Spring primary held for Gillett School Board election

GILLETT – During the spring primary election on Feb. 17 there will be two open seats on the Gillett School Board that five candidates will be vying for.

The five candidates are Nicole Blaskowski, incumbent board president Jamie J. Heroux, Ben Korth, incumbent board director Nanette Mohr and Elizabeth Telford.

In an effort to give all candidates an opportunity to present their approach to the board of education position, the Peshtigo Times reached out to candidates with a questionnaire form.

In alphabetical order, responses from Heroux and Korth can be found in this issue.

Jamie J. Heroux

Why are you running to retain this position?

I believe our community deserves an education system that provides every student with the best opportunity to succeed. Public schools face many challenges at present, and I believe I am the most qualified candidate in this election to help the district solve theirs.

I have eleven years of service on the Gillett school board and have used my time to not just help make decisions but learn more about serving as a school board member every year. I have done this by serving on board committees and taking personal time to attend Wisconsin Association of School Boards workshops and sessions. I am a problem solver by profession as an engineer. I will bring an analytical, intelligent, and unbiased approach to the decision-making process in school governance. Being on a school board is not easy; often tough decisions need to be made. My experience has prepared me to make those decisions.

If re-elected, what will be your top priorities?

I would work for positive change in the following areas.

Safety: Student safety is a continuous journey. We must remain proactive every year, adapting to new challenges to ensure a secure environment for our children.
Promoting Quality: Staff and programs are the core of any district. I am committed to advocating for fair wages while still having accountability to high standards. I will advocate for quality programs for our students.

Stewardship of Our Schools: Our buildings represent decades of community investment. I would continue to advocate for maintaining and modernizing our facilities, which range in age from the 1920s to the 1990s. We need to continually work to keep them relevant with today’s technology.

Fiscal Responsibility: I will continue to challenge that all expenses are necessary and fair, balancing the needs of our students with our shared responsibility to the taxpayers and the funding they entrust us with.

How will you involve parents and the public?

I will involve parents and the public as I have in the past, by listening to them. I will continue to work within the structure of the board to bring about positive changes from their ideas that benefit all children.

A good example of this is the School Resource Officer we currently have at the school. This was a position that there was a strong push from our community to bring to the school as it had been successful at other area schools. I worked to get an ad hoc committee created to investigate the feasibility of an SRO. I continued to advocate for this position even as things did not go exactly as expected. Eventually as a district the details were worked out and the board voted on our current partnership with the city, which has been a very positive change for the school.

How will you support students in and out of the classroom?

I think you support students best when you make sure all students have an opportunity to succeed and I will continue to advocate for this. I will continue advocating for quality staff and programs that prepare students for the future. I will continue to promote that students are guided to the large amount of online and dual credit classes available that align with their career goals.

Also, by committing myself to being a lifelong learner. The world our students enter is ever changing and I believe as a board member you need to set time apart to continue to find opportunities to learn about the current state of education, our government, and proper board governance. Finally, by listening to their ideas and considering them as well when they share them. I have found that on my time on the school board often students have some very good ideas.

Ben Korth

Why are you running for this position?

There are many reasons why a person considers running for school board. Some are seeking change, looking to help their district, standing for what they believe is right. Along with these, I believe that fresh perspective is something that would be beneficial to the district, and that is something that I can offer.

I believe that the school board is doing a good job with the current situations that they are facing, but that does not mean that there is not room for improvement. As a parent of two young kids that attend Gillett Schools, I see what the value of the school is not only to my kids, but for the future generations and the community as a whole. A school is the keystone of a community. That is why I have decided to run for school board.

If elected, what will be your top priorities?

Our district is facing many hard decisions in the coming months. As a member of the strategic planning committee, I agree that recruiting and retaining competent, caring, and passionate staff should be our number one priority.

While I do not think throwing money at a problem necessarily solves it, the staff should be compensated a fair and competitive wage. This needs to be achieved while being fiscally responsible and completely transparent with the district. With the hopeful passing of the future referendum, I would like to see the funds used for the current operating expenses, not put into Fund 46 for future capital improvement expenses. I do believe that there should be some monies in Fund 46 for emergency repair, but depleting the fund before a capital improvement referendum was presented left us no further ahead than we were in years prior.

How will you involve parents and the public?

The district is already doing great things to involve the parents and community, from the many events put on by the Family Lighthouse Team, to Veterans Day programs and game nights. Along with keeping current events going, one of the biggest things that I would like to see happen is for the school board meeting to be recorded and posted for public viewing. We are in a day and age where the 9-5 is not the norm. While agendas and minutes are posted, there’s a lot lost in the discussions that take place before a motion is made. The technology is there to be completely transparent; let’s use it so the ones not able to make the meetings can still see the discussions.

I would also like to propose holding regular school board meetings at town halls within the district alternating with being held at the school.

How will you support students in and out of the classroom?

The staff is already doing a wonderful job at this. One thing that I would like to see changed is looking towards the greater good of the classes as a whole. The good of the many should outweigh the good of the few. I wish for nothing less than every student to succeed and have all the resources available to achieve that. I feel sometimes there’s too much time and resources taken away from an entire class to help control one situation.

I also believe that there was a disservice done to both the students and community by removing the wraparound care. Giving our kids a safe, stable place to be both before and after educational hours is essential. It’s something that attracts families to the district and gets them in the door, once they’re here, they can see the wonderful things that we have to offer.

Blaskowski did not respond to the questionnaire. Additional responses will be published next week in the Peshtigo Times.