Dublin’s to close March 31
There’s been some rumbling around West Bend the past few weeks regarding the future of Dublin’s, 110 Wisconsin Street.
On Wednesday afternoon those rumblings were confirmed as Dublin’s owner Todd Ceman said they are closing the Irish pub at the end of the month.
“My wife Jamie relocated and accepted a job in California,” said Ceman. “It was too good of a job to pass up. She moved in the early part of February and I moved with her and that unfortunately left Dublin’s and I was unable to continue running it from California.”
Ceman said they looked at a couple different options to possibly pass the business along to employees but “unfortunately the stars did not align.”
“Yes, the business is closing but not out of distress,” Ceman said. “This is really a bittersweet decision. There was a lot of work effort and we made a lot of friends, consistent customers and I will miss this a lot.”
Ceman wanted to make sure to recognize his great staff. “They have been my rock for the last four-and-a-half years. They’re the highest levels of integrity and they’re the reason people patronized the business,” he said.
Ceman runs the business in partnership with Dave and Kristin Toman; the couples have two other restaurants in Oshkosh. He said those establishments will remain open.
“The employees are OK with all this. They’re extremely awesome but they are sad about the closing,” Ceman said.
Shelby Neelis is a server and bartender at Dublin’s. “Todd Ceman is one of the best bosses we could have asked for, we’re sorry to see him move to California but all his employees are going to stick it out until the end,” she said.
Jordan Zeitler is a bartender/ server at Dublin’s. “I was sad when I heard but we appreciate everything Todd has done for us here; we all care about him,” he said.
Customers were shocked to hear the news. “I had one lady say ‘I’m going to just go out and recommend this place to all my customers’ and I appreciated that but this is it,” Zeitler said.
When employees found out, Neelis said everybody was sad. “Unfortunately it’s not going to stay open just for us but at the same time we’re happy as long as Todd is happy,” she said. “He’s been there through thick and thin with us and he knows all our names and we know he cares about us.”
The atmosphere and the 40 beers on tap is what Neelis said was a big draw and helped make Dublin’s a success.
Neelis said the building has been a mainstay in the community. She remembered the train through the rafters and the popcorn machine in the entry when it was The Binkery. (and the head in the upstairs window)
Kelly Jordan of West Bend has been coming to Dublin’s since it opened and before that she patronized The Binkery. “I really liked the Irish food here and the old building,” said Jordan. “We’d come off the Eisenbahn bike trail and have lunch outside. This has always been a wonderful place to sit and have dinner and take mom and have an Irish beverage and Irish meal after work.”
Marlene Jennings of Slinger said she loved coming to Dublin’s. “I would look forward to spring and summer on the patio and my Irish whisky,” she said.
The Dublin’s name is owned by Ceman. For people with Dublin’s gift certificates, Ceman said those will be accepted in Oshkosh.
The owner of the building is Kevin and Amy Zimmer. So far the couple has no comment on the future of the location. On an editorial note, if anyone is familiar with the Zimmers and their connections it’s likely the building will not sit empty for long.
Dublin’s last day will be Saturday, March 31, 2018.
On a history note: It was Sept. 15, 2009 when the former Binkery was moved from W. Washington Street to Wisconsin Street in downtown West Bend. There was a slow-moving parade to the east.
Sharpshooters may be next step for deer management in West Bend
Three months after the city of West Bend tried using bow hunters to trim the deer population the Deer Management Committee is regrouping to discuss Plan B.
On Monday, March 26 the committee will talk about using sharpshooters for deer management. During a five-day test program for deer management in West Bend in January 2018, five bow hunters killed a total of three deer. Their goal was 40.
Now the Deer Management Committee is regrouping. Sharpshooters have been discussed in the past. Some of the concerns were cost and safety. Tom Isaac with the DNR presented some details during a meeting in August 2016.
Bullet points (pun intended) include:
-The average park size in West Bend is 14 acres up to 140 acres.
-Options to control deer include sterilization, sharpshooters, and trapping.
-Mayor Kraig Sadownikow said the ultimate goal is to manage the herd. Another suggested option was to get volunteers to qualify as sharpshooters and maybe close a park for 2-3 days to try and solve the problem.
In 2009 in neighboring Ozaukee County officials in the City of Mequon brought in sharpshooters for $11,000 to help cull the deer herd by 100. According to a report from the Parks Director the sharpshooters used bait, shot the deer from tree stands at night while the park was closed.
Monday’s meeting in the Conference Room at West Bend City Hall is open to the public and begins at 5:30 p.m.
On a side note – Hallway conversation in 2016: After the meeting some of the neighbors in attendance talked about the huge problem of deer in their yards on Deer Ridge Drive. One suggestion that helped keep deer from destroying plants was Irish Spring soap.
Can Washington Co. Clerk work elections if spouse is running for office?
The question has come up in several instances in Washington County with regard to the April 3 election and whether it is legit that candidates and their spouses can work the polls.
This election Justin Reichert is running for District 3 alderman in West Bend. Reichert’s wife, Ashley, is the Washington County Clerk who oversees the election results. Reichert said it is perfectly kosher for her to complete her job on Election Day because the poll duties are completely separate from her husband’s municipal race.
“I’m only providing the supplies and the general support to oversee the election,” said Ashley Reichert. “I’m not the filing officer for that position; the filing officer is the city of West Bend and I’m completely removed from all of that.”
Reichert said the database programs at the county are hired out so there’s complete separation.
Canvassing, also for those municipal races happens at the municipal level.
“I only canvass county races, state and federal so I’m completely removed from that,” she said.
Reichert said a county clerk is also an elected position and if her name were on the ballot she would recuse herself from the canvass.
Reid Magney is the public information officer with the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
“If you’re using the example of Justin Reichert, he was required to submit nomination papers to the city clerk and not the county clerk,” he said.
“When a decision is made on reviewing the required number of signatures to run for office, that decision is made by the city clerk and not the county clerk.
“When they put together the ballot the city clerk determines the order the names are on the ballot and not the county clerk.”
Magney said the county clerk does print the ballot but the information comes from the city clerk.
“When it comes to counting the ballots the county clerk has nothing to do with that because it’s a municipal office and it only goes up as high as that office,” he said. “There’s a municipal board of canvassers that will double check the results after the election but that information never goes to a county board of canvassers.
“The county board of canvassers will only deal with county races and state races in this election so she won’t have anything to do with the counting of the votes,” Magney said. “There is absolutely no issue in an election like this.”
Location announced for Eaton’s Fresh Pizza in West Bend
In February we announced Eaton’s Pizza would be returning to West Bend. The franchise owner was coming in from Fond du Lac. According to the owner Eaton’s Fresh Pizza will be located at 830 E. Paradise Drive. That’s in the strip mall across from Blue Dog Golf Course.
The owner is looking at a target opening date of July 1. He said he will need about 10 employees. Watch for upcoming job postings at WashingtonCountyInsider.com
Brenda Hetebrueg joins Horicon Bank in West Bend
Horicon Bank is pleased to announce Brenda Hetebrueg has joined their team in West Bend as a Branch Manager. Originally from West Bend, Hetebrueg comes to Horicon Bank with over 30 years of banking experience. After graduating West Bend East High School, Hetebrueg earned several banking diplomas, including one from the American Institute of Banking School.
She started her career in banking as a teller, and later became a teller supervisor, Branch Operations Service Manager and Bank Officer. Hetebrueg is an active member of the West Bend community. She currently serves as a board member for Roots and Branches as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washington County.
As a branch manager, Hetebrueg said she enjoys building relationships with her customers.
“I love working with customers – being able to help them with their financial needs,” said Hetebrueg. “As a branch manager, that also means mentoring and empowering my team in West Bend to do the same.”
Hetebrueg said she enjoys this role at Horicon Bank because of the bank’s philosophy toward the community. “I enjoy working for a community bank,” she said. “I am amazed how much we contribute back to the community. Our vision is all about our customers, community and employees – to enjoy working together to make lives better and more secure.
Advisory referendum question on April 3 ballot in West Bend
There will be four questions on an advisory referendum on the April 3 ballot for taxpayers in the city of West Bend. All questions are intended to gauge the interest of taxpayers and how critical they feel it is to spend more money on roads.
Dist. 5 alderman Rich Kasten – West Bend
-Advisory referendum and road maintenance. How to finance road repair and road fixes.
-Remember to vote on all four questions. All four are Yes / No questions
-First two questions talk about increasing property taxes
-Question 3 deals with a wheel tax – this tax can only be used for transportation and road type issues
-No. 4 is to ask Washington County to share 25% of their sales tax with all municipalities.
-Washington County reps have so far said – that will not happen.
-Three major road fixes include 7th Avenue, 18th Ave from Vogt to Paradise and Main Street south of Humar and each project is $5 million.
-$20 wheel tax would be added on at the state level
-How do you sunset the tax – we don’t have a true sunset.
-Anticipated revenue on vehicle registration fee is $600,000 a year applied to borrowing
-Total debt now at city of West Bend is $50 million – down from $80 million six or seven years ago.
Updates & tidbits
– The Washington County Fair is coming up July 24 – 29 and notice went out this morning about when word will be released regarding headliners at the Silver Lining Amphitheatre.
-The City of West Bend is proud to announce Albiero Plumbing as Business of the Year. Join us at the award presentation: Wednesday, April 4 at 5 p.m. Albiero Plumbing · HVAC 1940 N. Main Street, West Bend
-The Gift of Giving fundraiser is April 7 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at King Pin Bowl and Ale House, 1022 S. Main Street in West Bend. Bo’s Heavenly Clubhouse is a nonprofit charity organization that was formed when Amanda Hartwig’s family experienced the loss of their 10-month-old son, Bo. “We had nowhere to turn for grief support and aid for mental anguish,” she said.
– The West Bend Police Department annual Spring Bike Sale will be Saturday, April 7, 2018 at 8 a.m. There are 95 bikes for sale with a majority in good condition. The sale will be on the north end of West Bend City Hall, 1115 S. Main Street. The bikes are sold “as is” and all sales are final. No warranty, refunds, or exchanges. All bikes are $20, which includes a bike license. Yes all bikes will be sold with a bike license. CASH ONLY.
West Bend School Board candidate forum
Four candidates vying for two seats on the West Bend School Board participated in a candidate forum this week at West Bend City Hall. Two candidates will be elected to fill two seats on the West Bend School Board. Election Day is Tuesday, April 3.
Kurt Rebholz – son of two public school teachers, went to UW-Stevens Point, worked at Amity Leather, lived her 24 years, has two kids, my kids got a wonderful education here, business owner, hired a lot of students, have passion for community, lets reverse trend of 400 kids leaving the district, let’s hire a superintendent.
Monte Schmiege – in last three years I’m the most senior member of current board, bachelors degree, worked at WB Company and Regal Ware, three adult children, volunteered at Good Shepherd Lutheran and with Habitat for Humanity, treasurer of board and policy chairman, I’m engaged with work on the board, most important aspect is teaching and learning, what’s being taught and how effectively, district has many great things going for it,
Mary Weigand – attended school board meetings for years, current member of CFAC and served on human growth and development committee, have a vast knowledge of curriculum, home schooled children, US Naval academy in 2005 they went away from celestial navigation to GPS and 10 years later went back to celestial navigation. We in WBSD have lost our course and I often hear education needs to change to fix the 21st century. Run for school board and say ‘talk about curriculum’ because that’s the meat and potatoes of education.
Chris Zwygart – chief legal officer at WB Mutual and there for 23 years, I help manage our board of directors and also board on St. Joseph’s Hospital and proud of that work. I’m running because we have a fantastic school system and they wanted to establish a public school foundation and we researched how that would be done and under management of several great boards raised several million dollars. What a gem we have in the community. It’s one of the few areas where if we do our job well, everybody wins. Better educated children means better educated workers. We have challenges with superintendent and facilities. I want to help and I have the skills to help.
Address challenges of declining enrollment
MS – the district could improve the education because that can attract parents and families. Maintain a solid financial footing in the district and don’t want to blow up our budget. In the near future we need to look at facilities and make it possible for growth where needed and attract families.
MW – the district motto is we are a destination. If that’s so – we need to set ourselves apart – the choice to use common core standards is a mistake. Parents in Slinger, Mequon and WB say they can’t understand the new math. If we want to be a destination we could work to stabilize curriculum and local communities can set their own standards. That could set us apart. The white privilege test did not help this district.
CZ – need to take a look at demographics and how many children we expect in the future. Partner with city and council and what can we do to attract new citizens to the area. How do we differentiate ourselves – I spoke with a 9th grader about journalism and I noted these were not classes offered to me. It’s amazing the different opportunities we have. We have scale on our side to offer attractive classes. We need to work on our reputation. It’s undeserved but true – we need to make sure as a school board that we don’t micromanage. That creates distrust. Let’s look why they are school choicing out.
KR – Student school choicing out to Slinger and Kewaskum. What are they doing better than we are? Let’s work to draw more families to the community. We need to promote school district and hire a good superintendent. We have an outstanding curriculum and promote trades education. This used to be a manufacturing town. We need a trades renaissance. Controversy drives teachers away. Curriculum changes – that’s controversy, that’s makes student leave. Let’s promote the good school system, and community we are.
Is a board member a representative of the community or as a representative of the school system and why
MW – hard to differentiate between the two. I have friends and neighbors and colleagues that send kids to schools here. As a SB member my job is to advocate for the school district. I’m a hard worker and love to research. I talked to a 3rd grader – her words were, “I get to learn cursive.” She said, “Her teacher got them all cursive handwriting books and none of the others are learning cursive.” I thought how great that was. I would push for more kids to learn cursive. I don’t know I can separate between community and school system.
CZ – school system is asset of the community. Answer is both. One of toughest jobs is the community isn’t always aligned in their views. It’s important to listen and set personal bias aside. We need to focus on what we do best – we act as listeners and advocates in the community. Important to navigate and that 100% won’t be aligned
KR – first is to be a rep of school system. So many businesses that want to support and we can expand and save tax dollars with public/private partnerships. We need to get behind the students and learning even if they aren’t going to college.
MS – a school board member is a rep of the community. You’re elected to work and guide the entire school district. Work with the superintendent to set the vision and establish goals. Working with the superintendent and you have to balance between the community and the school district. You need to collaborate and represent all parties. Parents, families and children are foremost.
How to attract and retain teachers and future leaders
CZ – critical issue. We need to attract, recruit and retain quality staff. Our reputation is not great and it’s unfortunate because we live in an era of social media but ironically so many of those opinions are captured on the permanent internet. When trying to attract a new superintendent or teacher they will surf the net. I don’t know they’ll like what they see. Compensation is important and we need a model to attract and recruit and retain good workers.
KR – we have great teachers in the school system. We need to stop them from leaving. Some great teachers and admin left for Slinger. We made a bad superintendent hire and we don’t have three of top admin and that creates uncertainty. We need a good superintendent that knows the students. Superintendent needs to be active in the community. If we have a great leader we stop the flow out and create atmosphere of teamwork
MS – in 2016 statistics from DPI our teacher force at WB is a bit more experienced and more degrees than average for the state. We have rather low turnover compared to other areas of the state and we also had a study that our compensation is in the top range relative to other districts. Some of those things need to be looked at again. Competitive compensation. We also have to establish good culture within our schools and teacher engagement. We need to have a superintendent who can work from the top down. Bring in good administrators and build a good system. The community is attractive and have manufacturing, businesses and stores.
MW – if I were a teacher it would be important to me to have clear expectation with benefits, salary, and classroom conduct. Having clear expectations helps. In our budget drivers is a provision that teachers and staff meet – it will meet what the others pay and we are in the top 5% in teacher salary. The superintendent we hire – it’s a juggling act and we need a solid leader and clearly spell it out.
What school district should WB most resemble?
KR – Slinger is run well top to bottom. They’re smart and recruited some of our admin and teachers. There are things we could do to emulate others. Tax benefit wise – 30 – 40% of school districts take advantage of energy performance contracts. These cost-saving measures for energy improvements. We need to emulate what other districts are doing.
MS – I compare WB with Neenah, Wisconsin. We’re fairly comparable. Need to consider factors. Size we’re comparable to Neenah. When I look at budget – there are similarities. To some extent comparing us to a district like Slinger or Kewaskum it’s like comparing apples and oranges. When you look at HS we have great CTE program and AP classes. We are offering many good things with arts and music and athletic programs.
MW – my brother in law is the finance admin in Wisconsin Rapids. I think we have a better school district here. At cost per student in Slinger they spend less per student than WB and I think there is a perception that Slinger School District is more conservative than WB.
CZ – we’re a unique community. This has to work for our own community. We can look at other district for better ideas. Other reason this is important to identify. We want the best and brightest ideas to fit here.
District employees and taxpayers – how to choose between the two
MS – the budget is somewhat limited by the revenue limits so you have to work within that budget or you will have to bring up an operational referendum. We are working well within our budget. Between employees and taxpayers – we have to consider what’s needed for the employees. We have to be competitive and meet or exceed the market. What’s happened with Act 10 the old structures and now different districts have different formulas. We would need regular repeated studies to help fit within our revenue limit. We need to keep in mind the repairs needed and we don’t budget ourselves into the corner.
MW – we have budget drivers and the staffing portion is 70%. The budget drivers are a nice tool and the board evaluates them frequently. Decisions for anything else we should make data-driven decisions. At some point the board needs to lead and it’s a juggling act between valuing people’s input and using data for decision. There have been energy savings implemented and Johnson Controls helped implement many energy savings and that’s been a great asset.
CZ – as I’ve talked to taxpayers – why would angry taxpayers show up at a school board meeting? The perception we’re raising taxes and wasting money and the other is we have administrators leaving. That comes down to budget. We need to deal with them with transparency. I think teachers understand budgetary constraints. Don’t work in isolation as a school board
KR – I’m a fiscal conservative and a supporter of WBSD. Taxpayer – we’re a conservative community and want to hold taxes down. I have some good fiscal ideas. Dave Ross has done a good job but we can help with energy contracts. There are facility improvements with an energy performance contract. An $80 million budget need to put resources to attract and retain good teachers.
Changes in school curriculum
MW – Common core was adopted without board approval. The English language arts will be approved next winter. Looking at advanced 8th grade and I see it’s supposed to be with good literature with character building and teach values and vocabulary. This curriculum is 180 school days and has 40 days on sustainability of U.S. food supply. The love of learning is being sucked out of our students. We can’t teach everything – we need to choose the best curriculum. There’s so much good stuff out there.
CZ – it is absolutely true that school board oversee curriculum. I can’t imagine the state thought we’re going to take a group of part time people and appoint them the arbitrator. It would be absurd for teachers to obtain permission from the board. We should not turn curriculum into a political football. I’m passionate about this. We employ experts. We should oversee the process and that it’s working but leave the curriculum to the experts.
KR – I agree with Chris. We’re first to none in advanced curriculum. Curriculum can’t be a controversial topic. We’re a public school system and curriculum can’t be chosen on what books are good or bad. This drives teachers and students away. We need to have a cohesive school district.
MS – leaving curriculum to the experts – the experts are the liberal professors in the liberal universities in the non-government organizations that drive the choices of curriculum that are passed down to states and school districts. That is what some people object to what they finally find out – like the privilege test what’s going on. A teacher chose to use a test compatible to engage New York curriculum. When you leave the curriculum to the experts this is what you’re getting – I would agree with Mr. Zwygert that you can guide the selection of curriculum – but change happens fast .
How to stress accountability – who is accountable to the school board and how do you measure performance
CZ – accountability can be a scary concept. School board interacts with the superintendent and that’s where the accountability lies. IN private industry that can be shared responsibility. A board member has to work with the superintendent. The next choice is critical. The school board works with the superintendent.
KR – how we’re measure on accountability and performance. Can we reduce the trend of students leaving. That’s a measurable action to measure success. Board actions to help that. Board unity. I was part of superintendent search committee. It’s a serious decision to hire the next superintendent. Is the longest serving the way to have a school board in WB. I want to support unity and a positive direction. We need to compromise, be accountable to the superintendent and be judged on how we attract students.
MS – superintendent is the only employee of the school board. I’ve been working behind the scenes to collect sample evaluation instruments for the superintendent. We tried a superintendent evaluation last year and it was bumbling along. Before that – in my experience – we didn’t do much evaluating of the superintendent. We have to have strategic goals and the board needs to monitor performance. Thinking of a dashboard where the superintendent presents to the board with where the district stands on certain parameters. Mr. Neitzke had a bulletin board with facts and we need something that puts the data before the board.
MW – the board oversees the superintendent and the super oversees the admin. The school board is accountable to state law and the community – one thing we’ve seen is the lack of transparency. Recently every meeting hasn’t been taped – lately the admin and the board decided not to tape it. We’re accountable to the community. At the superintendent search and Dave in charge of HR and we talked about the pyramid and there is a protocol.
How does school board work to prepare HS student for college or technical training or workforce training
KR – our board needs to help students whether they choose college or trades path. That’s a passion of mine where I believe let’s promote more advance placement classes. Our community is concerned about trades education. Local companies have helped promote trades education. As a business owner I’d like to promote and bring more community resources in and enhance the curriculum.
MS- we want to have as wide a variety of options available. We have students getting college credits in HS, AP courses, CTE and well supported by the community. Different companies provide equipment. In seventh and 8th grade the students can get credits for H.S. There are a wide range of opportunities and we need to have a strong counseling program.
MW – change in recent years that students don’t need to go to college. Not everyone will do that and I like the change that’s happening with trades and technical school. We can do a better job informing kids that these are really good jobs. We can encourage students to get out of school in three years and I’d like to open that environment. That’s a really valid aspect.
CZ – take a look at school board’s mission statement. College readiness and career success. If they want to go directly into a career the student will be prepared under both scenarios. We have the scale to offer unique classes and we’re doing more with regard to trades. Anything we can do to bring more community resources in. We can train students to earn a fantastic wage in a trade and we need to encourage that. Use our size and scale to distinguish ourselves.
Social media – how do you improve the situation?
MS – Social media has somewhat subsided. Not sure how relevant that question is. We do have a communications person in the district who is working with a consultant to improve the communications aspect. We did a communications audit. Long process to get that going. We’re working on it. We need to have positive communications coming out of the district about the achievements and successes and we need to respond to complaints or objections that arise. We need to respond to that readily and a communications person would help in that area.
MW – not aware of anything with social media. Communication is the key. Talking to parents – from individual schools the communication is good. If parents are communicated with by the parents or teachers. The district office needs to work on that more from the top. Transparency. Everyone should have access and openness
CZ – do something to do what we can to avoid controversy. There will always be unusual controversy. We need to social media and use it as an advantage. Why are we seeing that. We need to promote and tell the truth. That’s simple. Tie into transparency and communication because if you don’t communicate there’s a different version of the truth. Transparency. Social media record stays out there a long time.
KR – positive and negative social media. Sometimes it’s self inflicted. We haven’t had an effective leader for multiple years. The teacher hasn’t felt they’ve had a good leader. School curriculum and challenging teachers and that brings negative social media. Once we have a great superintendent in place let’s put a great communication in place. Let’s talk to everyone and tell us how great a district we have.
Why are candidates running in tandem?
MW – when I took out my papers I didn’t know who else was running. I didn’t know the other two at all. Until tonight I didn’t know their views. I would be happy to serve with Monte as we have the same goals and concerns. It’s interesting how that happens.
CZ – when I started I wasn’t sure who would throw their hat in the ring. With regard to the signage – yes, there’s more clustering with Mr. Rebholz. Perhaps it’s intentional. Talked about school as a business and issues like budgets and contracts and there are business concepts to manage district affairs. In addition we’ve heard differing viewpoints. Differences on curriculum and managing teachers. We want to leave curriculum to the experts – that is one of the contributors to why the signs are clustered.
KR – I endorse Chris Zwygert for school board. I knew of Chris by name and he’s of impeccable character. Monte and Mary are great family people and community members. Our sons played together with Mary’s kids. You and Dave have a great family. When I met Monte I really didn’t know you. When you said curriculum was your first choice and policy was your second. I had to work with Chris.
MS – there are curriculum concerns and I’m happy to work with Mary. I think some of our supporters have brought us together. I have utmost respect for all the candidates and what they might bring to the table but clearly there is a difference. Curriculum, for many years, has been left to the ivory tower. I have the utmost respect for our teachers and I attempted to do that with the science and I was not permitted to have a separate work session for discussion.
What is role of School District in regard to vitality of district and how will you accomplish
CZ – economic growth and vitality – this education thing, everybody wins when we do it well. If we can have students well prepared for the workforce, that will help. It means people with a better education can earn a higher wage. We want to attract people to move to the community. Keep property values high and make sure people are ready to work. It raises the standard of living for everyone
KR – 21st largest school district in the state. We’re a large entity. Retired teachers have encouraged me to run and promote unity.
MS – first responsibility is education of children. College and career ready. Students who go on to college hopefully they will return. Have to have an attractive education and we need employee satisfaction so that keeps the good teachers in the district. There is a strong connection with Moraine Park and UW-WC. If we have a good solid education program then good things happen. WBSD moved up in state report card and now ‘exceed expectations.’
MW – mission of district is to educate kids. We want them to be respectful and have a good work ethic and collaborate with community and schools. We need to let district know we respect parents and parental rights. There are a lot of choices – some home school, online learning, parochial – if we want them to come here we need to make it a destination with solid curriculum that parents can trust and let parents know they’re respected.
When people ask if West Bend is a great school district, what do you say?
KR – I will shout it from the rooftops. More passionate than ever to fix our communication issue. This is a great school district. Let’s reduce the controversy
MS – is WB a good district, Yes. In spite of what people say our teachers are staying more than average and more experienced and more degrees than state average. We have strong programs at the high schools of wide range and career possibilities. Whole range of activities and these are attractive to draw people to the district. Our community is top notch with safety.
MW – being a student from 4th grade on up with the ski team and band and when our kids were school age and our daughter was home schooled the district was wonderful in working with us. She took AP science and they have a great relationship with the community. Our son participated in sports and other son participated in automotive and our daughter is a professional violinist and if someone said – it’s not perfect but if I get on the board I will help make it better.
CZ – this is a district of a larger scale which gives us opportunities. We have quality teachers who care and they sacrifice their own time and go above and beyond. I want to add that we have a school board that’s supportive of the district with a top notch superintendent.
Final remarks
Monte Schmiege – served on board for 3 years. Attended three Wisconsin Association of School Board conferences to increase my knowledge in this area. I spend a lot on school board weekends to review and analyze the packet. I’ve worked hard to get a grasp on board policies. We need solid policies. I’ve delved into school board policies. District has some conservative practices and we would like to continue that. WB could use some longevity on the board.
Mary Weigand – I’m a nurse and I could look at some issues as a nurse in triage. Right now the bleed is the superintendent. We need a good super, and hire some good admin, stabilize the district and communicate with the community. I have a lot of questions I would like to propose to a superintendent candidate. I am a hard worker with community values and I want to restore community values. Board has a responsibility – board doesn’t teach curriculum they approve the curriculum. I want my community better and I desire to hear from more people in the community. Strong solid conservative.
Chris Zwygart – everyone intends the best but we have different approaches. I want to say why I can help – I am an attorney and my job will be to keep the board out of trouble and focused. School finances are difficult and I’m a CPA so if there are issues we can resolve them. I’ve recruited top level execs. With issues like finance and budget and regulation I have the skills needed. With curriculum, there’s talk about this set up by liberal professors – we employ people to review curriculum. This should not be a political football.
Kurt Rebholz – we’re four conservatives sitting and running for school board. Serious issues include hiring a superintendent and saving the community taxpayer dollars and look at the $80 million budget and let’s retain and attract teachers. Let’s not push a curriculum agenda – with school board members with that view we may lose more good teachers. My dad talked to me about good grades – and he praised an A effort. I will give an A.