School Board candidates present clear choices

Differing viewpoints evident at School Board forum

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Staff writer

It was an evening of high intensity – and a few laughs, some intentional, others sarcastic – when three of the four School Board candidates got together Monday night.

In a forum sponsored by the Burlington Standard Press at Veterans Terrace, incumbents Susan Kessler and John Anderson, and challenger Philip Ketterhagen, replied to 10 questions. The second challenger, Roger Koldeway, said he could not make any of the three dates that were offered for the forum due to work obligations and a family vacation.

All three candidates were offered a chance for an opening and closing statement, as well as a final chance to add a comment. Koldeway’s statement to the newspaper was read prior to the debate beginning. The participants then answered a series of questions on a rotation basis and a follow-up period for each, if desired.

In an email, Koldeway re-iterated his comment that “I’m running for school board not because of what happened at the annual meeting last year, but because of everything that’s happened since.” He cited a lack of transparency within the school district, as well as the desire to keep Burlington High School on its block scheduling, bringing teacher benefits in line with the private sector – and a zero percent tax levy increase.

A press release penned by Burlington Area School District Superintendent David Moyer last week – which outlined various budget scenarios for next year – also added fuel to the fire, as the most dire of the scenarios would cut 17 full-time equivalent positions, Montessori options in grades 5 and 6 and various extra-curricular activities.

The least impactful of the options would cut only FTE positions lost due of declining enrollment and keep most of the targeted extra-curricular activities – but would come with a nearly 2 percent tax levy increase.

“I will not accept the threat of those options,” Koldeway said of program cuts in his statement, and Ketterhagen labeled the first option a scare tactic by the district and Superintendent David Moyer.

“I am running for fiscal responsibility,” Ketterhagen said. “I want to eliminate the scare rhetoric that has come out since last Friday.”

Anderson and Kessler both seemed to support current board policy in their opening statements – Anderson saying the board has kept the levy relatively even and small increases may be needed. Kessler said, “We all need to work together. We can’t compromise our system.”

Referendum on Walker?

The first question of the evening – one that was echoed in effect throughout the evening – was the fact that the School Board election would be viewed by some as a local referendum on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget reforms.

The first question specifically asked if the district had done enough with the Act 10 provisions to save the district money.

Ketterhagen immediately addressed the question in terms of the insurance benefits for staff, saying that he disagreed with the board’s approach to last year’s budget.

“When you balance a budget, you cut expenses and get rid of expenses,” he said. “What the school board did last year was just take the low-hanging fruit (in switching insurance carriers and not requiring premium contributions since a non-state plan didn’t require them).”

The school budget has been an issue since 2009 – before Walker took office. Then, a concerted effort by citizens protested cuts and asked for the district to reconsider.

In one case, that opposition saved project-based learning until the classroom was eliminated this year. In another case, the local music education support group “Music Matters” was formed, and filled more than $18,000 in grants last year.

With one side advocating against cuts and for raising taxes when needed – and another group arguing against any and all tax levy increases – all three candidates were asked how to reconcile those differences and make decisions.

Ketterhagen got the question first, and told of clients of his who were cutting insurance out of their budgets. “I wonder, is there any way we can give help to these people? I’m not hearing from the teachers.”

Kessler said both sides needed to be taken into account, and Anderson added, “Every taxpayer is a stakeholder. My decisions need to be made for the better of the students.”

The last question of the evening did cycle back to Walker’s reforms, however, as moderator Ed Nadolski asked if Walker’s tools in Act 10 should be viewed as benefits or pitfalls for the district.

Kessler said the changes were made all at the same time, and that she didn’t “like the fact that so many rights were taken away from the teachers.”

Anderson added that the district has not levied for referendum-approved debt. If, for example, the district were suddenly to choose to start levying for all the debt (rather than covering it through general expenditures), that could result in an 8 percent tax hike.

“It wouldn’t be fair,” Anderson said. “It’s something that has to be done gradually,” alluding to the idea of the district phasing in changes impacting teachers over the two-year biennial budget.

Ketterhagen said Act 10 slowed or stopped local level increases, and that the district had raised taxes 14.8 percent over the past five years.

Tax levy addressed

One of the most popular items of criticism – and a motivating factor for the candidates challenging the incumbents – was the decision by BASD to overrule the vote at last year’s August annual meeting and impose a 3.67 percent tax levy increase.

A petition did force a second public vote, which went clearly in favor of allowing the tax increase – and set forth the change in environment at School Board meetings since.

When asked specifically about the options set forth in the press release last week, both Anderson and Kessler said they would only support cutting what was necessary – which would likely eliminate the no-tax hike option.

Kessler said she wanted to see programs like Montessori continue, while Anderson said he had no desire to cut positions but some were being forced by declining enrollment.

Ketterhagen said, in essence, that the district could avoid program cuts and tax increases by further cutting benefits to teachers such as life insurance, long-term disability, and cash in lieu of not taking health insurance. He said a three- or four-year moratorium on those benefits was needed to allow the district “to heal.”

When asked directly, Anderson said he would raise taxes to keep programs where needed, because a zero percent increase would be “very destructive to the district.”

Kessler added, “I’m not sure we could recover from that for a long time.” Ketterhagen presented numbers that he said were from the United State Census Bureau in terms of the median salary in Burlington ($25,475) and the average teacher salary of more than $60,000, according to data compiled by the state Department of Public Instruction.

Benefits debated

The benefits question – which has been an issue since it became known that BASD teachers were not asked to contribute to their premium costs this year – also came up. Specifically, all three candidates offered their opinions on the district’s decision not to require that contribution.

Kessler and Anderson, as alluded to earlier, leaned in favor of the change happening over two years. Ketterhagen simply said Act 10 “allowed a chance for the economy to heal” and that the district should have taken more control of expenses that are annual.

He wants to see higher deductibles, higher co-pay and health-savings accounts considered as options.

At the heart of the back-and-forth debate, though, seemed to be the teacher wages – and whether or not those wages were out of line with the rest of the state.

Ketterhagen said BASD’s teacher wages ranked in the 97th percentile in the state and quoted the average salary as more than $60,000. He added that, in four years, a tax incremental financing district in Burlington would close and that anything taken out as “freebies” now could be added back in.

In looking at what would draw and retain quality staff to the district, though, both Kessler and Anderson felt pay and benefits were a large part of the package – beyond just what the area could offer just by being Burlington.

“That the teachers have a fair compensation, that we treat them fairly, that we treat them with respect,” Kessler explained.

By the end, the forum seemed to have set boundaries with very little middle ground. Ketterhagen seemed to be supporting the idea of Walker’s budget reforms being implemented in full force, regardless of potential immediate consequences, preferring instead to look down the road and hope things would improve.

Kessler and Anderson came down on the other side, saying that the district needed to look out for its employees now and make sure they had a future to look forward to.

“We talk together. We talk about issues,” Kessler said. “We come to a consensus. It’s not always my way.”

Both Anderson and Ketterhagen did agree on one point, however: this election would provide what the community felt it wanted in a school board.

“The Burlington taxpayers will get the School Board that they want,” said Anderson.

Ketterhagen added, “You are going to get what you want with the existing board. I want to put some guidance into that.”

Koldeway answers questions in lieu of forum participation

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Staff writer

While the fourth candidate for the Burlington Area School District School Board was unable to attend Monday’s candidate forum (he was unable to make any of three proposed dates), Roger Koldeway answered a set of questions posed by the Standard Press.

The following are his answers:

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing BASD? How can you fix them?

A: “Currently, overcoming the budget deficit, without raising taxes, is the biggest challenge. Once that is complete this year, we need to concentrate on raising the level of our children’s education.”

Koldeway said that ACT testing scores have remained stagnant in spite of increased spending, while elective opportunities will drop when the high school switches to a seven-period day next year.

He wants to see the district return to an eight-period day to offer more electives to students.

Q: What is the job of a school board member? Is the position political – or not?

A: “School Board members oversee and guide the district administration. They set direction for the district based on district administrator’s recommendations. The School Board takes the district administration and community’s input into consideration to determine the policies and then budget correctly for the purpose of giving our students an excellent education.

Q: Do you think there is enough of a majority in the school district to stick to a zero-percent tax increase – or is there enough of a minority that would play a part in perhaps balancing the deficit with a small tax increase plus cuts?

A: “We should always set the goal of a zero increase budget, but not at the expense of the students. Going to an eight-class schedule will give the high school students eight more electives in their high school career and save the taxpayer over $400,000 per year (note: district officials have disputed this savings, but, according to Koldeway, have not refuted his figures). This is a win-win decision that our School Board continues to ignore.”

In closing, Koldeway said he would bring a different set of experiences and viewpoints to the board – ones that aren’t current present.

“I am detailed-oriented and always work hard for the best results possible,” he said. “I will engage the community to be part of the process of educating our children.”