By Press Times Staff
GREEN BAY – Five candidates are seeking four spots on the spring election ballot while running for the Green Bay school board.
The sole incumbent in the Feb. 18 primary is Laura McCoy.
Challenging her for spots on the April 7 ballot are Jason Davies, Dawn Smith, Marcus Grignon and Paul Boucher.
The two candidates with the most votes in the general election win board seats.
The Press Times emailed each candidate the same questions and gave them 100 words to respond to each.
Laura McCoy
Why should be people vote for you?
As the only incumbent in this race, over the last three years I’ve spent my time learning everything I can about our school district and the community that supports it.
I’ve reached out to individuals who can offer me a broader or unique perspective.
I’ve done my homework and I will work with anyone who cares about public education.
I’m here to represent students, families, voters, taxpayers and staff.
Every vote I take must balance the interests of all of these stakeholders. I’d love to continue this work, and I hope voters will give me the opportunity to do that.
What’s the biggest issue in Green Bay schools?
The biggest issue in our district – as it is in every district in this state – is how we fund public education.
Revenue limits and an inability for local governments to raise taxes directly impacts our ability to fund necessary services and supports to address the growing and diverse needs of our students.
Funding impacts every decision that is made on behalf of children and their education.
It affects safety, transportation, mental health services, facilities, curriculum and, of course, staff salaries.
What should be done by the district to retain resident students and attract non-resident students to the Green Bay schools under open enrollment?
A great deal of work is already being done.
Our district is a leader in offering individual pathways for our students to pursue their unique interests and talents.
It’s worth noting that families often make school choices that are based on personal circumstance unrelated to education.
I support continuing to expand our offerings in order to help students at every level become college, career and community ready.
I also believe we must always be attuned to the needs of our families with regard to communication and engagement.
In a district as large as ours, this work is never done.
Jason Davies
Why should people vote for you?
Our teachers and student population deserve a board that functions and listens.
Taxpayers have invested millions in new schools, but students and teachers continue to sit in classrooms that have drafts or heat that doesn’t work correctly.
Green Bay has great teachers who just want to be able to teach.
Continued micromanagement by district leadership or external influence from consultants causes teachers to either leave our district or grow frustrated about their jobs.
The board can and must work together without the need for facilitators.
A vote for me means that I’ll tenaciously work to ensure a more successful district.
What’s the biggest issue in Green Bay schools?
School boards must utilize data to make big decisions, but the lack of transparency surrounding the accuracy of data provided is of tremendous concern.
For example, the public is presented with a skewed view of reality surrounding Green Bay schools when the district administration dictates to particular schools they must utilize intervention strategies and brand them as re-education opportunities.
It changes the significance of the data.
This results in a bias representation of what actually occurs in our schools.
The biggest issue to work on is transparency and providing accurate data so our board can do its job correctly.
What should be done by the district to retain resident students and attract non-resident students to the Green Bay schools under open enrollment?
The district must cease looking at each student as merely a dollar sign and focus on actual reality.
Parents and students expect schools to be safe.
When the data is contrary to fact, it symbolizes an egregious lack of accountability by district administration.
Our district must ensure that those who receive enormous salaries produce positive results.
It is not the job of a district to discipline students, but it is our job to stop tolerating behavior that is causing a majority to suffer.
We must establish expectations for students and then follow through with ensuring those expectations are met.
Dawn Smith
Why should people vote for you?
My husband and I both graduated from Green Bay schools, and our daughters attended our public schools for 12 years.
Public education served my family well, and I’m running with the hopes of serving my community.
I’ve seen all the great things GBAPS has to offer, and I’d like to be a part of moving our schools forward and improving the quality of our public education system.
I’m a collaborator and a relationship builder by nature, skills I acquired and developed in my 22 years at Schneider and most recently NWTC, and I think that’s something our school board needs.
What’s the biggest issue in Green Bay schools?
I think the biggest issue facing Green Bay schools is the teacher shortage.
We have special education teachers teaching under emergency licenses and math classes with more than 30 students.
The state is funding our schools at levels less than it was in 2011.
Members of the school board need to build relationships with our local legislators and lobby for public education at the local, state and federal levels.
Finding ways to make teaching in Green Bay more attractive and looking for possible solutions to balance our school enrollment should also be top priorities of the school board.
What should be done by the district to retain resident students and attract non-resident students to the Green Bay schools under open enrollment?
Our district has a lot to offer our students and prospective students – we just need to do a better job of informing parents and the public.
The International Baccalaureate program on the west side offers a unique learning opportunity.
East High School has the Fine Arts Institute and the City Stadium Automotive program.
We partner with UWGB and NWTC to provide opportunities for our high school students to receive college credits and even entire credentials.
Our district offers opportunities for many types of learners, and we must ensure our community members know about the variety of programs available.
Marcus Grignon
Why should people vote for you?
Green Bay has always been my home.
I left our city when I was 19 to gain wisdom and knowledge to bring back to push our community forward.
I’m running for the school board to promote a world-class education, fuel students’ passion in the trades, and be a strong voice for the teachers; the backbone of the Green Bay Public Schools.
I ask you to pledge your vote for a young hometown millennial with a vision to adapt our community’s future to solve the challenges of the 21st century.
What’s the biggest issue in Green Bay schools?
The biggest issue in the Green Bay schools is we are not thinking on a systems level.
We try to address one issue, but it’s interwoven with another issue.
The first question to systems thinking is: Are we attracting the best educators for our district?
I know many of the teachers who taught me in grade school/middle school are retired or left after feeling betrayal by the events of 2010.
My teachers from high school are still educating and doing everything they can to prepare our future generations for a complex world.
They need a strong voice for them.
What should be done by the district to retain resident students and attract non-resident students to the Green Bay schools under open enrollment?
We need to be innovative and forward thinking on how we educate students.
At the core of this innovation is our ability to keep our resident students interested and supported.
If we can build a strong core of students who excel and create new ways of thinking that result in national/international recognition, we can attract non-resident students to attend the Green Bay school district.
We need a model to showcase in order for our district to thrive.
Paul Boucher
Why should people vote for you?
I have a unique understanding of the problems in the school system.
In addition, I have the time and energy to address and to communicate with educators to resolve issues that have been chronic.
What’s the biggest issue in Green Bay schools?
The biggest issue for the public school system has been constant for more than a half a century.
The schools have been designed after the German model of education.
There is too much rigidity, too much structure, too much treating students like machines.
The schools should move toward an American model of education, that includes more innovation, more imagination, and a vision of a brighter future.
This will require an attitude change on the part of the school system; that elevates the students to consumer status; where the customer is always right (within reason).
What should be done by the district to retain resident students and attract non-resident students to the Green Bay schools under open enrollment?
You have to convince potential and current students that the Green Bay Area Public School system is the place to be.
This is unlikely to be accomplished with an attitude of minimalism.
Students need to know that when necessary; everyone at GBAPS will guide students and work relentlessly when needed to help each student design a path for their future.
It is essential that they know their success is part of the overall strategy of GBAPS.