Falls School Board candidates answer questions at forum

(Editor’s Note: This story has been revised from the version that appeared in the print edition of the Express News to reflect the correct period that Lowell Kellogg was employed by the Menomonee Falls School District and the fact that he was fired by the district in 2013.)

A primary will be held Feb. 15 to narrow the field to eight candidates seeking three seats on the Menomonee Falls school board
Michele Divelbiss and Cathy Olig are seeking re-election while Lowell William Kellogg, Nina Christiansen, Shelley Holzman, Chris Stueland, Kova Brown and Anbu Madankumar are seeking to join the board.
The PTO/PIE District held a Candidates Forum on January 27 where candidates answered questions. Madankumar was not present at the forum.

Presentations
Brown was born in Alaska and raised there and in Washington, DC. She previously did community and school social work. She and her husband have children at all three grade levels in the district.
“I love our school district and I want our school district to stay strong,” Brown said. She added that she appreciates the district’s efforts to make improvements to make all students feel welcome.
Stueland comes from Waterford. She and her husband have three daughters who attend the district school and Stueland volunteers for school activities. She is a speech therapist and has been practicing for 26 years.
“I feel that the pandemic has allowed parents to take stock of their children’s education, which has highlighted strengths and weaknesses. I would like to be a voice for parents, students, teachers and critically assess and problem solve together,” Stueland said.
Kellogg is from Iowa and was employed by the district from 1997 until 2013, when he was fired by the district. He later served as a firefighter and EMT with the Menomonee Falls Fire Department and is currently a teaching assistant at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
“One of the reasons I’m running is that I don’t necessarily always agree with the administration of the Menomonee Falls School District,” Kellogg said. He said that “rather than complaining, you should get involved”.
Divelbiss has served on the board for nine years and has resided in Wisconsin since 2007. She has served on the Policy Committee, Finance Committee and Personnel Committee. Prior to joining the board, she was president of the PTA at Valley View Elementary School. Two of her children are graduating from the district while one daughter is a junior in high school.
“They sparked my interest as an engaged parent and member of the community to serve. I wanted them to have the benefits of a rigorous upbringing, Divelbiss said.
Christensen is originally from California and moved to the district in 2009. She and her husband have two daughters who are currently high school students. Christensen said she had worked from the age of 14 until two years ago when she decided to slow down her career and immerse herself in volunteer activities.
“Now I’m at a turning point in my life and I wanted to use all of my skills and abilities to advocate because my children will be a byproduct of the public school system,” Christensen said. “I strongly believe in giving our children a strong foundation to succeed.”
Olig is completing her first term on the board and has been a district resident since 2007. She grew up in Menasha and is a graduate of UW-Madison.
“I’m motivated to serve on the board because I view my service as a way to ‘pay it forward’ so students can continue to be well prepared for life after graduation,” Olig said. She and her husband have two children in the neighborhood.
Holzman has been a district resident for 14 years. She and her husband have two children in the neighborhood. Holzman has been involved in nonprofit activities and served as a chaperone for school events.
“It was kind of a calling. I just decided that during COVID and paying attention to a little more of my kids day to day, we had that luxury during COVID and people being home, that that ignited a passion to be able to get involved — helping teachers, helping our administration, and being a voice for our community,” Holzman said.

Role of the school board
Applicants were asked what they considered to be the primary role or job within the school board.
Stueland said the primary role of the board is to lead and govern schools, to work as a team with the goal of ensuring students learn to the best of their abilities. Kellogg said the primary purpose of the board is governance through writing, reviewing and implementing policy and ensuring policy is followed.
Divelbiss said the board is responsible for the high-level governance of the district, which includes hiring the superintendent who then evaluates building managers and other staff. Divelbiss said the board approves the budget. She said the board “really, really tries that we stay at the high level of board governance and only step in when they are called in for other needs.” Christensen said the duty of the council is governance and oversight of the administration, teachers and staff. She said that included making sure the budget was properly allocated.
Olig said the board is a guiding force that works collaboratively with the administration to set the district’s vision and ensure strategic goals are aligned with the vision and develops the budget accordingly. The district measures student, teacher, and staff performance to ensure high standards. Holzman said the council’s role is to be a check and balance with the district. She said the board sets policy, stands up for teachers, students, parents and community members. She said council must also be good stewards of taxpayers’ money.
Brown said the council is involved in oversight and takes a “macro” view of district operations, provides support and determines what will and will not work and asks questions as needed. She said the board is part of a team of administrators and teaching staff, with the goal of doing what’s best for students.

Academic programming
Applicants were asked what the district needed to address in its programming and curriculum, including what changes they would like to see made.
Olig noted that 70 percent of the teaching staff have a master’s degree, which is a strength of the district. She said the district was in the top 14% of all K-12 districts in the state, while the high school was in the top 6% of public non-charter high schools. Olig said the district is reviewing the high school math curriculum and tying eighth-grade English and language arts instruction to the standards.
“Looking at the program, it’s about supporting the teachers, giving them what they need. It’s about making sure our budgets are aligned to help give teachers everything they need to be successful,” Olig said.
Holzman said Menomonee Falls is a great school district, but said its test scores aren’t on par with neighboring school districts.
“I’m looking at this through the lens of if I’m a family and looking to settle in this area, do I buy a house in Germantown, do I buy a house in Sussex , am I buying a house in Menomonee Falls? How can we ensure that the story we tell and the performance of our students resonates with people and inspires them to come here and want to go to school? says Holzman.
Brown said she met with all of the directors and managers.
“We are an amazing neighborhood. There are many programs out there that are very strong and really help prepare our kids for life outside of the classroom,” Brown said.
She said she would like to see improvements for programs for students with disabilities, and added that she had spoken with parents who were concerned about this area and would like to find solutions.
Stueland said she would like to work on transparency and acceptability, supporting teachers more and mentoring new teachers.
“With transparency and acceptability, I think we need to have a program more aligned with our community standards and we just need to build trust with the community about the program,” Stueland said.
Kellogg said “there is way too much testing in the school district.” Although tests were done for assessment because decisions were made on the basis of data, it came to a point where students were tested before they learned or understood the material.
“Children don’t learn anything when they’re constantly being tested or assessed,” Kellogg said.
Divelbiss said the district has two strategic priorities that guide current activity: early literacy and preparing graduates to pursue any educational or career path they choose.
“We want every child, by the time they reach grade three, to be reading at grade level or above. We know from the data that if they are successful in this, they can be successful in other content areas,” Divelbiss said. As part of this, the district approved a phonetics program several years ago.
In preparing students for career paths, Divelbiss said the district offers high school career academies as part of securing students for their post-college life.
Christensen said “the devil is in the details” when it comes to test results. Speaking to the state report card for the district and individual schools, Christensen noted that the high school is “significantly exceeding expectations” while other schools are in the “exceeds expectations” category.
“We need to be able to look at it and see how we can improve it. We cannot accept mediocrity, because our children are worth it,” Christensen said.
More forum candidate responses and additional candidate information can be found on the Express News website at www.discover hometown.com. The full fourm contestant video is available on the Menomonee Falls School District website, fallsschools.org. The video is listed in the Tip section under Meetings.
– Compiled by Thomas J. McKillen, Editor-in-Chief