It's A Prime Time for A School Board Election

by Saafia Masoom

Along with the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, and the usual February events, Platteville School District will have another date to add to the calendar that nobody saw coming: a school board election primary.

Even though Monie Konecny has decided not to run for re-election, veteran board members Steve Obershaw and Eric Fatzinger will try to hang on to their seats as they face six other candidates hoping to be elected for a three year term. That means eight candidates will be vying for the three available board seats. The primary held February 17th will allow the top six to continue to the elections on April 7th.

Community members Jaimie Brogley, Brian Brown, Jeremy Johnson, Colleen McCabe, Curt Timlin, and Matt Zielinski are up for the challenge of pursuing the spots. While many among the group are spouses of teachers, parents of students, or both, they want a say in the school board’s decisions, which is “the voice of the Platteville Community in shaping the quality of education offered to our students,” according to superintendent Connie Valenza.

So what’s the big deal?

There haven’t been this many candidates in a while. In fact, there were just enough candidates to fill the seats in the last board election. And the district can only speculate the reasons behind the six challengers decisions to run. Dr. Valenza does not speak for anyone regarding their motives for candidacy, but she personally believes a few key decisions the board has made and will have to make in the coming months may have piqued interest around the community.

Dr. Valenza says, “Board members play an important role in decision-making around budgets, staffing, and policy making. This is a time of huge changes in the educational system with new state testing, common core, and increased accountability measures.”

There’s also been a lot of talk about the upcoming referendum on updating facilities. The $17 million project going to vote on April 7th, as well, proposes to reconfigure which grades are in which schools and to renovate the schools. “I believe that many of the candidates recognize the importance of the decision and the process,” says Dr. Valenza in relation to board elections.   

The candidates may have been inspired by these decisions or maybe they simply disagree with the way Dr. Valenza and the board have been making them and want “to offer a different perspective in future decisions that are made,” as Dr. Valenza puts it. The superintendent realizes that the community values the board’s work and encourages its members to let their voices be heard.

In any case, all eyes will be turned to the board candidates in coming months. Currently, the body has nine members and usually meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month. As the superintendent herself says of the school board, “If we believe that our students are the future of Platteville, then the education they receive is of utmost importance. It is the board that plays the most important role in determining what that education looks like.”