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Wisconsin school districts: 2016 elections review and district updates
April 14, 2016
By Ballotpedia's School Board Elections Project
 District Report: April 2016 |
From Superior in the northwest to Kenosha in the southeast, Wisconsin ballots were filled with school board races on April 5. Ballotpedia covered school board elections in 49 Wisconsin districts serving 43.4 percent of the state's K-12 students. Voters in 34 of the 49 districts welcomed a minimum of one new member each to their governing boards.
In addition to federal, state, and other local contests, voters decided 77 school referenda on topics like new debt issues and revenue cap lifts. The state's largest districts approved referenda at a rate of 88.9 percent—more than 10 points higher than the overall rate of approval statewide.
| Also in this report: | |
Elections analysis: 2014-2016
From 2014 to 2016, 64 percent of Wisconsin school board seats covered by Ballotpedia were won by incumbents. Incumbents fared the best in 2014 when 77 percent of seats in the coverage area were won by incumbents. This percentage dipped to 53 percent in 2015 before rebounding to 63 percent in 2016.
Unopposed school board elections in Wisconsin were less common in 2016 than in 2014 and 2015. A total of 21 percent of seats covered in 2016 were unopposed, compared to 29 percent in 2015 and 47 percent in 2014. The average number of candidates who filed for each seat remained consistent from 2014 through 2016. An average of 1.41 candidates filed for each seat up for election in 2016. This average was slightly lower than the 1.43 candidates per seat in 2015 but slightly higher than the 1.40 candidates per seat in 2014.
2016 elections review
Ballotpedia covered elections for 141 board seats in 49 of Wisconsin's 50 largest school districts by enrollment on April 5, 2016. Milwaukee Public Schools, the state's largest district, did not hold elections in 2016. Of the 141 seats up for election in 2016, 19 seats required a primary election on February 16, 2016. There were 12 incumbents who faced primaries in February, with Jonathan Jossart of Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District the lone incumbent not to advance to the April general election.
The general election was a mixed bag for incumbents with turnout impacted by the presidential primary, statewide races, and local elections. There were 110 incumbents running for re-election, with 30 incumbents unopposed. In contested races, 59 of the 80 incumbents won re-election—a 73.7 percent success rate. When including incumbents not facing opposition, the incumbent success rate was 80.9 percent. Twenty-one incumbents were defeated, including five who were ousted by fellow incumbents in Racine's new by-district elections. These success rates were slightly lower than the 76.4 percent rate for contested incumbents and 84 percent rate for all incumbents in Wisconsin's largest school districts in 2015.
Spotlight districts
Racine Unified School District
Prior to the 2016 election, the Racine Unified Board of Education had a 5-4 majority supportive of policy changes proposed by Superintendent Lolli Haws. Haws' proposed changes included issuing financial penalties for teachers who left their positions before the end of the school year and changing the pay structure for work done beyond classroom hours. The April 5 election resulted in all five members of that majority being defeated and seven new members—who were backed by labor groups that opposed Haws' policies—taking office.[1]
The board deadlocked on many issues beyond proposed changes to the district's handbook. Members could not agree on how to create a district map for the upcoming election or whom to appoint to fill a vacancy on the board.[2] State legislators provided a temporary solution to the vacancy issue, allowing a board president to fill a vacancy if no choice was made two months after a vacancy was created.[3] Board President Melvin Hargrove, a supporter of Haws' reforms, appointed John Koetz in October 2015 and in doing so gave reformers a deciding vote.[4]
Local organizations weighed in on the board's conflict. The Racine Education Association (REA) opposed Haws' policies as well as the lack of public input on the issues involved. Closer to the election, the union challenged the filing paperwork of four candidates.[5] The Wisconsin AFL-CIO and The Journal Times endorsed opposing candidates for each of the eight contested seats. Seven of eight labor-endorsed candidates won election; the lone Journal-endorsed candidate to win was Robert Wittke in the open District 9 race. Both Hargrove and Koetz lost their bids for re-election.[6][7][8]
Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District
In the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, two new seats were added, bringing the board from five to seven members. The decision to boost the board's size was put to the community at the school district's annual meeting on August 24, 2015. The community group YES for Oak Creek Schools pushed for expanding the board's membership and also got involved in the election, publishing report cards with letter grades based on knowledge, vision, experience, and leadership for each candidate. Frank Carini, the only incumbent who was re-elected in the race, received an "A." None of the three newcomers elected to the board received as high a grade as Carini, but Amy Mlot, who won a one-year term, received an "A-." Elizabeth Sparks, who received the second-highest number of votes and won a three-year term, was given a "C+," and Darin Grabowski, who won a two-year term, received a "B-."[9][10]
Referendum watch
There were nine referenda on the ballot in five school districts within Ballotpedia's coverage area. Eight of nine questions were approved by voters in these districts. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction reported that 55 out of 71 school district referenda were approved statewide on April 5, 2016, including 26 referenda to issue new debt and 29 referenda requesting spending in excess of state-mandated caps.[11] The following table lists details of questions in districts covered by Ballotpedia in 2016:
| Referendum questions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| District | Cost | Reason | Voter decision |
| Hudson School District | $8.2 million | High school renovations and new athletic facility | Approved |
| Hudson School District | $7.9 million | Middle school additions, renovations, and upgrades | Approved |
| Hudson School District | $74.3 million | High school additions, renovations, and upgrades | Approved |
| Menomonee Falls School District | $3.75 million | Operational funding | Rejected |
| Menomonee Falls School District | $32.7 million | Facilities improvements | Approved |
| Mukwonago School District | $49.5 million | High school improvements | Approved |
| Mukwonago School District | Annual funding through 2037 | High school maintenance | Approved |
| Muskego-Norway School District | $42 million | Facility updates | Approved |
| Superior School District | $92.5 million | Additions, renovations, and upgrades to facilities | Approved |
Developments in Wisconsin's school districts
Ballotpedia published a report in January 2016 summarizing the major issues faced by Wisconsin school districts in 2015. The following tabs detail developments in the Badger State's districts since that report.
Recognition
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction honored 169 public schools in 109 school districts with Schools of Recognition awards at a ceremony on March 14, 2016. These awards are given each year to Title I schools that demonstrate progress toward improving education for students from low-income families. Title I refers to the federal aid program for schools with students from low-income families. Twenty-three districts among the state's 50 largest districts by student enrollment received awards for 61 schools. The following list includes schools earning awards among the state's 50 largest districts with ''High-Achieving Schools'' in italics, ''High-Progress Schools'' in bold, and ''Beating-the-Odds Schools'' in plain text:[12]
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Innovation
Hamilton School District
John Peterson, the district's special services supervisor, submitted a report to the school board in February 2016 detailing participation in the state's Results-Driven Accountability process. This pilot by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is part of an initiative by the federal Office of Special Education Programs to reduce the achievement gap for students with disabilities. Hamilton and 18 other districts in Wisconsin have tested the state's Procedural Compliance Self-Assessment, while using revised individualized education plans to remove roadblocks to academic improvement during the 2015-2016 school year. Special education teachers and administrators have been tasked with improving documentation on literacy programs to identify effective methods for improving reading scores for students with disabilities. The pilot program concludes in April 2016, with implementation across the state starting in the 2016-2017 school year.[13]
La Crosse School District
La Crosse School District, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, launched an initiative to increase the diversity of its staff starting in the 2016-2017 school year. The initiative, called the "Grow Our Own Teacher Diversity" program, gave scholarships to minority community members between the ages of 22 and 50 to go back to school and complete a degree. Once they graduate, those members will then be hired by the district as teachers.[14]
In the 2015-2016 school year, 24 out of 588 teachers in the district were members of minority groups, which constituted 4.44 percent of the district's teaching staff. In contrast, 25.8 percent of district students were members of minority groups. "There is a degree of disporportionality that's occurring all throughout the state of Wisconsin, and quite frankly throughout the nation and we need to be even more responsive," said Steve Salerno, the district's associate superintendent of human resources.[14]
The School District of La Crosse's students of color were 1.5 times more likely to receive in-school suspensions than their white counterparts, according to Bethany Brent, senior multicultural education advisor at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. "This racial disparity is alarming because it puts students of color at a greater risk of academic failure, of not completing high school and it seamlessly shuffles them through a juvenile justice system which has become known as the school to prison pipeline," said Brent.[14]
Brent said having more teachers of color in a school district has a positive effect on students of color, yielding better test scores and higher rates of students going to college. "We want them to finish school, we want them to graduate, we want them to go to college and so we are using every resource possible to make that happen," said Brent.[14]
Challenges
Elmbrook School District
District officials employed educational and community resources to cope with the aftermath of two student suicides in the first two months of 2016. The district had previously incorporated a course called Signs of Suicide into the curriculum for seventh, eighth, and ninth-grade students to highlight signs of depression. Following the 2016 suicides, parents and other stakeholders in the district were given these materials to further the conversation about mental health issues among students.[15]
Tanya Fredrich, the district's special education director, told Brookfield Now that Elmbrook is looking at outside resources to bolster awareness about depression. Fredrich cited Mental Health First Aid, an eight-hour course on mental health issues, as a potential resource for staff and students. The district may also coordinate with local health and religious organizations to use existing resources to deal with the long-term impacts of mental health issues.[15]
Kettle Moraine School District
Tamara Johnson filed a civil lawsuit against the district on February 25, 2016, due to allegations that district officials did not provide an impartial mediator for a grievance hearing. Johnson, a teacher in the district for 33 years, was suspended by the school board on December 3, 2015, after the district determined that Johnson used misinformation in her role as an officer of the local chapter of United Lakewood Educators (ULE) to encourage a chapter member to file a discrimination complaint. Johnson's lawsuit claimed that hearing officer Mark Kapocius was not impartial after he made public comments criticizing the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC).[16]
District Superintendent Patricia Deklotz told Lake Country Now that a hearing held on February 29, 2016, led to the dismissal of the case. Attorney Kristi Nelson Foy, representing the district in court, asked for dismissal of the case after another hearing official was selected to replace Kapocius. WEAC spokesperson Christina Brey countered the district's claim that the case was dismissed, noting that Johnson was still pursuing the complaint even with the decision to replace Kapocius.[16]
West Bend School District
West Bend High School social studies teacher Tanya Lohr was placed on administrative leave by the district for three weeks after circulating a petition opposing a new testing system the district implemented in 2015. She was allowed back into the classroom after her supporters attended a crowded school board meeting on January 11, 2016.
The district was the first in Wisconsin to implement the new testing system, Galileo, in 2015. As teachers in the district began to have concerns about the new system, Lohr circulated a petition opposing it. In addition to her role as a teacher, Lohr is also the communications chair for the West Bend Education Association. She met with the administration as a union representative to discuss the petition. After the meeting, she received an email placing her on paid administrative leave. Due to district policy on personnel issues, the district was unable to give any information regarding the situation.
Supporter Kim Roemer began another petition calling for the reinstatement of Lohr that garnered 1,100 signatures. Roemer spoke at the board meeting on January 11, 2016. After the meeting, the board decided to immediately reinstate Lohr.[17]
See also
| Wisconsin | School Boards | News and Analysis |
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Footnotes
- ↑ Journal Times, "Union leaders slam Haws for how proposed handbook changes were released," April 15, 2015
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Racine Unified secret ballot vote was apparent violation of state law," July 17, 2015
- ↑ CBS 58, "Walker signs bill allowing Racine School District President to fill Board Vacancies," October 23, 2015
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Tiebreaker: Hargrove Appoints John Koetz to School Board," October 26, 2015
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Unified to respond to election challenges," January 11, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin AFL-CIO, "2016 Spring Election Candidate Endorsements," March 10, 2016
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Journal Times editorial: Journal Times endorses eight candidates for Racine Unified School Board," April 3, 2016
- ↑ Racine Unified School District, "Racine Board of Education Unofficial Election Results," April 5, 2016
- ↑ YES for Oak Creek Schools, "Home," accessed July 29, 2015
- ↑ Yes for Oak Creek Schools, "OC-F School Board Candidate Report Card," accessed February 12, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, "Custom Referenda/Resolution Reports," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, "Evers names 169 Wisconsin Title I Schools of Recognition," February 10, 2016
- ↑ Lake Country Now, "Hamilton School District tests out special ed pilot program," February 22, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 WXOW, "New initiative works to increase teacher diversity in La Crosse," March 24, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Brookfield Now, "Elmbrook School District and community work at expanding suicide prevention efforts," March 7, 2016
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lake Country Now, "Teacher, Kettle Moraine School District caught in legal battle," March 3, 2016
- ↑ Fox 6 Now, "Feud over new testing system: West Bend teacher placed on leave headed back to the classroom," January 11, 2016
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