Board is dealing with split between teachers, administration
Five candidates are seeking two available seats on the Board of Education for the Yorkville Joint 2 School District, which has been rocked by controversy over leadership in recent months.
District voters in Tuesday’s primary election will narrow the field to four candidates for the April 7 Spring Election.
The candidates include 12-year incumbent Jeff Gruhn, former School Board member Dave Callewaert and three newcomers: Lori Christiansen, Amy Malate and Scott Nelson.
The top four vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary will advance to the Spring Election.
Those who are eventually awarded the seats will have to deal with lingering tensions between teachers and administration. In September staff members presented the School Board with a list of grievances they contend damaged trust between teachers and administration and created a toxic work environment.
In the wake of that meeting, the Superintendent Jeff Peterson took a leave of absence and Business Manager Michael Deguelle left the district.
In December a group calling itself Yorkville Unites started an online petition drive seeking the ouster of Peterson, who had since returned to work.
Each of the five candidates was given the opportunity to answer the same set of questions and provide biographical information for this story.
Their responses, in alphabetical order, follow.
Dave Callewaert
Address: 1906 Raymond Ave., Franksville.
Age: 68.
Resident of town: 45 years.
Occupation: retired former CFO for S.C. Johnson.
Education: Graduate of Dominican College.
Political experience: 24 years on Yorkville School Board (10 as board president).
Organizations: Board member CESA 2; Wisconsin Environmental Education Board; Wisconsin Family Forests; St. Robert Catholic Church; River Bend Nature Center.
Family: Four children and one grandchild who graduated from Yorkville School; eight grandchildren attending Yorkville School
Reason for seeking position?
“It is no surprise that the relationship between the Yorkville staff/Yorkville residents and the administration, board leadership is very strained. Just attend a Yorkville Board meeting or read (the newspaper). Yorkville School used to have a culture that was founded on mutual respect, honesty, integrity, teamwork, partnership and open communication among all stakeholders. That has eroded over the last several years and needs to be re-established. All stakeholders, but especially administration and board leadership, have to take responsibility and be held accountable for their actions and communications. We have a strong, dedicated, passionate teaching staff that needs support.”
What motivated you to run?
“Staff needs some support.”
What do you believe you bring to the position that sets you apart from the other candidates?
“I have 24 years experience as a Yorkville School Board member, a very strong financial background and have held many leadership positions with my former employer (S.C. Johnson), CESA 2, Wisconsin Family Forests, Wisconsin Environmental Education Board, River Bend Nature Center, St. Catherine’s and St. Robert’s Catholic Church.”
What would you do to improve relations between administration and school staff?
Re-establish a culture build on honesty, trust, mutual respect, integrity, teamwork and open communication.
Lori Christiansen
Address: 2400 Thoreau Ct., Franksville.
Age: 43.
Resident of town: 20-plus years.
Occupation: Vice President of Marketing at Motus.
Education: College.
Political experience: Unsuccessfully ran for School Board in 2017.
Organizations: North Cape Lutheran Church Sunday School Teacher, active volunteer for the Hunger Task Force, The Farm and The Salvation Army.
Family: Married with two daughters, ages 7 and 10.
Reason for seeking this position?
“Yorkville School is currently in uncharted waters. We have new administration and a new principal and with that brings change. It’s no secret that there is some serious stress and frustration in our school right now with the staff, board, administration and parents. There are three sides to every story and I feel that if elected on the Board of Education, I will advocate for greater transparency and better, faster communication with the staff, parents and community. I believe our school is great and unfortunately, right now, there is shadow being cast over it and I want to help.”
What motivated you to run?
“My platform hasn’t changed much since I ran in 2017. It’s always been around communication and trust among all parties involved. It’s hard to sit in board meetings month in and month out and hear the frustrations from staff and parents. My frustrations are pointed more to the board, as I believe they can be doing more than they are. If elected, I will bring a new voice and new vision into the Board of Education to look at things differently and stop doing things ‘the way we have always done them.’ At some point, this stress and frustration is going to start to impact our students, if it hasn’t already. I am running in hopes to get to place where we can have a fresh start.”
What do you believe you bring to the position that sets you apart from the other candidates?
“I believe the qualities that I have in my day-to-day professional career is exactly what the board needs today. They have leaned on me in the past for help in certain projects, because they recognize they have a gap. I am a communicator, a marketer at heart. I feel I have the ability to remove emotion from a conversation and focus on the issues at hand. I simply believe I can help. I want to advocate not only for our staff, but for our families and community. Our district is failing at communication, which is leading to a lot of trust issues. I will work hard to instill trust back into our school so that we can ensure we can maintain and attract best in class teachers. I am a result driven professional that is also a mom and I believe I can make a difference. Trust is key right now and we are not hitting the mark.”
What would you do to improve relations between administration and school staff?
“I will welcome open discussions with staff and administration and would like to try to implement a monthly coffee hour to meet and talk openly about what everyone sees as issues. I don’t feel like we are talking WITH each other, we continue to talk AT each other and no one seems to be listening and people aren’t feeling heard. Our teachers see our kids more than we do during the week and each year they are given more responsibility – social worker, counselor, security officer, nurse on top of their traditional teacher duties. I would like for the staff to be able to feel as if they can communicate openly and honestly with administration and the board to voice concerns and TOGETHER work on a solution. I would like the administration to take a step back and really begin to listen as well.”
Jeff Gruhn, inc.
Address: 17404 Old Yorkville Rd., Union Grove.
Age: not provided.
Resident of town: Raised in Yorkville since Age 5; purchased first home in Yorkville in 2002.
Occupation: Construction executive at Mortenson.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Political experience: Yorkville School Board members for 12 years.
Organizations: Yorkville United Methodist Church; Yorkville Youth Baseball coach; Junior Broncos Basketball coach; United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County; American Heart Association; Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin Foundation.
Family: Three children, ages 6, 10, 13 attending Yorkville School.
Reason for seeking position?
“In addition to attending Yorkville School myself from K-8th grade, my three children currently attend Yorkville School; therefore, I have a vested interest in our school. I can also relate to the concerns of parents and district residents and I am passionate about the well-being and achievement of all students.
What motivated you to run?
“Within the last year, new administration – including the district administrator, principal, business manager, and facility manager – have taken over leading Yorkville School. With new leadership comes opportunities for improvement and the need for collaboration among school leadership, teaching staff, and the School Board. I’m focused on bringing each of these groups together to help build trusted relationships, a positive culture, and a strong learning environment.
“Additionally, I am uniquely qualified for the position based on my experience and understanding of the needs to balance:
- Educational excellence to maximize the achievement of every child;
- Declining resident enrollment resulting in declining revenues for operations;
- Traditional values that make Yorkville School so special and unique;
- Open enrollment to supplement revenues without adding expenses;
- Meeting commitments made to the taxpayers in the 2018 operational referendum.”
What do you believe you bring to the position that sets you apart from the other candidates?
“I have 12 years of experience on the Yorkville School Board and can provide historical knowledge of where we have been. Additionally, I have strong relationships with state and local legislators and an understanding of how the state budget process works as it relates to school funding, revenue caps, property tax levy, and referendum planning.”
What would you do to improve relations between administration and school staff?
“The foundation of improving relations is consistent communication and consensus building. We have made strides in improving communication through bi-weekly communication team meetings with board, administration, and teaching staff, round table discussions with parents, and the creation of two board committees (school finance and school policy) comprised of teachers, residents, and board members. There is still work to do as we need to continue to focus on relationship building among all team members, specifically between teachers and administration, to improve trust and morale. Team members perform at a higher level when they feel heard and valued.
Amy Malate
Address: 2401 Queensbrook La., Franksville.
Age: 35.
Resident of town: 35 years.
Occupation: Stay-at-home mother.
Education: Bachelor’s of Sociology; masters of education.
Political experience: none.
Organizations: Yorkville School PTO.
Family: Married with two children, ages 5 and 7.
Reason for seeking position:
“I will strive to prioritize student success and growth in the classroom and in the community. I will advocate for the teachers that have made Yorkville a destination School Choice district. I will protect the foundations that have made our district great: our focus on education; a positive environment for staff and students; and integration with the community as a partner in the education process.”
What motivated you to run?
“There is more to being a School Board member than attending monthly meetings. This year, especially, I’ve seen some of the basic foundations of this position be compromised. The board needs to run on openness and transparency. They need to support what the school needs while keeping the district budget at the forefront. I want to get our School Board back to a place of support, trust and dedication.”
What do you believe you bring to the position that sets you apart from the other candidates?
“After nine years in education I’ve learned that the path to improving student growth and performance begins with our teachers. As a former educator, I believe teachers should be valued as specialists in education best practices and the district, administration and community should support them in that endeavor.”
What would you do to improve relations between administration and school staff?
“As a board member – and the board as a whole – I plan to sit down with staff and administration to understand the challenges both sides are facing. This information will be relayed to the community to rebuild the trust that has been lost this year. This is not going to be easy or quick, but I’m excited to put my energy in to start the process.”
Scott Nelson
Address: 16143 5th Rd., Union Grove.
Age: not provided.
Resident of town: entire life.
Occupation: Project manager.
Education: University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Political experience: none.
Organizations: Leadership Union Grove; Yorkville Youth Baseball; Union Grove Youth Football; Union Grove Youth Wrestling.
Family: One child.
Reason for seeking position?
“To help restore the relationships between the board, administration, teachers, and community. I want to help guide Yorkville School into the future.
What motivated you to run?
“As a member of last year’s Leadership Union Grove class, I was a leader in the program to raise $60,000 to build a new concession stand/restroom facility at Yorkville School. Having seen some of the school’s issues firsthand, I decided I wanted to be a party of repairing some of the damage.
What do you believe you bring to the position that sets you apart from the other candidates?
“I believe I will bring an honest and direct, straightforward approach to my position on the board.
What would you do to improve relations between administration and school staff?
“Open the lines of communication. People may, or may not, agree with what I say, but they will always understand what my position is. We need to develop a direct line of communication with each other.”
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