Mary Klun
Mary Klun is the former at-large representative on the Superior School District school board in Wisconsin. Appointed to the board in June 2016, Klun lost a re-election campaign in the at-large general election on April 4, 2017. Klun participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Before she was appointed in June 2016, Klun previously served on the board from 1999 to 2002 and from 2005 to 2014, when she lost her re-election bid.[1][2]
Biography
Klun's work experience includes serving as the recycling coordinator for Douglas County, as an artist for Ninde' Designs, and as a second grade teacher for Tri-County Schools. She earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point.[3]
Elections
2017
Two seats on the Superior School District school board were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. In their bids for re-election to the board, incumbents Steven Stupak and Mary Klun were defeated by challengers Laura Gapske and Mary Smith-Johnson.[4][5]
Results
| Superior School District, At-large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Laura Gapske |
33.73% | 2,897 |
| Mary Smith-Johnson |
23.91% | 2,053 |
| Steven Stupak Incumbent | 21.44% | 1,841 |
| Mary Klun Incumbent | 20.92% | 1,797 |
| Total Votes | 8,588 | |
| Source: Superior School District, "School Board Election: April 4, 2017 Spring Election," accessed May 2, 2017 | ||
Funding
Klun filed an exemption statement detailing she would not spend or receive more than $2,000 toward her campaign. Because of this, she did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[6]
2014
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Sheila Keup |
33.1% | 955 | |
| Nonpartisan | Steven Stupak |
26.5% | 765 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mary Klun Incumbent | 20.4% | 589 | |
| Nonpartisan | James Farkas | 20.1% | 580 | |
| Total Votes | 2,889 | |||
| Source: Superior School District, "Proceedings of a Regular Meeting of the Board of Education, Superior, Wisconsin, April 15, 2014," accessed November 16, 2015 | ||||
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Mary Klun participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[7] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on February 23, 2017:
| “ | I hope to create an environment where our students have the best opportunity to learn and grow. I believe that the classroom teacher who is well trained, experienced and dedicated to student achievement is our number one asset to reach that goal. Secondary to that, I believe we need to find ways to create the best student-teacher ratios we can afford, opportunities for varied learning opportunities at all levels, and finding ways to use student and teacher accountability to improve learning.[8][9] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Wisconsin. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I want us to find ways to help every student to achieve. To that end we need to work on creating working relationships with our most valuable asset, our teachers; creating balanced budgets that support our goals of expanding arts, improving readiness for all post secondary options and working to provide mandated programs for our special needs students.[9] | ” |
| —Mary Klun (February 23, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| Yes. That being said, I believe it is only accurate as a tool to measure ongoing trends in student achievement. Standardized tests cannot be the only way to measure how our students perform. We need to look at teacher assessment, student progress on class work and progression on standardized tests ...not just one test. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Although merit pay is not always a good option because of many vagaries, I believe we should reward teachers who go above and beyond to improve their skill as an educator. For example I introduced the policy to give our teachers who complete the National Educator Certification an ongoing boost in their yearly salary. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| In our district we choose to expel and set up terms for the student to re-enroll. These terms usually include issue specific counseling, on-line learning, and community service. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers It is for that reason I support continuing learning and training for our teachers by the States, the districts, the teacher organizations. |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Superior School District, "Proceedings of a Regular Meeting of the Board of Education, Superior, Wisconsin, April 15, 2014," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Superior Telegram, "Klun returns to Superior School Board," June 24, 2016
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Mary Klun," accessed March 27, 2017
- ↑ Superior School District, "APRIL 4, 2017 SPRING ELECTION," accessed January 5, 2017
- ↑ Dane County Clerk, "2017 Spring Election Unofficial Canvass," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Joan Parenteau, Administrative Assistant/Deputy Clerk/School Board Secretary, Superior School District," March 28, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Mary Klun's responses," February 23, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Superior School District elections in 2017 | |
| Douglas County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Mary Klun • Incumbent, Steven Stupak • Laura Gapske • Mary Smith-Johnson |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
