from that candidate will have a two-minute time limit after that initial response I will take rebuttal responses from other candidates wishing to speak on the topic the rebuttal response time is just
0031 minute if you would like to make a rebuttal response please raise your hand really high because the way I'm sitting it's going to be hard to see you I will do my very best I have a note here to keep track of who does rebuttal when so that we're you know sharing it around so everybody's not doing um the same rebuttal um we'll get through as many questions as possible in our time limit I anticipate three or four rounds um Maryann is sitting over here um she will be the timekeeper she'll hold up a card when you have 20 seconds left of your time and then she'll hold up a stop when your time has elapsed again just a reminder two minutes for your initial response one minute if you're giving a rebuttal response
004um I will ask that everybody please silence your cell phon so that we don't interrupt the candidates and this form is being streamed on the school district of booy YouTube page and it will also be posted after the Forum any questions before we begin okay thank you and I'm going to go just in order I mean just starting down on the end if that's okay like I said they're random draws oh yes sorry we're not going to questions yeah thank you um we'll start down on the end sorry about that Megan with Megan with a one minute um introduction all right perfect thank you um thank you so much for organizing and hosting Forum my name is Megan Miller um I am a reading teacher I'm a proud mom of three daughters who attend the
005district one of whom received special education services um among the reasons that I'm running is because I really value my kids safety um education and growth I want to make sure they have positive experiences um couple of credentials as the board president I helped initiate the Strategic plan that has yielded three years uh year over your growth on the state report card um we've been impacted by um budget issues and still still managed to produce balance budgets for the last 2 years despite being arguably the district most adversely impacted by the de facto segregation caused by a broken State funding model um as an educator I do know that there is no one-size fits-all solution for any child and so I am really interested in continuing to serve so that we can strategically plan to
006meet the unique needs of all of our children thank you very much thank you Megan up next Juan Romero good evening thank you to the Wisconsin policy monitor LLC and Isam booy school board for hosting tonight's Forum I'm wandro me and I'm running for the school board CU I believe our children teachers and Community deserve the strongest support possible my parents work tirelessly for a better life and their values continue to guide me we're a blended we're a blended family of six children my wife and I moved to booy in 2024 to be closer to the family raiseed our youngest son in an environment where the every child can Thrive he's in eighth grade at Fen intermediate and I firmly believe our school board should reflect the rich diversity of our community ensuring that every
007voice is represented and I want to see that pride and diversity mirrored in our leadership with the background in telecommunications construction and Healthcare I bring a practical problem solving skills and a compassionate Hands-On approach if elected my priorities are clear to ensure safe learning environments practice fiscal responsibility focus on student achievement and rebuild public trust through transparency and open dialogue I'm ready to listen to to learn and to work together to unlock but what full potential thank you thank you Anan Joanne Rue good evening this is a wonderful turnout we have here tonight my name is Joanne Rue I am a graduate of the blit schools I I was taught at Royce and then mcneel and then B Memorial High School I uh got my degree in elementary education uh one through n i uh
008also received my certificate in elll Services I have a master's in curriculum and instruction along with a special certificate in early childhood education I'm a mom of graduates from the blate schools as well and my my own children received US Special Edge Services as well as elll services within our district I've worked within the schools as well as in the county and I know what services we have available to us and what the needs are in our district thank you thank you Joanne Bill Johnson now they can hear me though I'm a lifelong blit resident um my whole family has went here my mother graduated in 1939 from blit Memorial um I graduated 1973 I started out at Gaston and then I went to Lincoln and I went to Aldridge when they had to change
009over to the 9th and 10th and then I went to the high school for the last last two years so I'm proud boo Memorial graduate um I work for the city of bit as a street supervisor I tried my best to get the snow out of the road in the streets and if I didn't I'm sorry but I tried after I retired I went to work for aark and Compass I delivered food and supplies to at least eight schools every single day so I was in every school in Boyd almost every day and I seen a a lot of things that I didn't care for I work for Community Action now I pick up people to apologies bill I have to cut you off that's okay thank you though Greg Schneider good evening and thank
010you all for being here and for taking your time to become better informed voters I am not a native of beloy I moved here in 2007 but during my time here I am now a purple Knight in fact I even had my grandson live with us for years to take advantage of the the excellent education that was being offered here having worked in four different school districts and two different states I have learned how important it is to get to know and understand the wishes desires and fears of the entire Community to be able to make the best decisions to alleviate those fears and support the desires while doing what is best for the students my focus has always been on preparing students for an involved and thriving Life After High School with my experience
011as a teacher administrator Schoolboard member and my community involvement I am an excellent candidate for the boo School Board better schools for a better tomorrow thank you Greg now we will get ready with the question round so again I have all the questions that the candidates got ahead of time in this bucket and I'm just drawing one out and we'll start down here with Megan Megan will have two minutes to respond to the question question and then I will open it up for rebuttal so please um candidates raise your hand really high so I can see you we'll take a Max of two just in interest of time with a one minute and then I'll just kind of Mark off and try to keep track so we spread around those opportunities okay Megan what is
012your plan to increase and build trust between the bit community and School District leadership please be specific thank you so much for the question that's a fantastic question because trust is key um relationships are really what matters when it comes to schools families and kids and you can't have relationships without trust I think one specific thing that I would work on would be to help bring people in very intentionally to help um understand like how the district works and like really what the role of the school board is um it's something that we've teased around I think the city council might have done some things like that where there's sort of like a Civic kind of Academy um I think as people understand like what the operations are like why people make the decisions they
013do um I feel like it invites positive and constructive dialogue and it also kind of like erodes at the idea that there's something like non-transparent or something kind of schemy going on so I think being intentional and like reaching out to the community creating spaces for that is really important and I think it would really help our staff also feel more supported um I think another piece for trust building would be for us to um you know make sure that the district arrives in community spaces because like I think the Community Partnerships we have are really valuable I think we do a nice job bringing people in we've had a lot of instability over the last few years of in leadership and funding if we can get this referendum across the the line here we've
014got a stable administration at the moment that allows more capacity for our Administration our teachers our board members to get out and go into spaces like Community Action and get into the city get into to schools churches meet people where they're at and really just have honest and gerine discussions and I think am I going on time I think uh cool thanks sorry I was I wasn't looking I think lastly um perfect anticipated that I think lastly too um I think just like reframing the conversations intentionally around what are we doing with and for our children because I think a lot of times our kids get lost in these conversations as a mom I trust my my kids schools because every piece of communication I get from them I'll stop has to do with kids
015thanks thank you Megan would any other candidates like to speak on this topic with a one minute limit okay sing now oh nope go right ahead go ahead bill yeah as far as increasing and building trust between the community and the school district I I think it's important that the administrators live in the city and are out in the public so people can see them you know they at a football game at Woodman's uh Farmers Market you know when you don't have a home here I don't think you're attached to the city thank you Bill please go ahead ju uh for building trust in the community obviously everyone screams transparency of course right um but how do you do that and the current the current system has had opportunities to do that and I really
016haven't seen it just being here and then talking to people who been here a lot longer than myself there's these the the round table talks that we've had that was a first and I don't know how long and it was expressed then that these need to happen more they should have happened more things like that need to happen more they can't just be talked about action has to be done with that however we organize that we have to organize that I'd like to see that myself happen whether or not I'm on the board or not it needs to happen people need to know where the board stands where the district is in good or bad or indifferent because not everything's perfect but we have to come up with the solutions to make everything right and
017I haven't seen it done but I want to make that happen thank you Juan and you're actually next up for a two-minute question how will you make decisions based on what's best for students without being influenced by your personal political or religious views or by the influence of special interest grou groups for the purpose of rebuttal if you're an incumbent there is a point here as well if you're an incumbent please give specific examples of how you've achieved this so how will you make decisions in best interest of students without influen by your personal political religious views or influence of special interest groups um this position is nonpartisan which is easy for me because I'm nonpartisan I don't take one side or the other there's good there's Goods on both sides there's bads on both
018sites I have to get the whole story again I keep saying it I read a book not only just on the odd pages I have to read the evens too to get the whole story that's the only way to really get anything right to get anything um a a solid decision um I I rely on hard data I listen carefully to the Educators and families as much as possible when they come to me I reach out say please let me know and i' I've heard and I take things into consideration and I do the research on what they're saying I look for best practices in education not for my personal beliefs but because I want what's right for the children Based on data because political views become an emotional situation emotional situations ruin things for
019a lot of people and in this case what's at stake is their kids we can't do that we have to think about what's best for our kids solid data in my opinion is the best way to go to be able to come up with solid foundation on a decision thank you thank you Juan is would anyone else like to speak on this topic for one minute go ahead Megan thank you thank you so much I love what you said about data driven decision- making as an educator um Educators make data driven decisions about children I'd like to provide a specific example about how I've done that uh there is mixed research out there about the effectiveness and safety of SRO school resource officers in our schools and prior to the contract that we currently have
020being approved I expressed like I'm not sure like let's find out um had made a decision arbitrarily based on my own beliefs it would not have been the decision that we ultimately made I worked with Chief sales very closely I listened to our teachers our parents our F like our staff I met with some students over at bullet memoral high school and as a result of that I wholeheartedly supported moving forward with the program because I saw we set ourselves apart with the amount of above and beyond work that our police officers our city does in terms of training uh trauma informed responsive pieces for students they're an essential part for many kids of their day-to-day uh School experiences and so as board president I ushered that along and it passed unanimously so that is
021a an example of doing so thank you so much thank you Megan any other responders to this question okay uh moving on we have Joanne with a two-minute question what changes need to happen to increase school board and administ rator accountability in our district several key changes can help improve transparency ensure effective governance and Foster a more open responsive environment so for enhanced transparency we already regularly share the board meeting agendas the minutes and District reports with the community they're hard to find though and for people that aren't techsavvy it's impossible for to them to pull them up so why don't we take and put a blurb on our website that tells them hey these are the important talking points for the board tonight or give a short um summary of what happened the night
022before so that everyone can stay informed and do so in a way that's accessible we need clear and measurable goals we need specific measurable goals for both the school board and the administrators and ensure that progress are being made toward these goals I don't know if there's ways that they assess um school board members like they do uh teachers in the classroom but I would love to see the metrics for that and see how I can improve as a board member and uh do right by my community community feedback loops are important implementing a more consistent and structured way to gather feedback from teachers students and the broader Community there's a disconnect between what we hear in the board room and what we hear from teachers and from students in the buildings budget oversight and
023Reporting we need to increase accountability we need to have clear ex explanations for any budget cuts or reallocation of funds and everything needs to be communicated to the communicated to our uh citizens in a way that they understand so we need to build trust through consistency we need to consistently apply policies and rules our coda conduct and ensure that accountability is maintained by prioritizing transparency measurable goals consistent communication and Community involvement we can create an atmosphere of accountability where everyone from the school board to the teachers to the administrators is focused on improving outcomes for students and ensuring the success of our district thank you Joanne would anybody like to respond to this question okay I will move on Bill you have two minutes to respond how can we decide if we are actually topheavy
024and whether or not we should make cuts to Administration well I don't think you can say they're top heavy oh I can't say that we're topheavy until you actually go to the Colac and sit down and find out what everybody does you can't just say we have too many people because you don't know what everybody does if we have you know one or two people that are overlapping you know maybe we can combine that into one job but you know the city of BL tried that when they got rid of the clerical and it cost them about a million dollars in the long run by not listening to people um everybody has a job and you just need to go in and figure out what each one is doing and then you know what what
025pay is and everything and go from there um I just don't think you can come in and say we need to get rid of people thank you Bill would anybody else like to speak on this topic yes Greg please I agree with what Bill said I mean you have to start taking a look at what is the job description but beyond that we need to look at what is it that they are actually doing because we all know that the most dangerous line in any job description is the last one other tasks as assigned um so the job description is not going to give you a picture of everything that they do but even as we do this we always have to consider what is the impact of removing that person that position from the
026district on the future of the district and the students that are involved for example um you know there's been a call for for eliminating some of the assistant principles in the elementary schools however they're also the ones that spend most of their time dealing with the individuals that have behavioral issues in the in the schools eliminating them eliminates the support for the students and for the teachers there so we have to also look at what is the impact um on students uh as we consider those positions thank you any other comments on this question please Joan I think uh we need to examine administrative salaries versus student out outcomes assess whether our administrative spending aligns with improvements in student achievement teacher support and overall District performance we need to survey teachers staff and parents gather
027input from those directly impacted by the district edmin to determine if leadership roles provide meaningful support or if there are areas of inefficiency we need to R redirect savings to the classroom if cuts are made we need to invest in teachers student programs and resources that directly impact learning Al along with that we need to ensure that we have equity and efficiency any reductions should be made strategically to avoid negatively affecting underfunded schools or essential Services we need to let our community know as well what is happening to improve our transparency to our fiscal responsibility and improve prioritizing students success and classroom support thank you Joanne Greg I have a two-minute question for you Bloyd has a serious problem with absenteeism what are your thoughts on how we might address this problem and decrease chronic
028absenteeism you know every every student succeeds act defines chronic absenteeism as missing more than 10% of the school days irregardless of why they are absent um students are absent for many different reasons uh that they don't attend schools while our attendance rate is growing and we are not still not at the preco level research has found that parents keep their children home with fewer illness symptoms and keep them home longer than they did before covid um Co has also led to the belief that School attendance doesn't matter um the district has already implemented attendance matters program to help change that belief older students often times are responsible for taking care of younger siblings while their parents are at work um that may indicate that we need to expand before and after school programs and but
029they also need more affordable child care options um you know the high school has moved to the the Ford Next Generation Learning Academy model um which is in increasing AC academic and in career choices at the middle school level also to engage students in their education and prepare them for achieving their goals we need to continue to support and expand options for students to increase their interest and their desires for the courses that we have you know we need to look at and talk with students as to why they don't attend school um and and so that we can better meet their needs in order to do that um so that we can also maybe look at it creating an attendance team to work with um the pupil Services Department in their efforts to increase
030attendance you know we need to help individual students overcome the barriers that they face to coming to school be it housing instability a lack of Transportation needs child care issues bullying concerns and many many more objects but we need to know what those concerns are so that we can address them properly thank you Greg would anyone else like to speak on this topic okay we'll start with Joanne thank you so research absolutely shows a strong correlation between absenteeism and failure to make gains which makes tackling this issue urgent for the success of our students in my own experience I've seen the negative impact of absenteeism on my own students I had a student while teaching here in booy who missed over 80 days of school despite the fact that the child lived right across the
031street from one of our other schools here in the district why didn't we change them to the school that they needed to be at the teachers there could have come across the street and encouraged them to come to school I was across town I didn't have that ability to do that when we have children that are chronically absent in kindergarten it it sets the tone and habits that then follow them through their entire academic career thank you Joanne Megan please thank you so much um totally agree I would just have to say that as an educator and as a parent 100% again it comes down to relationships our kids have to feel safe they have to feel loved they have to feel that their needs are met we also have to create safety outside of
032school so for example creating we have like the walking school buses but even getting volunteers to commit to like safe walking home routes I mean there's so many opportunities here for Community engagement which again boils down to relationships last comment on that is um one thing that I'm really proud of that came out of our ad hoc to reduce language barriers from a few years ago was we created the bilingual homeschool liaison position which to the point that Miss R just made which was excellent there one of their main jobs is to engage with families and like build those relationships to problem solve like how can we help you because if we are not being culturally responsive and responsive to all of the needs of like our whole children and whole families inside and outs
033the classroom none of these other initiatives are none of the the scary facts about are really going to matter it's all about relationships thank you Megan we're GNA come right back to you with a two-minute question okay what are what are the three things that we could do to increase student achievement in Beloit schools thank you so much for the question uh the first thing that we can do is make sure that our classroom teacher teachers are fully resourced to meet the unique needs of all of their students which not only includes the community coming together to fully fund our schools along with the state which is a whole mess itself but I think it also includes making opportunities for more meaningful uh Community Family engagement because resources is not just like curriculum right it's
034it's people you have to have enough staff you have to have the right kind of Staff with the right kind of training uh there has to be like a true connection and relationship to really understand your students so that would be the number one thing that we can do to improve um academic achievement meet the needs of our kids with caring and prepared individual teachers and Community um I would say the next thing that we need to do I'm going to lean back in on the kind of instructional piece here materials really matter so making sure that we stay committed to uh culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum that um our teachers are adequately trained in and supported in but given the flexibility to be professionals as teachers there's a big movement big push right now
035to sort of depr professionalize Educators and like you know follow the thing follow the thing follow the thing and I just we need to make sure that we have a culture that empowers our teachers to make decisions about how they teach their students based on their knowledge of their students because we don't teach subjects we teach kids uh the third thing that I think we need to do to uh increase academic uh it was academic achievement is that where we're at okay um I would say the last thing that we need to do is uh you know really just like establish strong and meaningful relationships I know sound like a broken record here with families because we only have kids in school for so much time if you factor in the amount of time those
036those kids are asleep and on summer vacation and everything else they spend most of their time with their families and all of research out there says that if you have strong family involvement which is not something that just occurs naturally we have to be systematic and intentional and resource appropriately our ability as a district to engage with families thank you that's time thank you Megan would anybody else like to speak on this topic for one minute please bill go right ahead um yes what I'd like to say is in not only the attendance but people missing but people the kids not getting to school on time you know when you come at 10 11 o'clock and I you know and I was at the grade schools first so I would see him I'd tell them
037you know what you play soccer you play baseball you're starting out behind two to nothing because the kids that are here in time have learned Le for two hours and that's all past and the one thing you can't get back is time thank you Bill Greg please I mean we need to seriously take a look at what are the needs of the students that we have because there are so many things that interfere with student achievement if we start looking at students who are hungry because they didn't have dinner last night students that haven't slept well because they're sleeping on a friend's couch a student that doesn't know where they're going to be living tonight all of those things begin to interfere with the students concentration and the ability to learn as well as taking
038a look at the needs such as um mental Wellness um student you know student behaviors because that distracts from everybody um again attendance is is a part if they can't if they're not there they can't learn so there are a lot of other factors that we also need to take a look at and how do we address each of those concerns so that we have the best prepared students to learn once they get to school but also it's also beginning to partner with Community me Community groups to do things like early brain who early brain development and early literacy that's time thanks Greg okay we're going to move on to Juan with a two-minute question if the state law were changed and residency for administrators could be enforced as a condition of employment would you
039support such a policy and why if the state law allowed residency to be enforced for administrate for administrators i' have to weigh the benefits and drawbacks carefully you know on one hand having a leader who lives in the community can build stronger connections stronger local connections the other hand the most important factor is the administrator's ability to serve our students effectively regardless of the home addresses my decision would always be guided on what's best for the students so for example if I have two candidates they're presented and they both have the same qualifications and the only difference being the local one is local and the other one's not I'd always prefer local you always have to try to do what's what your community is going to Res re ReSound with is you have to have
040a resonance with your community and local is always the best in my opinion you have to really weigh the facts and try to shoot for local but we have to be realistic here at the end of the day what is best for for our parents if I have a local candidate but I have another candidate willing to come in that's far far superior that's a heavy weight to really decide so are you just BL proud or are you really thinking about your child at this point which is going to be better I try to shoot for my child but it would have to be something so outrageous for me to go over local I would prefer local but again it's not out it's not out my mindset to weigh the facts and pull the data
041and see what the hard facts would be and how we how it would affect our children in our district thank you one would anyone else like to speak on this topic go ahead bill yeah um there's ways that when you make up a contract that you can you know make it so they want to come to bloy and if they want to come to blit they're going to stay in bloy and you know if they have a place here to live and the money isn't flying down the road to Milwaukee then uh they plan on staying and that's what we want we want people the best people for our kids but we want them also for the community thank you Bill would anyone else like to speak on this topic sure Greg go ahead well
042I agree that living in the community where you work is always the best way to learn about and become involved in the community but in today's society where both adults and a family are working the ability to move becomes a very can become a very difficult issue there are many legitimate reasons why a spouse or family can't move um The spouse's job requires them to live within a distance from work such as a police officer a firefighter and many doctors have to live within a certain distance of their work um you know also if if one of them is the caregiver for an elderly and frail parent or if one of the the family members needs so be close to a medical provider small communities like Bel can't offer the same level and quality of
043J employment as other cities and so if we had a residency requirement we are going to eliminate a lot of Highly qualified people from even applying for a job to come to Beloit and therefore you know blit deserves the best possible candidates thank you Bill all right we're going to go to Joanne for a two-minute question Joanne please share your opinion on standardized testing I'm a teacher I've seen uh the the consequences of standardized testing over the years uh when I first started teaching we began stand standardized testing in second grade they took the teranova and it was a practice test and then third grade we took the reading test that was a Wisconsin base test and then over the years the children would have one or two tests that they would take then we
044got the maps test we started doing that in third grade and then they moved it down to Second and then to first and then to kindergarten and if your child was in the Dual language program your child took six tests on the map soci assment alone then they also took their elll test the English language learner test and then once they got up into third grade along with all of those tests they also took the forward exam that's too much testing if we're testing we're not teaching I also saw children who worked so hard all year long and we'd build them up and all of a sudden in a moment's time their confidence would crumble because some of the test questions were written so strange ly um and even in kindergarten they will write two-part
045questions two-part questions are sometimes confusing for even adults so having these 5-year-olds who are just learning how to do school are now having to do that that being said we do need measures that help show what our children are learning and where we need to do better formative assessments summative assessments having benchmarks that we reach within our district can help us shoot for what our actual targets are and have realtime data that we can use in the moment to change things for our students to make it better thank you Joanne would anyone else like to speak on this topic go ahead Megan thank you um standardized testing does not work for children because children are not standardized uh the only reason we have standardized testing is because politicians have decided that that is how we
046should evaluate learning um Massachusetts is piloting something and has been for the last several years called uh annualized performance-based assessments their growth uh based portfolio models they uh fill the need of standardized testing and they've had great success in fact they're presenting at a conference shortly in uh Dallas I just got an email from them today because I'm on the mailing list very interesting stuff I will also say that um dylian Dylan William who's like the leading uh educator on formative assessment uh talks about in his book sort of the definitive work on assessment um good assessment for students that teachers actually use why rely on an outof Focus snapshot taken by a stranger so as a teacher especially as a reading teacher I care a lot about student accountability making sure that like not
047accountabil but performance make sure we're accountable to those kids I want a better picture with triangulated data with multiple metrics not a standardized test thank you Megan anybody else Juan please I agree with what Joan said said kids are not standardized we're not we're all cut from a different mold right um so in order to have this happen there has to be a balanced approach it combines if they have to use this we have to use a standardized test we have to have an approach that combines these tests with other forms of Assessments to give us a full a better Fuller picture of the students abilities not just relying just one specific test so I would say yeah it's it's like speaking to your audience you recognize your audience so if you're going to give
048a standard test to a high school person you got to make sure that it's speaking to their their um what do you call it their developmental process in their life and then when it comes to a kindergartener same thing so you have to really assess and you have to do multiple different kinds of Assessments to do that not just one so the standardized testing would work if it was combined with other different means of testing thank you one and we are going to go on to bill with a two minute question Bill what is your opinion of Chromebooks or iPads being an integral part of elementary school and how do you believe this program has affected student achievement um one of these times I'll catch on uh the Chromebooks have their their needs for you
049know the kids Elementary um I think they sometimes they spend too much and they need a break from the screen time to kind of refocus um our achievements have gone down from regular books um I think sometimes kids like to read and getting away from you know just the screen and then focusing it on that um and they are expensive and you know maybe they're better at the high school and the older kids and you know maybe the intermediates that would help um I know that they had a couple of occasions last year where they were stolen at one of the schools and I don't know how much they are to replace but um that's what I think thank you Bill would I wouldn't like to speak on this ju please so digital devices like
050iPads they offer exciting interactive ways to learn but research does show traditional printed books have unique benefits for elementary students for example there was a there was a study done by an manin benty wal germinal and CJ bronic in 2013 they found that children reading print texts scored better on comprehension tests compared to those reading on screens the tactile experience of handling a book with its physical pages and fury distractions seem to disport to seem to support deeper focus and retention additionally another study done by singer in Alexander in 2016 demonstrated that cognitive processing involved in Reading print can lead to better understanding and memory of the material in other words while iPads can enhance learning in certain ways relying on printed books for Core Curriculum subjects may offer a more effective foundation for our
051Young Learners thank you one anybody else Jan please as a kindergarten teacher this one is really important to me uh our students in kindergarten they come to us now not able to cut not able to hold a crayon the right way and the reason why is because they're not getting those same tactile experiences as Toddlers and youngsters that they used to have children that use tablets a lot in the in the school district um and let me say they're not iPads that were using their Chromebooks and it is the most difficult thing for a kindergartener to log into their Chromebook it affects their bone and muscle development if you look at X-rays and I have x-rays if you want to see them they're little fingers are just floating in there and so all that pushing
052on the tablet it hurts their development it causes lack of focus their brain developed their frontal lobe is not fully developed it it hits that Addiction Center of of our brains and they're not able to self-regulate which then leads to behavior issues and it causes problems for the classroom inest General thank you Joanne all right we are at Greg with a two-minute question policy 6721 limits the amount that a superintendent may spend or commit the district to without seeking board approval do you support the requirement of board approval for any expense exceeding $25,000 or do you see this as micromanagement I know policy uh 6721 was just um gone through and just updated which raised the limit to 25,000 you know in some cases that may not be the proper level that comes back for
053board approval but it is the board's responsibility to appro to approve the spending and monitor the budget um the business operations and finance committee receives a very detailed financial report monthly uh that is then sent on to the full board for approval again this is for items that things that have already happened you know I support the requirement for board approval of large purchases as long as there is an exception for emergencies for example if a large heating system in in a building failed in the middle of the winter we can't wait until the next board meeting to get approval to replace that furnace without causing damage Within in the building and being having to shut it down so there needs to be an exclusion in some cases where the principal the principal the superintendent
054can authorize the expenditures to repair those Services um and and then to bring that information to the board as as soon as possible so that we are all aware of it there are some items like that that we just cannot wait for approval for the district to move forward with um I don't see this as micromanaging this is just being aware of and being responsive to and responsible for the way the funds that the district has are being spent thank you Greg would anyone else like to speak on this topic go ahead Juan so this idea of of the board approving these expenditures and of course yes there's always going to be emergencies you know of course but there should already be a method and procedures for those emergencies uh regardless the $25,000 cap I'm
055not privy to behind the scenes of why they came up with this number in particular but we have to remember the policy is a safeguard for overspending it ensures that significant financial decisions are made with careful oversight and with the community's input so it's practical to check that it's a practical check that helps the protect the taxpayers funds so we have to look out for for everybody but in the event of an emergency out here does get cold and whatnot is the $25,000 going to cover something like that we have to make sure that it would cover something like that but I don't see it Falling For You Know eight eight or nine or 10 of the schools at the same time it's that's a rare occurrence so I think it's a good idea thank
056you would anyone else like to speak for one minute on this topic okay will move on we are back to you Megan with a two-minute question oh my bucket's getting low I know it's that time night all right parents frequent frequently name student Behavior as the reason they have removed their child from BL School District do you believe that the current student code of conduct is being enforced in our schools please explain thank you so much for the question this is such a Hot Topic and I will say that as a board member that helped you know revise our last uh code of conduct policy um I think we have a very solid code of conduct but you know like all policies should be revised it is the board's role to set policy it is
057the administration's role to execute policy and is the board's responsibility to hold our one employee accountable to make sure that that is being properly executed what I will say is that people are a little messy I've been a classroom teacher here in bloy I've been a classroom teacher in Whitewater I'm a classroom teacher at Parkview right now um I can cite instances um at all schools of saying well I'm not sure you know there was maybe a little wiggle room here and there and that's maybe not something I'm comfortable with or something I appreciate people are complicated so I think when we talk about enforcement of the code of conduct there has to be really clear communication and a shared understanding of what that means the purpose of the code of conduct is to keep
058our students and our staff safe I think that it's important for us to understand that somebody's interpretation of whether something is fairly enforced is their interpretation and I think it would really behoove the school district to do a lot of we talk about building Community Trust that's something where I would love to bring the community in here's actually like what these practices look like hear from administrators hear from teachers because sometimes there are um things that get misrepresented etc etc bottom line is there's always going to be room for improvement to enforce the code of conduct there's always going to be room for improvement in all of our practices as Educators right because it's a continuous Improvement piece so I'm not I guess I'm not going to say that I believe there's like a rampant
059issue one way or the other I mean I think this is just the good faith work of people who are doing difficult Frontline uh you know work with our kids every day um I think we all have to be mindful and I think the board has set and will continue to set regardless of who's elected a high expectation for our administrators and for our teachers to make sure sure we have safe classrooms for all of our kids and teachers uh I guess that's my time thank you thank you Megan responses go ahead Joanne behavioral issues are rampant in our district I encountered situations where students would exhibit extreme behaviors I was hit I was kicked I was punched I was choked these were 5-year-olds and six-year-olds and they loved me they didn't like being in
060the classroom though they weren't able to read they weren't able to write they weren't able to do the math we were had that we were required to do and so they wanted out and hurting me was their way out and when they left the room they went to the office and the office was fun there were snacks there were people that would give them one-on-one attention I couldn't compete no matter how much I loved them no matter how much I built Community furthermore most of these were misclassified as student toward student aggression rather than student toward teacher aggression I talked to teachers in four different buildings this afternoon and I asked cuz I want to know that it's getting better I want to hear that so much for our students and our teachers and I
061heard it's sorry Jo I have to cut you off that's time I feel so bad doing that uh is there anyone else who' like to speak on this topic ah Greg go ahead please um you know we we could always improve on the enforcement of the code of conduct um but what we have to remember is you know if your fifth grade student who is is failing social studies you just don't punish them until they catch up you teach them the same is true with behavior we need to teach students appropriate behavior and the harm done by their be bad behavior Behavior that's how they begin to learn that's when we can truly impact student Behavior we need to go beyond just the code of conduct I'm not saying to get rid of the code
062of conduct that is important but we need to go beond that to support our teachers and support our students to improving their behavior within the school thank you Greg no I can only do two rebuts otherwise F around time sorry thank you Bill all right I'm going to go on to Juan with a two-minute question few people would dispute the benefits of recess for children if elected would you support increasing recess time for elementary and middle school students why or why not so Recess Recess isn't just a break it's it is essential for children's physical health the social skills their overall well-being research does show that more recess can lead to better focus improved behavior and higher academic performance at the same time we have to acknowledge that recess is where bullying often happens the
063most if we increase the reassess time we must also ensure that it remains safe and positive for all positive for all students this means proper supervision by staff parent volunteers or a combination of both to create an environment where kids can play socialize and recharge without fear I do support exploring ways to extend recess safely while maintaining academic rigor and ensuring student well-being but there has to be a limit to it there has to be reasons there has to be you know not just everybody it it's not it should not be looked as a right in my opinion it should be looked at as as a privilege so yes you know that's how we have to hold the our students accountable as well there's accountability that because it's easy to say yeah take as much
064recess as possible I know for a fact like my child he has to take breaks from his studies he can't just focus steady and he comes back and his brain's fried so that's where it comes becomes important for recess so determining on the child it's it's it's hard to determine but we have to figure out what each student does need regarding recess and breaks in in mental capacity The Bullying is an issue and so if we have more we have to make sure that they're safer and if we don't then we have to deal with the students and how they're going to be fright and their negative impact so it's a it's it's it's a stronger it's a finer line to really think about doing than just they're getting too much play time and they're
065getting spoiled or they're got they're not getting enough and that's it we really have to balance it out thank you would anyone else like to speak on this topic Bill yes I think being at the grade school is almost every day I see the physical activity and the kids love that recess and it's really needed and just being in side on days when they didn't have recess the excess energy the kids had trying and the the teachers trying to stop and control all that yeah I mean they were just wound up and when they get outside they get some fresh air they get activity they can play sports they can do all kinds of things and intermingle with everybody else I think it's just very important to have thank you Bill Megan please thank you
066thank you so much um actually my very first involvement with the school district Dey was When U me Kim Schneider and Adam Abberly um approached the board to ask for increased recess time back in 2015 uh there are numerous studies that show that kids not only like learn through play but it is like developmentally appropriate and healthy for them I think when we absolutely should have more recess this go speaks I know Joanne agrees with me on this and it speaks to like the whole standardized test culture of ruining how we do school but what I really want to get across about recess is that addressing this whole issue about about behaviors right we're not creating conditions for our kids that they need to develop the social skills and self-management that they need to be
067able to be safe participants in schools all the time it is research supported that recess helps kids develop and refine uh expertise in Social and emotional interaction self-management pro-social skills empathy compassion Etc I fully support Mor recess and I think it should be up to the building Administration and teachers to see what is appropriate lastly kids do learn through developmentally so thank you thank you Joanne we're going to go to you with a two-minute question get stuck oh goodness I should have crumpled them a little bit okay stdb has lost many teachers over the past few years and we are now resorting to agency hires to fill our needs please explain how bit might attract and retain quality Educators I was one of the teachers they lost we need to make sure that we are
068listening to our teachers that we understand that they are credible that their stories are real it is happening we need to have a positive work environment a strong School culture we need um our principles to be people that we see as our allies our friends um I still have some thank you notes that my uh principals wrote me over the year Mrs schwengel wrote me one for having a warm environment in my classroom for open house and I read those at the beginning of the year every year Mr MC Reynolds he would C he would celebrate teachers accomplishments at the beginning of every staff meeting we called them our celebrations teachers need their voice to be heard they need to be a part of decision-making and school initiatives I helped change the breakfast program uh
069shortly before uh covid happened we used to have a board meeting where it would be a committee that had teachers community members parents and some board members and I brought to our board members I said look at this is what we are feeding our children it was full of sugar it was like more than two candy bars and a soda's worth of sugar and then they made the aark people come in and give a presentation and I was able to say nope that's not actually what I'm seeing in my children's breakfasts and the next week there was change we had fresh fruits we had less sugary things in our in our breakfasts teachers love to be part of doing things that do things right for our children and if we give our teachers voice if
070we support them in the classroom and make sure that they are able to teach because they're their classrooms are calm and supportive environments then we will keep our teachers and we'll be able to attract more teachers because we do pay our teachers well they're just not safe in our classrooms right now and they're not able to teach thank you Joanne would anyone else like to speak on this one so teachers are the heart of our educational system to attract and retain them we have to create supportive environments that include competitive pay the robust professional development that in the mentorship programs Ed when Educators feel respected and well equipped they're more likely to stay and succeed right so benefiting that this benefits our entire District we also need to create an environment where the student code
071of conduct is enforced consistently not just every once in a while so that the teachers know that they don't have to shoulder the whole the whole burden of classroom disruptions alone when the administration stands firmly behind the teachers and holding their clear behavioral policies they feel supported and secured which goes a long way in reducing stress and boosting job satisfaction research has shown when they perceive their work to the environment to be supportive they leadership takes a strong consistent stance on upholding the standards teacher retention improves significantly for example if a classroom issue arises that disrupts learning a teacher should be able to count on prompt administrator intervention the support not only helps manage the immediate situation but also reinforces a culture where the entire team is committed I must stop one sorry that's fine
072thank you all right um moving on to the next question two minutes for you Bill did you um was that only one oh I'm sorry yeah that was only one is there any other rebuttal for that sorry about that sure Megan yes very briefly fully fully supported and agree with all of that one thing that I meant to mention earlier when you're talking about behavior that pertains to teachers is uh Stephanie horig is a local um uh I think domestic violence counselor she just completed a study on teacher burnout and one of the suggestions that she had and I'm hoping she'll come to one of her board meetings soon to present on this is just like we have policy uh to be trauma informed and responsive with our students we should have policies for that
073for teachers because secondhand burnout is absolutely a real thing it's why a lot of teachers not only leave Belo but leave the profession entirely and it's not just a here issue it's like an everywhere issue so I think something that like actionable we could do like realistically pretty soon would be to um listen to her research look at some other things and like really Pioneer um creating policy around protect the social emotional wellbeing of our staff um is we've got a local expert here who can help inform that study and I think that that would also produce a better climate for our students thank you thank you all right Bill we'll go to you with a two-minute question Aldridge middle school has a school within a school alternative education program for students that do not
074respond well or are not succeeding in a traditional classroom should such a program be duplicated at other district schools one of these times I'll get it absolutely if we're doing something good at one of these schools and you know sit down and talk to the people that are running and find out what they're doing and expand it to all the schools um that way you know the whole district is the same and you know they can you know all prosper when things are going good I mean we just you know when the things are bad everybody hears about it but when they have good things we don't want to you know they don't hear about it and Bloyd has a lot of good things so I think a program like that should be at at
075at every school and if it was up to me I'd have principal V run them all thank you go ahead Joanne in uh the school year 2021 2022 elementary teachers that were part of the Bea went to edmin and asked can we replicate this program in our elementary schools and they were told no is there any other rebuttal sure Craig uh you know the Middle School alternative program at aldri is part of the be the boo learning Academy's distance learning while this works for for middle schools the same type of program in the elementary schools is not going to work students in the elementary school are not going to achieve successfully on distance learning now that doesn't mean that we shouldn't look at alternative programs or classrooms within our buildings but we need to make
076sure if we're going to do that that the the classroom is structured to meet the needs of the students in that building um it which is not the same in every building in our district so when we look at alter ative ways to serve our students um we have to be careful that it meets the needs of that building and not just duplicating what aldr is doing thank you Bill we'll be moving on to the last question it will be Greg with a two-minute question and there will be rebuttal for this as well attending meetings is an ex is a sorry attending meetings is an expectation of every board member some board members frequ frequently participate virtually rather than in person would you support a policy limiting the number of times a board member May
077participate virtually and what can we expect from you once you're seated as a board member I think that it is very important for board members to attend all board meetings in person however we all know that there are times when that's just not possible if you end up having to work late in another Community you could be driving you can't be there on time you can participate virtually until you to you arrive at the boardroom um and sometimes there are times when somebody may need to be in another place um but what if what if a board member is sick um we definitely probably don't want them sitting next to you in a board meeting um but that shouldn't limit their right to participate in that discussion so while it is always the best to
078be in person there has to be an option to allow board members to participate when they can't be there in person now I've been retired our plans have always been to travel we travel once or twice a year um but when I do that I always try to make sure that I am it's possible for me to attend virtually um so even interrupting my own vacation time to do that and in one case it meant even renting another hotel room so I had a secure room to to be in to participate in the meeting so we can do that safely when it is not possible to be here in person um you know I think if if everybody was required to be here all of the time um it's just not going to work nobody
079can go on vacation you can't be sick you can't do all kinds of things so we have to be be able to allow people to participate virtually when it's necessary thank you Greg any other responses to this question okay seeing none that will wrap up our question portion uh we will start down on the end with Megan with a one minute close for each candidate uh I'd like to thank everybody who attended this evening and who organized this event this uh tonight um I'm here because I'm running I want to make sure that there are proactive systems to support all of our kids soci emotional academic Behavior sense of community needs and I believe that we have begun that work with our strategic plan and I'm excited to see it continue um our kids are
080not numbers on a report they're not statistics right we look at numbers to help us understand whole children what their needs are and how best to meet them um I really want to see our community rally around this common cause and vision for our kids I really believe that if we all work together all of us regardless of where we are seated in any official capacity can create safe joyful learning spaces for all of our kids and teachers thank you all very very much thank you Megan Juan Romero thank you all all of you for being here tonight for being part of this important Forum it is important our schools are the foundation of our community and the decisions that we make today will shape the future of our children I believe the potential of
081our CH of our our children and our students students and the dedication of our Educators but they need the right the right support to succeed we need strong leadership that listens that takes actions and put students first that means ensuring that our schools are safe our finances are managed responsibly and our teachers have the support that they need which means I am committed to making sure that all the voices our community are heard if I'm elected I will work to rebuild the trust through transparency accountability and open communication I'm ready to listen listen to learn to collaborate to give every child and boo the strong education they deserve I would be honored to to earn your vote thank you thank you Juan Joanne Rue when I taught third grade we'd go to the big Hills
082Park to do the maple syrup uh field trip and my favorite part of that field trip every year was driving down Portland Avenue and pointing out my house that I grew up in and I would tell the students look that rout that window right there that was my bedroom and the children you could see it wash over them I can grow up and be like Mrs Ru I can have a job like this too I want those possibilities for all of our bullet students in my time in blit as a teacher I now have former students that are now teachers I have former students that are now working in the medical field I have a former student that's a business person for the Milwaukee Bucks and has a championship ring all of our children deserve
083these kind of opportunities and if I'm elected I will work to make sure your children have those possibilities available to them thank you Joan next up Bill Johnson um thank you all for coming out and listening to us um I'd like to thank the Bea for endorsing me um I think that means a lot of what they're looking for um we need to make sure all kids can learn in a safe environment and the teachers are safe and it's just disheartening to be the last in the state I me there's no reason for that we have a great Community great teachers great people we just need the board to help them and support them thank you Bill and lastly Greg Schneider good evening and thank you to those who organized this event and for all
084of you for taking your time to become more informed voters you know we don't pay for Education we invest in our future and the future of our youth and the future of our community you know after all today's students are are going to be running our businesses serving in our governments providing our health care when we get older you know I personally want the best educated best prepared best trained people to keep beloy growing and a thriving community I have spent my life striving to improve others quality of life now is the time that we need to get together as a school Community booy as a community the city everyone involved to work together to improve the school district of booy you know because it's the quality of our youth that will determine the quality
085of our future with over 40 years as a teacher and administrator three and a half years on the school board over 20 years in ordained Ministry my community involvement and from what you've heard from me tonight you can see that I'm an excellent candidate for the Beloit School Board that's time thank you Greg thank you thank you everybody for joining us tonight thank you to The Forum sponsors Wisconsin policy Monitor and Ison blit school board thank you to the community this is a packed room so those of you who are here in person thank you and those who joined us online we appreciate having you as well and last but not least thank you to all of these candidates for your willingness to step up and serve the blit community and bit children thank you
086thank you