Candidate Q&A: Sevastopol School Board

Cynthia Zellner-Ehlers

Why do you want to serve on the school board?

I’ve had the privilege of working on other boards, 10 years on the State Board for People with Disabilities as both chair as well as a board member for Wisconsin; 3 years on the Wisconsin Family Voices Board of Directors as current chair and board member, and numerous other local small, non-profit boards. I believe those experiences and my commitment (personally and professionally) to being a change agent are ingredients needed to support the work our school district is facing. I live in the Sevastopol School District where my husband, Todd, and son, Benjamin both attended, and father in law Danny worked as a bus driver and maintenance man for years. There is tremendous family pride when they talk about Sevastopol School.   I admire the school’s reputation and leadership demonstrated over the years to raise the visibility of a small, rural school and celebrate a level of excellence our community certainly can be and should be proud to promote and hang their hats on.

In addition, I have worked the last 30 years as the Developmental Disabilities Program Coordinator at Door County Department of Human Services, now overseeing Children and Families Support Services. In my role as a manager of county government programs I have firsthand experience with huge fiscal responsibilities, quality assurance demands, multiple program oversight, management and staff supervisory responsibilities, and operating with State and County rules/regulations and sometimes constraints. This human service experience braided into the role and responsibility of a school board member to me, appears as an excellent recipe for advancing school board work. I welcome the opportunity to be a part of the Sevastopol culture as a school board member and bringing my toolbox of human services to the table.

As a member of the board, are there specific issues you want to tackle?

I believe one of the biggest challenges the school district is facing right now is the need to bring unification and communion back amongst the staff, community and board. A great deal of animosity has evolved and it will be important to recreate and regenerate a sense of hope and improved trusting relations in order to forge ahead. There is tremendous school pride and it is essential we return to our core vision and mission of what Sevastopol represents, anchor in on those aspects of our work, and build toward improved relations.

There are huge issues facing our youth today that require consistency in communication, creation of support resources both internally and externally to address the challenges they face, and leadership build on trust and respect by all, so our children feel that support and can emulate that respect. We need to embrace Sevastopol pride, not dismantle it with more divisiveness.

What does the school district do well now, and what could be improved?

Just look at Sevastopol’s recent education awards! The school district provides a standard of excellence in education to the students that has wrought national, state and local recognition. The school district networks with community partners, tapping the expertise and knowledge of outside resources to make the school stronger and healthier in their delivery of support and education. Improvement is needed in expanding those connections all the more and obtaining a mechanism or two that promotes even more relationship building between the school, parents/families, and the school board.

What would be your response to a constituent who says they don’t want to pay taxes for public schools because they don’t have any school-age children in the district?

Paying taxes is one’s societal obligation as a citizen of our community and support of the educational wellness of our society as a whole. We have a community responsibility for all children and their capacity to get the best education, best start in life, and best support of those around them. Paying taxes to make that happen is an honor to be a part of children’s lives.

The recall effort of board members advanced by some parents appears to have been the result of the board and administration not being able to openly discuss personnel issues, thereby leaving the community to arrive at their own conclusions about what is going on. Is there a better way to communicate school issues with the community served?

We must maintain transparency whenever possible as to the decisions we make and how we arrived at those decisions. There is also the ethical responsibilities as a board member in sharing information. Some matters are confidential and require the utmost respect for all parties to have that confidentiality honored and resolution sought internally. Trust and respect must be afforded school staff and the Board by the community at large. We all operate off the premise that we are partners striving for excellence as a school with the children as our focus.

What is your position on the $34 million upgrade to Sevastopol that was announced last fall?

I believe the $34 million upgrade to Sevastopol is a critical issue facing the school and Board this year. I am eager to learn what work has been done to study this issue, review the fiscal impact of this great of an upgrade vs new construction, and to be a leader as a school board member to make the best recommendation on this budget item. But until I have that information and see the process unfold in getting at as much information and planning as possible, it would be premature and foolhardy of me to take a position at this time.

David Kacmarynski

Why do you want to serve on the school board?

High quality Wisconsin schools have been a great influence on my career and life. Both my parents at separate times served on school boards of schools which I attended. I served my country for over 21 years and now I have 3 kids in Sevastopol Schools. Serving the community I am part of is something my family and the US Air Force feels is very important. I feel we should invest our time in what is important, and education is important to our family.

As a member of the board, are there specific issues you want to tackle?

Develop trust and effective communication with all stakeholders, by communicating a vision for the school and defending expenditure of tax dollars when required with clear justification and impact assessment. Each stakeholder (student, parent, staff, administration, taxpayer, Gov’t mandates) needs to understand why the option chosen is best balance of all needs.

What does the school district do well now, and what could be improved?

The staff and students are performing well as shown through repeated awards. School board and administration issue management and communication to the community could be improved.

What would be your response to a constituent who says they don’t want to pay taxes for public schools because they don’t have any school-age children in the district?

The discussion would start with when they went to school and how was the school they attended funded. Considering the investments in the school since the inception, the tax paying public approved each of them and at every time in history there are taxpayers that don’t have kids in school. We could then discuss what school was when they went and what it is today. The differences addresses some of the additional needs of students/schools today. Similar comparisons to discuss what it takes to run a farm/business today compared to what it took 20 years ago.

The recall effort of board members advanced by some parents appears to have been the result of the board and administration not being able to openly discuss personnel issues, thereby leaving the community to arrive at their own conclusions about what is going on. Is there a better way to communicate school issues with the community served?

Yes.

What is your position on the $34 million upgrade to Sevastopol that was announced last fall?

As an engineer that as evaluated and assessed modernization needs of military systems for 20 years, it is clear that aging buildings will need investment and at times it is justified to do more than renovate. Currently I don’t have the analysis that would indicate the needs of the current building. I look forward to evaluating the data and needs that support this package.

Richard Weidman

Bio: Retired Superintendent of UW Peninsular Research Station. Sevastopol School 1970, BS, MS Degrees, College of Agriculture, UW Madison. Sevastopol Board of Education since 2007, Sevastopol Town Board 2013-15. President, Board of Directors, Crossroads at Big Creek, Friends of Whitefish Dunes and Potawatomi State Parks, UW Alumni Association.

Why do you want to serve on the School Board?

I firmly believe that the education of our children is the critical first step in addressing many of the social problems that our nation has battled for generations. Serving on the Sevastopol School Board since 2007 has given me the opportunity to understand how Public Education is structured, administered and funded in the State of Wisconsin. That knowledge has enabled me to be an informed advocate for quality education in our community and State

As a member of the board, are there specific issues you want to tackle?

Ensuring that education from kindergarten to high school graduation is a dynamic process and not one of complacency should always be the underlying goal of everyone in the education profession. That process requires retaining quality staff through competitive salary and benefit packages, providing adequate and up to date facilities and establishing the value of a quality public school to the health and vitality of our community.

What does the school district do well now, and what could be improved?

Sevastopol has always and continues to maintain a high level of literacy across our entire student population. We also consider music and the arts to be a critical component of our academic program and the exceptional performances by our band, choir and drama students bear that out. Areas of needed improvement lie in our aging and inadequate facilities for our STEM program area and absence of a facility to showcase our music and drama program.

What would be your response to a constituent who says they don’t want to pay taxes for public schools because they don’t have any school-age children in the district?

First, as it is written in our State Constitution, SECTION 3. [As amended April 1972] The legislature shall provide by law for the establishment of district schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable; and such schools shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of 4 and 20 years; clearly states our responsibility to provide for and fund education for all children in the State of Wisconsin. Our State Constitution also requires all cities and towns within the borders of a School District to raise by tax annually a school fund to support the public schools within that district. This fund is raised through a tax levy on property owners within the district. If this is not acceptable to constituents of the district, they need to contact their state legislators to amend the State Constitution.

The recall effort of board members advanced by some parents appears to have been the result of the board and administration not being able to openly discuss personnel issues, thereby leaving the community to arrive at their own conclusions about what is going on. Is there a better way to communicate school issues with the community served?

State statutes clearly maintain complete confidentiality concerning employee employment records, with the exception of criminal charges against the employee. If parents have issues with school district staff there is a chain of command within school administration that empowers the School Board to have the final decision on matters concerning district employees. School Board members are elected officials. I support the election process by which Board Members are elected.

What is your position on the $34 million upgrade to Sevastopol that was announced last fall?

As Chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee, I have been involved in numerous facility upgrade studies since 2008. Since that time our committee has identified several areas of our infrastructure that needed immediate attention. Many of those problem areas have been addressed but many tours of our facility with school staff and administration have identified too many academic and Special Education program areas that are woefully outdated, undersized and in some cases make shift at best. Our elementary facility was designed and built for education in 1924. Our middle school and high school have sections built in 1943 and 1965. Our auditorium was made into elementary classrooms and library in 1991. Sevastopol needs a major upgrade and yes $34 million is a lot to spend but 50 years of inadequate facility upgrades needs to addressed.