By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
With a possible referendum on the November ballot to address the facility needs in the East Troy Community School District, the three candidates facing off for the two open seats on the Board of Education have been fielding a lot of questions as to what is needed and what is not to teach the community’s youth.
The School Board positions up for grabs this time around belong to Mike Zei and Murry Mitten. Zei is running again; Mitten filed his declaration of non-candidacy in December.
Also running are former School Board member Steve Lambrechts and newcomer Chris Smith.
The three candidates agree that the referendum is needed, but differ on what exactly needs to be done within the district to bring the schools into the 21st century.
“I deal with people in town all day long who are frustrated with the School Board and its lack of progress,” said Lambrechts. “They keep coming back with the same thing and they’re losing the trust of the people. We need to get something passed and then maybe come back in five years with things like the auditorium.”
Lambrechts went on to describe the congested and dangerous parking issues associated with Doubek Elementary School. The situation is so bad there an ad hoc committee has formed to looking into ways to keep the students safe in the short term while a long-term solution is worked out.
Parking isn’t the only problem at Doubek.
“We need to focus on maintaining Doubek and brining it up to speed while addressing the sizing needs in the district,” said Smith. “I’ve heard form the community that the AC doesn’t always works and sometimes there has to be bottled water brought in.”
Zei agrees that the elementary school is in need of major work. One of the options the School Board has been looking into for the referendum is a major overhaul of the building. Other options being considered, which will be presented to the public over the next couple of months, is abandoning the building completely and building a new elementary school.”
Open enrollment
Lambrechts said he believes one of the reasons the district is losing so many kids to open enrollment – twice as many kids opt out of the district as come in – is because Doubeck is outdated. “They come in and see a 1950s school.”
He also said that the district should seriously consider moving the elementary schools to the Prairie View site to eliminate the parking/traffic problems at Doubek.
Smith agreed that the outdated facilities are a problem for the district and its reputation, which is leading to the open enrollment problem.
“I think the facilities and perception of the district are the big problems,” said Smith. “I hear a lot that the district isn’t performing well but when you look at the test scores that’s not the case, so that perception has got to change so if we can get the word out about how great East Troy is.”
Zei said the open enrollment numbers is one of his biggest concerns for the community as well as the School District. Every day people drive out of East Troy to take their kids to schools in other district.
“If I were a business on the square I would do everything in my power to keep people from driving out of East Troy,” said Zei. “Because when they’re in Mukwonago, they’re shopping at Pick ‘n Save instead of Franks’s. They’re eating at restaurants that aren’t Ivan’s.”
The auditorium
One of the hot-button issues with the referendum when it came to the voters in April of 2013 was the proposed $9 million auditorium at East Troy High School.
The School Board has acknowledged that there is little community support for spending that kind of money when there are immediate needs in the schools that desperately need to be addressed and the auditorium has been removed from the four options being worked on for the November referendum.
But Zei worries about the future of the High School when it can’t offer a competitive space for the arts like the surrounding districts.
Zei said the driving against the referendum the last time around was the “sports people.”
“They’re shooting themselves in the foot, if you ask me,” he said. “Our incoming grades are down to 80 kids in a class; we were at 150 kids five years ago. Is there even going to be enough kids by the time they get to high school to support a football team?”
Zei said that if the district can’t turn the trend around he the future of the High School might be at risk. “We might become an elementary district.”
Lambrechts said investing in the sports facilities might be the answer. “The community has been much more supportive of sports than of the arts.”
Smith, who took out a full-page ad in the East Troy Times urging voters to vote against the referendum last April said the auditorium should wait.
“I think the auditorium can be looked at later after we get these maintenance issues addressed,” said Smith. “After we address the issues the ad hoc committee came up with.”
Their views
Smith, who is married to Kym has a 2-year-old daughter and another on the way in June, said his goal it so provide the best education possible for the children of the district.
“A school board member has a great responsibility for their community. They help shape policies that impact our teachers, which impacts the students,” said Smith “I am running for school board because I want to improve the district. As a new parent I worry about my daughter having the best education.
Lambrechts lives with his wife Patricia in East Troy, he has four children, one of whom is a sophomore at the High School, wants to support the staff and administration in the district and bring positive change through fiscal responsibility and by listening to the community to win back its trust.
“I think the staff in our district is great,” he said. “I have great respect for our teachers and Chris (Hibner, superintendent).
Zei said one of his main goals was to solve the open enrollment problem, which is “hurting the tax base and eroding community pride.”
“Failed referendums divide communities,” he wrote in his candidate biography. “The first step is to have greater community involvement in the next referendum. Following a strict, well thought out process will guarantee a successful answer. Successful referendums build community pride.”
The Spring General Election is Tuesday, April 1. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
