Franklin School Board candidates discuss age-old facility topic

Franklin - For the first time in more than 20 years, Franklin Public Schools will have a primary election, with six candidates vying for two positions.

Those candidates are incumbents Judith Bialk and Janet Evans, who are both completing their first three-year term, and challengers Don Petre, Aimee Schlueter, John Thompson and David Works.

All six mentioned the aging district buildings as a major issue in the race, followed closely by the state budget and how its forcing school officials to rethink how they allocate resources.

The primary will be held Feb. 21, with the four contenders who garner the most votes advancing to the April 3 general election.

Room for growth?

The school district's enrollment is expected to grow from 4,296 students next year to 4,949 in the 2021-22 school year, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Applied Population Laboratory.

The district's schools are already crowded, but a 2007 $77 million referendum to build a new high school and renovate and convert the existing one into a middle school was voted down.

And just last fall, 3,000 residents who responded to a district survey indicated they wanted renovation, not new construction, to ease crowding.

As the facilities planning process is just getting under way, candidates said they have little information to make an informed decision right now, but all acknowledged the issue will have to progress.

"My opinion is the schools need some improvement," said Evans, 57. "The buildings are sound. I am not in favor of anything that's a want."

Said Thompson, 64: "I haven't gotten all the information I need, but from what I've heard, the schools are growing. Packed classrooms don't help."

Work, 56, said he would recommend procuring land now for building in the future, if that's warranted. "I want to see what the community really wants," he said. "I want to see what the needs are."

Petre, 44, said there's not enough information out yet about how to proceed with the facilities plan, but that the districts buildings need to be improved.

"There are communities all around the state that have much better facilities than we do," he said, and that includes technology labs, athletic facilities and theatrical and arts areas.

At the same time, the state budget is forcing the district to find new ways to allocate resources.

Schlueter, 38, said it's a balancing act - finding ways to save money while not making cuts that would make "teachers' morale to drop."

"You have to balance the pros and cons," she said. "You have to decide what's best for everybody in the school, especially what's best for the students."

Bialk said that there may be some difficult decisions to be made to control spending.

"We will be looking at health insurance for teachers," said Bialk, 69. "That is something that will come up that's important this year."

A school of candidates

The incumbents said after three years on the board, they are just getting familiarized with issues and should be re-elected.

Bialk, a retired teacher, said she's a volunteer reading specialist in the district and that she should be re-elected because of her experience as an educator.

Evans, meanwhile, said she's helped keep spending in line. "I've been very fiscally responsible," she said. "I work for the taxpayer."

Petre, a teacher in Oak Creek, said his experience, and his ability to form school and business partnerships, makes his qualified to serve.

"I've been in the field of education for 23 years," he said. "I've worked with different school budgets, curriculum issues. I think I can bring that whole package that other candidates can't bring."

Schlueter, a 911 dispatcher for the Franklin Police Department and mother of two school-aged children, said the current board needs fresh ideas and does not communicate as well as it could.

"I feel there's a need for parents of school-age children to be heard," she said.

Thompson, as a retired deputy sheriff, has been in the classroom as a DARE instructor and as a former high school teacher.

"I've a wide range of experience working with kids," he said. "I've been in the classroom many a time as a DARE instructor. I also know what the public wants."

Works, a metallurgist for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division, said he would bring a unique manufacturing perspective to the board. He said he has also been a champion of advance placement classes and has partnered with businesses to bring in donated supplies for classes.

"We will need to look at ways to save, just like private industry," he said.