Laura McCoy keeps Green Bay School Board seat; incumbents lose seats in other local races

Danielle DuClos, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·2 min read

GREEN BAY ― Incumbent Laura McCoy secured a third term on the Green Bay School Board Tuesday along with board newcomer Lynn Gerlach.

Gerlach was previously on the Green Bay City Council but lost her seat last spring.

In De Pere, education veteran Jeff Dickert and Melissa Niffenegger won seats. Dickert has spent over four decades in education as a teacher, coach, principal, superintendent and the leader of CESA 7 ― the regional education agency. Niffenegger is a small business owner and parent of three children.

West De Pere's incumbent Jenni Fuss won her seat, but Joseph Bergner lost his seat to newcomer Jason Dorn, who works in wealth management and is a parent of two in the district.

Both Niffenegger and Dorn were endorsed by the 1776 Project PAC, which sent out mailers calling for no reading materials on gender identify, as was Pulaski School Board winner Dennis Kaminski.

Niffenegger said on a local conservative talk show that she's concerned about pornographic materials in schools and called for not teaching about transgender people in schools. Dorn previously told the Press-Gazette in his candidate questionnaire that he supports school policies that would prevent educators from using a student's preferred pronouns or allowing transgender students to use restrooms that match their gender identity.

More: Green Bay-area election results

More: Flyers for 2 De Pere candidates claim city is going 'woke' and 'broke'; that's not the case, other candidates say

Pulaski also saw an upset with incumbent Alisa Anderson losing to Dennis Kaminski in Zone 2, while Heidi Melzer kept her seat in Zone 6.

Here are the unofficial results. Winners are marked with an asterisk, and incumbents are denoted with an (i).

Green Bay School Board (2 seats)

  • Laura McCoy (i): 17,414*

  • Lynn Gerlach: 16,174*

  • Noah Becker: 11,196

  • Paul Boucher: 6,662

De Pere School Board (2 seats)

  • Jeff Dickert: 3,628*

  • Melissa Niffenegger: 3,321*

  • Mark Meneau: 3,019

  • Wolf Hindrichs: 2,391

West De Pere School Board (2 seats)

  • Jenni Fuss (i): 3,732*

  • Jason Dorn: 2,723*

  • Justin Czachor: 2,077

  • Joseph Bergner (i): 2,695

More: This anti-CRT PAC endorsed Brown County school board candidates. Here's who's backing who

Pulaski School Board

Zone 2

  • Dennis Kaminski: 3,028*

  • Alisa Anderson (i): 2,005

Zone 6

  • Heidi Melzer (i): 2,610*

  • Corey Juelich: 2,093

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay, De Pere, West De Pere and Pulaski school election results