Q&A: These are the top issues for the Oconto Falls School Board candidates
OCONTO FALLS - Carrie Hill, Ginny O'Harrow and Emilie Trudell are competing for two seats on the Oconto Falls School Board in the April 4 spring election.
The pair that win will be newcomers on the board as incumbents Jan Stranz and Adam Adler are not seeking reelection for three-year terms.
The seats are at-large, meaning representatives can live anywhere in the school district and represent the area as a whole instead of being separated into smaller portions.
The Oconto County Reporter asked all candidates to fill out a questionnaire before the election explaining why they are running and their positions on issues. Here are their responses. Some responses are edited for clarity and brevity.
For more about registering to vote and polling locations, visit myvote.wi.gov.
Carrie Hill
Age: 40
Campaign website: Facebook: Carrie Hill for Oconto Falls School Board
Current occupation: AVP - Bank Manager/Loan Officer – Farmers and Merchants Bank & Trust
Education: Bachelor of Business Administration – University of Wisconsin-Green Bay; Commercial Lending Graduate – Wisconsin Banker’s Association
Relevant experience: My resume contains 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, 10-plus years of volunteering and working with our students, their families, and the staff of our district in areas such as athletics, financial literacy, and sharpening soft skills, and 10-plus years of community volunteer efforts and collaboration with hundreds of community members. All of this experience is relevant for this endeavor because it has allowed me to build relationships with many of those that I have worked with and gained an understanding of many needs and wants of the individuals I have spent time with.
Ginny O'Harrow
Age: 47
Campaign website: Ginny O’Harrow for Oconto Falls School Board (Facebook)
Current occupation: Self-employed, O’Harrow’s Family Farm, LLC
Education: Menasha High School (1994), Affinity School of Radiologic Technology (2001)
Relevant experience: 20 years working in health care; 15 years as a business owner and manager at O’Harrow’s Family Farm, LLC; nine years as president of Little Hearts For Life, Inc., a nonprofit; Oconto Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; Leadership Oconto County graduate and Program Committee member; 20-plus years with children in the Oconto Falls School District
Emily Trudell
Age: 35
Campaign website: Facebook: “Emilie Trudell for O.F. School Board”
Current occupation: Operations manager for an industry leader in global measurement and data analytics
Education: Graduate of Oconto Falls High School; Bachelor of Science in psychology from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Relevant experience: Ability to analyze and interpret data in order to make well-informed decisions. Experience working on district committees along with staff, administration, students and other parents to understand capital improvement needs around our district and to develop a proposal for a capital referendum.
Why are you running for school board?
Hill: In the last few years, especially when COVID hit, I realized that the local boards and authorities held much greater authority and decision-making power than I had understood previously. The school board was one authority that made many decisions, which impacted my family and most of all our children, whom happen to be the most important pieces of my being. It was in 2020 that I began asking the board questions, attending and speaking at school board meetings regularly, and carrying out my own research on items and causes that were of concern to me. The more I researched and asked questions, the more I found inconsistencies and lack of transparency in both the data collected and the replies given. More concern grew when consensus was reached by 7-0 vote very quickly in open meetings on controversial and important issues to many stakeholders. I would like this to change, so I am willing to lead and advocate for these changes, which, I believe, would be best done with a spot at the school board table.
O'Harrow: I am running for school board because I know that I can be an asset to the district. We can give no greater gift to the students in our community than a quality education, setting them up for success in their future. I can work with other members of the board to prioritize fiscal responsibility while creating a safe, productive, welcoming school district for students to learn and thrive in, for teachers to feel valued and respected for the amazing work they do, and for creating a school district our taxpayers can be proud of.
Trudell: I feel it's a privilege to be given the opportunity to represent the district in this role. The moment I became a mother, I vowed to raise my children in an environment where they feel loved, supported, and are given every reasonable opportunity to succeed. I am proud of the effort by the staff at OFSD that vow for the same thing. I’m running because I desire to be a part of that collective effort; to serve not just my own children, but all the young people of this community and ensure they are given every reasonable opportunity to grow and thrive.
What makes you the best candidate?
Hill: My 20 years of financial services experience has given me a deep understanding of how today’s decisions made by boards and committees impact the future of all stakeholders. I hold 15 years of experience of supervising people and have learned the importance of exercising empathy and inclusion in building trust and credibility with those I have overseen. I believe my experience in holding myself and others accountable while also allowing them grace to fix mistakes can be a very valuable asset to have in a voting member of the Oconto Falls School Board.
O'Harrow: One of my greatest strengths is in advocating. The experiences I have from working in health care for 20 years and the years I’ve served as president of Little Hearts For Life, have allowed me to advocate for members of my community and my own family. The 15 years I have worked on our third-generation family farm have given me invaluable knowledge in managing both finances and people. The passion I feel for this school district and this community will translate into a desire for the best outcomes for students, staff and taxpayers.
Trudell: I am not a fan of promoting myself, but I'm starting to realize that this actually makes me a great candidate for the position; because this is most definitely not about me or promoting my self-interests. It's not about having my own agenda or ulterior motives. Instead, it’s me wanting the opportunity to balance everyone’s best interests and having the privilege to hear from and advocate for others, and ensuring every child in this district collectively wins.
What do you believe are the top two issues that need to be addressed, and how would you address them, if elected?
Hill: Employee Retention - I believe the first step is to open the door wider for all staff to communicate openly and honestly to inform the board on what things are going well in their opinions and what changes they suggest we take action on. If I were elected, I would encourage my fellow board members to participate in listening sessions with staff. I believe the second step is to take the information gained and encourage administration to create action items to match the suggestions brought forward. The third step would be to request this topic be a monthly agenda item the board is kept up to date on until a visible and obvious increase in employee satisfaction is achieved, which can hold all involved accountable.
Mental Health - through surveys taken in the last two years our students, staff, parents and community members have all declared a decrease in their mental health since the forced changes COVID brought to all. This is a major concern for me and I believe now is the time to come together to heal what has broken along with identifying proactive ways to maintain our mental health. If elected, I will encourage and vote to allocate time to discuss this topic regularly to ensure the polices we enforce are appropriate. If elected, I will also recommend we budget an appropriate amount of funding to help with mental health opportunities and vote that way also.
O'Harrow: Issues in the workforce with finding and retaining quality staff is an ongoing problem, not just in our school district, but all over and in every industry. My goal would be to listen to current staff and administration to come up with a set of goals to move forward in hiring and retaining staff and ensuring that the staff we already have in place feel valued for the incredible work they are doing. We entrust the most precious commodity we have, our students, to every person that works within the walls of our schools, and we have a responsibility to advocate for every individual, staff and student.
Another issue that needs to be addressed is the relationship between the school board, the administration and the community. Communicating with the public and the taxpayers in our district is one of the roles of a school board. My goal would be to work with other board members to communicate to the public the state of the district and listen to the concerns of the community. Working together to build a strong relationship between the two benefits us all.
Trudell: As a parent of young children, the issue of staff retention is important to me. The high turnover rate of teachers across the nation is forcing districts, including ours, to spend a significant amount of resources on replacing our teachers, which in turn hinders our success and bottom line. I wish I had the answer, but because I don't, it is going to be absolutely crucial that I listen to the experts in the field of education to help make the smartest decisions when it comes to teacher retention. In addition to that, we need to empower our teachers to succeed, and we absolutely need to make sure our staff feel supported and valued.
Secondly, I appreciate the attention openness and transparency has been given lately by the current administration and the board, and I'd continue to address this. That could be in the form of creating a more approachable environment to give feedback, or it's finding and inviting new ways for staff and also the overall community to give that feedback. I’d love to see us focus further on finding new ways for individuals to be heard.
If you could change one thing about your district it would be ______.
Hill: Increased transparency and consistency.
O'Harrow: Enrollment in our district is an area I’d like to see expand. As our community grows and thrives, our school district does the same. If we, as a community, can attract more residents, it benefits the school district. The opposite is also true, if the school district attracts more students, it benefits the community at large. A good working collaboration between the two entities is something I would be excited to be a part of.
Trudell: Perception. We have so much to celebrate in Oconto Falls, and I want people to join me in the positivity while still focusing on areas where we identify needing improvement. I believe an overall positive community perception is vital in attracting new talent and new families to our district.
Do you have areas of concern about student achievement in your district? What are your specific suggestions for improvement?
Hill: I believe and have seen proof of significant intelligence within a very large number of students throughout our district. I do have some concern about the students that are struggling and how quickly we are able to get them back on track. My suggestion for improvement in this area is to reach out to the staff that is working or have worked with the students that have fallen behind and allow them to give ideas on how we can improve in this area. My hope is to gain a seat on the board to help turn the ideas from our staff into policies and procedures for the district as a whole.
O'Harrow: I believe that student achievement and the overall metrics of how staff at each school feel go hand-in-hand. The more valued and appreciated our staff feels, the more they feel empowered. The more empowered our teachers can feel in their capacity, the better our students will do at learning and growing. There are a lot of positives in our district in regards to student achievement, but there is always room to do better and to be better.
Trudell: I feel student achievement is attained through the collection of not just test scores, but every single facet that comprises an individual’s educational journey: family engagement, staff engagement, safety, nutrition, mental health, proven curriculum, extracurricular opportunities, technology, etc. No one thing is going to be the single key in fixing achievement gaps. My role as a board member will be to listen to the facts presented and support our educators in making decisions that help one by one improve the countless facets that make up student achievement.
What are your thoughts about the state of public school funding in Wisconsin?
Hill: The inconsistency and unpredictability of public school funding at the federal and state level is concerning to me. Districts have to remain vigilant and proactive by creating plans and models that contain an understanding of the risk associated with reliance on funding sources they have no control over while ensuring they do maintain control over the budgetary items they do have power over. Schools have received a significant amount of dollars tied to COVID relief, which has proven to be helpful, but should only be used for short-term needs and should rarely be included in long-term or permanent planning. In a time of significant inflation, as we are in now, districts must also be cautious of misidentifying a want as a need so they do not put themselves into a position to request additional tax dollars from their district dwellers when household budgets are as strained as they are now.
O'Harrow: School funding in Wisconsin is complicated. In part, districts are funded by the fiscal capacity of each district's property value, in part by category specific aids, such as special education and achievement gap reductions and other factors including school tax levy. Residents in Wisconsin would benefit both from lower taxes and schools being funded appropriately; that’s a very delicate balance our legislature must consider. Wisconsin currently has a budget surplus, and my hope is to see some of that allocated to public school funding. I believe money allocated to rural districts, like ours, is money well invested in the future.
Trudell: The state of the world and education is ever changing, and funding needs to keep up with that truth. Our educators have increasingly more responsibilities; supporting a decline in mental health, providing increased security measures, teaching more complex social and emotional lessons, all while continuing to offer a well-rounded education. Our schools should be funded sufficiently in order to fulfill the support they are required to give our students.
Contact Kevin Dittman at 920-431-8416 or kdittman@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Q&A: Top issues for the Oconto Falls School Board candidates
