School board candidates make case for reelection through visions for future of OASD

According to Wisconsin.gov, the purpose of a school board is to “do all things reasonable to promote the cause of education and the duty to care for, control, and manage the property and affairs of the school district.” A school board’s main goal is to ensure the district is well taken care of and students are receiving the best education they can.

This can range from ensuring there are adequate facilities and resources in schools, or dealing with district organization as a whole. Regardless, boards are simply councils of seven community members who handle all schools within the boundaries of a district.

Voting in any election, national or otherwise, is incredibly important in ensuring the democracy of a community, and having those in power represent what the community believes in. The next chance to do so for the Oshkosh Area School District comes on April 2, 2024 (otherwise known as tomorrow to you seniors fortunate enough to be 18).

School board member Kristopher Karns explains some of the tasks and responsibilities the board is tasked with. Community outreach remains something that can aid as students from West are also able to be present at some meetings to make change easier. This also enables students to have a representative actually reflective of their own experiences.

“The school board has to do with everything from how we pay our teachers, how we invest in our staff, and we’ve even had a lot of students come to our board meetings,” he said.

Current president of the school board, and a candidate for the upcoming election in April, Beth Wyman recognizes the importance of voting for board members. Although it may seem insignificant, getting to the polls can always better a community.

“It’s important because, if people don’t vote, no one will get elected. You have to do your civic duty for the people you want to represent,” she said.

Similarly, national elections and the current U.S federal government can be tedious and slow, so voting for more humble, community councils and school boards can help to make the change one would want to see in a local community.

Karns affirms the need for community members to vote in school board elections in order to better their community with their engagement.

“Anyone over 18 can vote for the school board. Sometimes these local elections are more important than these national ones you see on TV all the time because the school board has the ability to make more changes quicker and be able to affect more lives, and I don’t think a lot of people understand the importance of it,” he said.

The school board has had many accomplishments in the past three years of Wyman’s term. These include community engagement, and, generally, the betterment of schools in the district in any aspect. Wyman, throughout her term, has promoted several of these things she hopes to continue upon reelection.

“I feel we have started many things, like facilities, our literacy and math program, equity work, curriculum, and the opening of the Menominee School in September,” she said.

Another area of hopeful betterment within the community is helping to de-age the archaic structures currently populating district facilities. Because the buildings are so old, this can affect a student’s education. Karns views this as a primary area of concern in the upcoming election and the next three years upon reelection.

“One area we’re focused on right now is the aging buildings that need to be updated,” he said

Another aspect Wyman hopes to continue to build are business partnerships with each school in the district to help with funding as well as correcting other aspects of the school.

“We are also working to create a business partnership with every school. So every school in the district would be partnered with a business or service group to help them,” she said.

Beyond this, creating a learning environment and providing all schools with equitable resources and opportunities is important to better the education of the youth. If schools and curriculum are not up to date with the modern day, education will suffer. Allowing schools within the district to have these resources brings the betterment of the youth’s education.

Consolidation can prove to be an important aspect in the advancement of technology within the education system. Wyman has paid especially close attention to some schools in the district.

“We’ve done so much consolidation on the north side with Vel Phillips and Menominee, and I hope to do the same thing on the south side,” she said. “It’s about having more modern learning spaces and adapting to the world of today.”

More generally, the ability to communicate with the community allows for quicker progress to transform the community to adapt to the modern world. According to Karns, the ability to adapt to current times allows for positive change.

“The ability to adjust and move forward is an important way we can make progress within our community,” he said.

Among board members, teachers, and students alike, the sharp decline in primary literacy rates has proven to be a pressing issue for board members, especially as they handle problems within the system. Wyman recognizes the importance of the ability to read and write as a school board member as she sees the implications this has for the future of the nation as a whole.

“The biggest issue I think is literacy rates. It’s imperative to be able to read and write for kids so they can open doors for their future,” she said.

Another area the board has been addressing and hopes to continue to change are teacher salaries. Setting salaries and dealing with the budget within the district is a major issue and area the board helps to deal with. Teacher salaries have been a pressing issue in the nation and have affected the school as a whole since 2011 and the “Act 10” bill passed in that year. The bill basically began the chipping away of teacher benefits, creating a larger issue for the school board, and Karns especially feels it is an issue requiring attention.

“I think a major issue I want to change if reelected is definitely compensation for not only our teachers but our paraprofessionals and our staff in general need to be taken care of,” he said.

Wyman sees her credentials and prior experience as prime examples why she feels her reelection to be important to the further enhancement and development of the school district. She has experience in community service and non-profit organizations that yield her the experience to serve her community and school district in a beneficial way for everyone.

“I think people should vote for me not only because of the experience I have had for the last four years, but also the amount of community involvement I have over the past 35 years in leadership positions in Oshkosh non-profits and the role I have played in the volunteer activities in the district,” she said.

Three out of the four candidates running for this upcoming election are incumbents, meaning they are already a part of the school board and they are just running for reelection; these people including Wyman, Karns, and treasurer Chris Wright. Timothy Hess is the only challenger of this upcoming election and seeks to make overall changes to the OASD with his extensive experience and qualifications as he looks toward the fast-approaching election.

“I think a lot of people are looking for improvement and I happen to be, I would say, exceptionally well qualified, well educated in educational research and statistical methods to help evaluate programming,” he said. “So I think I have the training help do that at a very technical level,”

Being an-incumbent gives rise to many challenges in the election process. There is no tangible experience that the public can hold onto when going to the polls, and therefore getting people to vote for a candidate can be difficult in that climate. Hess speaks to issues regarding running for an election, but is confident in his abilities because of his education as the community yearns for change within education.

“Certainly people don’t necessarily know who I am,” he said. “But once you start looking at the test scores and achievement results and how they want to see something change, then they will realize that I have the appropriate educational background and understanding of how to do that kind of thing.”

The campaigning process as a non-incumbent can be extensive in trying to spread the word to get people to check a candidate’s name on the ballot. Hess has had experience with community engagement to help better his chances of election.

“I’ve got yard signs out. We've got a website, we’ve got a Facebook page, and I have gone and knocked on hundreds of doors and talked to people,” he said “I will have tried at least a thousand doors, I suspect, before the election,”

Hess has a more technical approach to handling issues within the OASD, looking more towards data and statistics to help give students the resources they need to be successful. His experience within this field, according to Hess, makes him a prime candidate to serve on the board as his experience surpasses the incumbents.

“I really want to get the administrators and the central office administrators to understand how they can utilize their data to bring the best resources so that all of you students can get the best education possible,” he said. “In that area, there are very few people that are trained to do that, and I happen to be one, who also lives in Oshkosh, also cares about the education of the kids that are going through the public school. I want to help people see how to bring the science of education to bear on what we're doing here in Oshkosh.”

Education, Hess feels, will help students achieve their desires and ambitions as it provides them with resources vital to their adult lives. Without education, students wouldn’t go on to college and wouldn’t be able to go on to professions that they care about. A good education, with adequate resources, is imperative to the future.

“I believe in education being a key for all students to achieve whatever future it is that you want to achieve,” he said “I want to try to find ways to make it better, to bring the right resources at the right time.”

Education gives rise to solutions for tomorrow. It allows students to have a better understanding of the world around them, it helps them to fulfill their own wishes and desires, and it helps to prepare the future of the nation for all of the responsibilities they will soon be tasked with.

Voting for school board elections remains a vital part of one’s role as a community member as modern issues persist on a global scale and in the city of Oshkosh. The OASD, and voting in board elections, is a stepping stone to creating a better education system.

Karns wants to continue making positive changes in the community.

“My emphasis is doing the best I can to make the OASD the best it can be,” he said “I have two kids in the district. I’ve been in Oshkosh my whole life, so I just want to see Oshkosh be great.”

by  Anika Flores

Published April 1st 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue VI