District Employees Publicly Support Administration at Board Meeting

Two weeks after a , two district employees stood up and told a different story Monday.

Cynthia Winard, who has worked in the district for 37 years and is the district’s Open Enrollment/Chapter 220 coordinator, and Community Relations Manager Stuart Wilke praised Superintendent Conrad Farner and his administrative team in front of about 55 audience members at the School Board meeting.

The remarks were made during the public comments portion of the meeting.

Two citizens echoed sentiments teacher , but Winard said the current administration team has been a refreshing change over the years, and that during her years in the human resources department, the administrators have handled all personnel decisions with dignity and respect.

"In all the years I’ve worked for Greenfield, I’ve never seen a better team of administrators,” Winard said. “The current team does at least double the work than years ago when the district had more administrators to do the job. … the amount of work expected from the state of Wisconsin and the Department of Public Instruction has increased beyond what most people can understand. This team has done more with less people.”

Winard said administration does have high expectations for all employees, but it’s in the best interests of the students. She added all employees are considered members of the team.

“The change in work environment in the many years I have worked here has been amazing,” Winard said. “It has gone from total negativity about everything to a very definite feeling of positivity.”

Wilke, who previously worked with Farner in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, said he applied for his current position because of Farner and his desire to work with him again.

“I knew of his absolute devotion to public education, his willingness to listen to others and his team approach to getting the job done,” Wilke said. “Those are traits, by the way, every administrator in this district shares.”

“Lately there have been some comments made by some bloggers on a local website that have been critical of the district and its administrators," he added.  "Some of those bloggers would like you to believe they have the inside scoop on the district and I will tell you they do not. I would suggest that unless you’ve been here during normal office hours, early in the morning, late at night or on the weekends, you’d never imagine how much time and effort Mr. Farner and his administrators dedicate to the Greenfield School District students.”

Wilke said every decision made by administration is “made in the best interest of your children” and that administrators share the same dedication to the students as the teachers.

Two citizens countered the employee comments.

Bob Huele said there are problems between the staff and administration, and the board is ultimately responsible for what he called a “crisis” in the district because it has turned authority over to administration.

“The people elected you, and not the (superintendent),” Huele said. “I truly believe the system here is broken and can’t be fixed unless drastic steps are taken so we can move on.”

Tracy Jendrzejek, who has children who attend , urged the board to look into the number of retirements, transfers and resignations coming from that school. She estimated half the Maple Grove staff was moving on, but Farner said the number was closer to eight of 24 teachers.

“As a parent, I’d like my kids to have the same teachers and have the teachers see them grow throughout the years,” Jendrzejek. “It concerns me that I have kids that have had teachers that are no longer there and having younger kids coming into the school and not having those teachers.

Jendrzejek said parents have raised concerns at Maple Grove at a building and administrative level, but don’t feel like those concerns have been addressed.