April 2 Election Questionnaire: Southern Door School Board

Here are responses from Southern Door County School Board candidates to Pulse questions. These four earned the most votes in the five-person February primary. Two seats are available.

They are Milly Gonzales, domestic-violence coordinator for HELP of Door County; Penny Price, is a teacher at St. John Bosco Catholic School and is the Religious Education Coordinator for St. Francis/St. Mary and St. Peter/St. Hubert; Matthew Tassoul, K9 deputy with the Door County Sheriff’s Department; and Adam Urban, logistics manager for a construction company.

Q:  What is your vision for public education for Southern Door?

Milly Gonzales:  I envision Southern Door to be the best school that everyone wants their children to go to. I want our school to be a place where our children are prepared for a career in the technical arts, or to attend a 4 year. university or vocational program. I envision a school where students and staff feel safe and valued. A school where the focus is on preparing our students for life long learning and options.

Penny Price:  My vision for Southern Door is to be a successful school that truly follows its mission statement: “To ensure that all children learn. Through our work as a collaborative community, our students will develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence to achieve at a high level. We do this so our students can meet future challenges and be contributing members of our global society.”

This can happen by having a highly informed school board that has open communication with its stakeholders, including parents, students, staff, and taxpayers. We need to know how students learn and deliver the content knowledge they need in order to be successful. This may be through new literacy initiatives, including a stronger foundation of word study and literacy skills, a math approach that allows for multiple ways of getting an answer, classes in art and music that will allow students to express their individualism, and science and instructional technology classes that prepare our young people for the fields of science, engineering, design, manufacturing and architecture that they will encounter in their future.  

Matthew Tassoul:  My vision for public education is to provide the students of Southern Door with the essential necessities to be able to enhance their education to its highest potential. The top three necessities are to ensure each student is safe at school, provide a quality education by educators who are motivated, and to provide alternate avenues for our students to succeed.  

Adam Urban:  My personal vision for public education is to provide the core principles that build the foundation for further education post high school, as well as work ready skills for those who may not pursue this. I hope the referendum dollars will create a more inspiring learning space not only for students but the good teachers we need to retain. I think community service or summer internships focused on projects within southern door will help retain our young talent and have them feeling proud and vested in the community at large and will build the homes, families, farms and businesses that will sustain Southern Door in the future.

Q:  What do you see as the most important role of the school board?

MG:  To advocate for the best education of our districts children and ensure the continued excellence of our community through doing so.

PP:  The most important role of the school board is to be the bridge between the community and school, as well as work with the superintendent to find the right questions, seek the answers, and focus on the important issues. The age of academic accountability has changed the role of the school board to improve student achievement. We need to set clear expectations for outcomes of district improvement work.

MT:  The most important role of the school board is the oversight of the Southern Door School System. The school board must be conscious of the budget, ensure our school maintains academic success, and ensure our students have a highly motivated staff.

AU:  The most important role of the school board is to put the tax dollars to the best use in the education of our most important resource and to distribute it in the broadest possible equitable way. That may include hard decisions, deep discussion and reasoned informed debate rather than emotionally charged rhetoric. I intend to work with everyone to keep EagleStrong.