Marinette Board of Education faces public pushback

MARINETTE – The Marinette Board of Education held its monthly meeting on Dec. 18, where they discussed and approved a new capital referendum for an amount not to exceed $48 million with a vote of 7-2. Board members Martin Shaw and Brian Ceranski voted no.

There were 23 community members in attendance at the meeting.
According to a press release from the board, “This decision by the board follows a community survey conducted by School Perceptions which showed a majority of support for the District pursuing a $48 million referendum to fund the recommended plan.” However, several community members disagreed with this statement during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Marinette resident Eric Grenier shared his opinion on the referendum, saying, “Mr. Lambie and the board want us to approve a $40 million referendum. I myself, in good faith, cannot vote for approval of that referendum after we took such a loss on Garfield.”

“You don’t put a property up for sale, get a full offer and say no because you don’t want another K-12 operation and then take a loss on it to get rid of it,” he added. “Now we’re gonna sell this school – what happens when enrollment goes up and we don’t have space for all the kids? Are you going to ask for another referendum to build a new school?”

Displeasure with the board’s sale of Garfield dominated the public comment despite the fact that it was not on the meeting’s agenda, which disallowed the board from responding to the community’s comments.

“I look at our testing scores and we’re in the bottom 10-25%,” parent Dan Coakley said. “I looked up something that said the Marinette School District meets few expectations. I’m in the private sector and if I perform and I meet very few expectations, I’m fired. So I think we need to start looking at who to hold accountable.”

Most of the six community members who spoke shared similar concerns about misuse of district funds and what they feel is a lack of transparency.

“I know that a lot of people here are upset about Garfield School. I am too. That’s way too much power for this little group of people here… It kind of reminds me of when a coach loses a locker room. I’ve watched football my whole life and I’ve never seen a coach regain the locker room after he lost it.”

Resident Hank Matthews spoke on both the potential referendum and the sale of Garfield.

“On some level, I do appreciate all your efforts and work,” Matthews told the board. “The other side is I’m embarrassed by what happened with Garfield. Our whole community is embarrassed.”

Matthews expressed frustration with the current state of the schools, questioning why the board was requesting more money for maintenance when he felt the last sum had not been spent wisely.

“I know there’s been a plan to do this referendum, but I am not understanding the maintenance philosophy here. I’m not understanding why the administration is not taking care of the current buildings. You can’t just say, ‘Hey, we need new money because the buildings are falling apart,’ if you’re not even trying,” Matthews said.

Citizen Sarra Johnston, who previously spoke at City of Marinette Board meetings, was also in attendance. She raised concerns about developer and purchaser of Garfield, Alex Yanik, sharing that he is currently involved in a lawsuit.

“There’s a current lawsuit in Kewaunee County, which you’re aware of because you’ve been emailed and called about it. He’s going to sue us. I hope you know that,” she said.

Johnston’s concerns extended beyond the trustworthiness of Yanik.

“I believe the school board is misappropriating taxpayers’ money. I think it was a shame that the offer for Garfield, when it came in at full price, was not even looked at. I want to know if that was in line with the Wisconsin state statutes and the Department of Education, because I don’t believe it was,” Johnston said. “How much money are we losing on Garfield and where is it going? Corry, I want to know how much you got from Alex Yanik personally from the sale, because the only thing I could see is that he paid you under the table to accept this offer,” she added.

During discussion of the referendum, Ceranski asked whether there was a concrete list of issues to be addressed with the referendum. Finance Director Sean Kelly said the exact tasks will not be known until there is student and public input.

“So we are taking a loan out but we don’t know what for,” Ceranski replied. “The time and energy spent by the school administration to collaborate on this plan and educate the public, I think, could be better spent on the educational excellence of this district.”

Ceranski’s comments were followed by applause from some of the community members in attendance.

In other news, the board approved an expenditure of $18,300 to provide Chromebook for the kindergarteners, which are to be kept at the school and reused for several years.

The board also approved six trip requests, including a MHS trip to Japan in 2027, MHS Cheer/Dance trip to three schools in the area and the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and an MHS fishing team trip to the Wis. State Ice Fishing Tournament in LaCrosse, Wis.

The board renewed their contract with C.D. Smith to continue as construction manager at the same rates they agreed to in a previous contract.

Despite the at-times contentious nature of the meeting, when an MHS student stood up to request early graduation, the board approved his request unanimously and all those present came together to celebrate him with a round of applause.

The next Marinette Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m.