money North Fond du Lac School Board candidates assess priorities, potential for district
NORTH FOND DU LAC – What will the future look like for the North Fond du Lac School District? That's for voters to decide.
Three spots on the district's school board are open, and February's primary narrowed the pool of candidates for the April 5 election down to six: Samantha Kolitz, Richard Mathy, Tera McCarthy, Shannon Zupke and incumbents Jonathan Goeckerman and Terry Jaeger.
Board President Pete Chisholm is not seeking reelection. Goeckerman and Jaeger were appointed last fall to fill vacant seats after two members resigned, and both are running to keep their seats.
The Reporter provided each candidate with a list of questions, limited to a 100-word response. Answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Kolitz did not respond by deadline.
For more information on your polling location, how to register to vote and what's on your ballot, visit myvote.wi.gov.
Jonathan Goeckerman (incumbent)
Address: 423 Saratoga Ave., North Fond du Lac
Age: 40
Occupation: Human resource professional for Kroger
Relevant experience: 20 years serving others as a HR professional, Progressive Grocers GenNext Award recipient that recognizes community support and innovative thinking, 10 years as a youth basketball head coach
Question: Why are you running for office, and what makes you a better candidate for this race?
A: The purpose that drives me to continue to serve the community of North Fond du Lac as a school board member is centered around four things: student achievement; staff engagement; physical and emotional wellbeing; and equality and equity.
My experience both professionally and personally, along with my passion to serve the North Fond du Lac community, makes me an excellent selection to continue to serve on the North Fond du Lac School Board. Remember, we are truly at our best when we work together. We are better together.
Q: What are your or residents’ top issues, and how would you address them?
A: Staff engagement: We must take care of our students by taking care of our staff.
Student achievement: We must continue to provide an environment and resources required to show continuous improvement each day.
Physical and emotional well-being: Provide an atmosphere that allows each student to be their best self.
Equality and equity: Provide equal access to high quality education and equitable supports based on each students needs.
Q: What’s your view on what the district is currently doing?
A: Pride. The School District of North Fond du Lac has continued to show why it is a destination district within the state. The district’s ability to provide state of the art facilitates that allow for the continuous expansion of population within its schools. The ability to attract and retain passionate educators, and its ability to be agile each day, to ensure an environment is created and sustained that provides the opportunity for each student to be their best self is why I am proud of the School District of North Fond du Lac.
Terry Jaeger (incumbent)
Address: 1513 Shelley Court, North Fond du Lac
Age: 49
Occupation and highest education level: Supervising officer for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections; Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Relevant experience: Current school board member, North Fond du Lac Optimist Club board member
Q: Why are you running for office, and what makes you a better candidate for this race?
A: I currently hold a seat on the school board and am looking forward to the opportunity to retain that seat. I have been a resident of North Fond du Lac for 44 years. I believe in community service and have been a part of numerous youth athletic organizations, as well as the North Fond du Lac Optimist Club, serving as a board member on all. I am an active listener and will provide an objective point of view. As board members, we are here to learn and grow.
Q: What are your or residents’ top issues, and how would you address them?
A: Residents of North Fond du Lac are looking for the board to provide a quality education in a safe environment, maintain fiscal responsibility to the taxpayers and be responsive to a diverse population. Stakeholders' interests should be supported by board members and conditions of success are created by developing strong policy through quality governance.
Q: What’s your view on what the district is currently doing?
A: The district has opened the Treffert Way, a public charter school for students with exceptional abilities. The school is designed to focus on each child’s unique talents, looking at their strengths rather than limitations. The district has always stayed above the curve by providing excellent learning facilities. Classrooms have been added at Friendship Learning Center, and the district is looking to add on to other buildings, to provide for the expanding population in the village.
Rick Mathy
Address: 1727 Park Ridge Lane, North Fond du Lac
Age: 64
Occupation and highest education level: Retired IT director at Mercury Marine; Bachelor of Business Administration from UW-Oshkosh
Relevant experience: In the past I served two terms on the North Fond du Lac Village Board. I was in IT management for over 34 years and have managed several multimillion-dollar department and project budgets. I have led several IT groups of up to 40 people and was responsible for managing the IT departments of two Mercury Parts divisions that had combined revenues of $1.2 billion.
Q: Why are you running for office, and what makes you a better candidate for this race?
A: I believe having an excellent education system is key to our district and our society. Providing the proper education to our students creates opportunities for them to thrive in life after graduation. It is essential our graduates are well educated, have critical thinking skills, have advanced interpersonal and communication skills, can adapt and thrive in changing and evolving environments and appreciate and respect diverse cultures.
I believe my background in managing teams, projects and budgets, as well as my previous experience as a member of the North Fond du Lac Village Board, provides a solid foundation to be an effective member of the School Board.
Q: What are your or residents’ top issues, and how would you address them?
A: Student achievement: Our students' math and English scores on the state test have been in the bottom 5% of state schools for the past five years. I will ask for monthly updates on the plans to address this and the progress against those plans.
Staff engagement: The recent Gallup Staff Engagement Survey showed our staff rates only in the 20th percentile in overall satisfaction. It is imperative we have an engaged and motivated staff. We take care of our students by taking care of our teachers.
Physical and mental health of students and staff: It is imperative that we continue to provide a safe and healthy environment for students and staff.
Ensure equality and equity in our district: All students should have equal access to high quality education, and once they get it, they should be afforded equitable supports based upon their needs to achieve success.
Q: What’s your view on what the district is currently doing?
A: I think the district has done a good job of improving the culture and community involvement in schools. I also believe facilities improvements over the past several years has been great. But the world is changing and rapidly evolving, and all school boards and districts need to continually access how well they are doing at cultivating young adults who will grow into productive and successful members of society. This means taking a hard and honest look at our methods and approaches and continuing to push ourselves to make sure we are providing the best education possible for today’s students.
Tera McCarthy
Address: Town of Friendship
Age: 38
Occupation and highest educational level: Retail/customer service; high school graduate
Relevant experience: Did not answer
Q: Why are you running for office, and what makes you a better candidate for this race?
A: I am running for North Fond du Lac School Board because it’s time for a change. It’s time parents are heard and the lack of transparency within our district is fixed. I have four kids in the district, and feel I can offer input from all schools.
Q: What are your or residents’ top issues, and how would you address them?
A: Parents, staff and students are feeling ignored, and that needs to end. We as a community need to come together. I will address the issues by asking questions and putting the work in to do the proper research.
Q: What’s your current view on what the district is currently doing?
A: The district is struggling. Our test scores are in the bottom 5%. This isn’t okay. We need to fix the educational failures within the district. I think once we get that done, we will have one amazing district.
Shannon Zupke
Address: 320 McKinley St., North Fond du Lac
Age: 34
Occupation and highest education level: Assistant to the dean of general studies and accreditation, bachelor's in business administration-economics
Relevant experience: My career in higher education has allowed me the opportunity to be a part of collegewide strategic planning, forecasting and management of academic budgets, being a key component in the collegewide accreditation process and endless amounts of teamwork to help increase engagement and plan initiatives while seeing them through and ensuring accurate and reliable data is reported. I am the wife of a K-12 educator, a mom to three young children, an engaged community member and volunteer and an advocate for public education.
Q: Why are you running for office, and what makes you a better candidate for this race?
A: As an advocate for public education, the wife of a K-12 educator, a mom and employee in higher education, I see the triumphs but also the tribulations. Public education is a right for anyone who walks through our doors. It is our job to make this experience for our students the best, well thought out, engaging, enriching, inclusive and impactful experience we can. That starts with our community. Our staff. And feeds into our students. I want to be a part of that by working with the community and administration to continue the triumphs and work through the tribulations.
Q: What are your or residents’ top issues, and how would you address them?
A: While talking with community members, it’s apparent our district is working hard and doing a lot right. The top priorities I am hearing are student achievement, mental health and sense of community.
As we transition form pandemic life into our new normal, it is important to keep these at the forefront of our conversations while helping to foster an environment where successes are celebrated and struggles are seen as a stepping stone to improvement, not failures. I don’t believe in perfection and will advocate for continuous improvement with room for growth while expecting accountability in our staff and administrators.
Q: What’s your view on what the district is currently doing?
A: The North Fond du Lac school district didn’t become a destination district by chance. It is because of the hard work put in by our staff and administration. I am proud to be a community member in this district and have our children be a part of Oriole Nation.
Like everyone else, the past two years have been consumed with the pandemic. I think it is important the district continues pushing forward, focusing on the health and safety of our children while ensuring conversations and work realign with student achievement and having our community feel a part of the district.
Contact Daphne Lemke at dlemke@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @daphlemke.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: North Fond du Lac School Board candidates share district priorities
