My Responses to the Green Bay Press-Gazette Questionnaire

In case you don't subscribe to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, these are the answers I submitted to their questionnaire.

Occupation: Database Administrator

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics, Minor in Computer Science (UW-Stout)

• Master’s Degree in Computer Information Systems (University of Phoenix)

Questions

1. Why are you running for school board? (~50 words)

I’m running for school board because I want the best for our children. Over the past year I’ve worked closely with other parents in the district, and I realize I have a special set of skills that would benefit the Howard-Suamico School District.

2. What makes you the better candidate in this race? (~50 words)

There aren’t a lot of people with degrees in mathematics, computer science and over 25 years of data analysis experience so I would bring a unique skillset to the school board. I’m a firm believer in continuous improvement and I will bring a very positive attitude to the board.

3. What are residents telling you are their most important issues, and how would you address them? (~100 words)

Parents want to turn the page on the pandemic and focus on their child getting a quality education. To do that, we must first stabilize our healthcare response plans, which includes empowering the parents to determine what’s best for their child. Many of the school mandated policies have resulted in learning loss. To address it we must review the DPI Report Cards and other quantitative learning metrics from which a plan can be generated, presented, and agreed upon in a joint effort among administrators, teachers, members of the school board, and equally important: the parents.

4. Do you agree with the decisions your school district has made about COVID mitigation strategies, such as mask requirements or quarantine guidelines? (~100 words)

Policies and mandates should be reserved for situations where uniform responses are the only way to mitigate an immediate unknown risk. Once the data started to accumulate indicating that the risk of severe illness was near zero for children, those policies should have ended. Especially as our at-risk and elderly population were able to mitigate their health risks with the vaccine if they chose to do so. As it relates to January of ’22, I do not support policies that supersede the parental choice of when to keep their child home from school or require them to wear a mask.

5. What would you do differently in addressing COVID-related issues during the school year? (~100 words)

At the school district level, we had a lot of information to digest. We receive guidance and recommendations from global, national, state, county, city, and local healthcare professionals. Yet as we sit today, adjacent school districts are employing completely different policies and protocols, none of which have significantly altered the way viruses or variants behave. It is time to rely more on the local data to mitigate our health risks and I have a unique skillset that can assist in this area. I’ll put my skills to work on creating a sound foundation on which to make future data-driven decisions.