Whitnall School Board Candidate Forum Focuses on Budget

Candidates for the Whitall School District Board expounded their positions on the impact of the state budget repair bill and the district’s planned facilities renovation at a forum Thursday night at Hales Corners Elementary School.

Incumbents T.J. Anderson, Nancy Zaborowski and Bernard Shaw defended their deliberations on the district’s proposed maintenance project, for which the school board unanimously at its meeting Monday.

Challengers Quinten Brunette, Jacob Harycki and Jon D. Jones agreed the renovations were necessary, but expressed unease about the scope of the project, especially given uncertainty over state funding.

“How are we going to pay for the facilities upgrade if we can’t tax more? Where is the money coming from?” Brunette said, citing tax revenue limitations in the proposed state budget.

Anderson said  the district was financially solvent enough to pay for the repairs in cash, but the borrowing approved Monday was more prudent. The funding of the renovations are not dependent on how state monies shake out, he said, and the borrowing approved for the facilities renovation project would not affect any school operations.

Current school board members stressed the renovations were needed primarily to address storm water problems, and creating permanent facilities to benefit the community were a secondary benefit. The high school athletic facilities had not been renovated in the district’s 50-year existence, Zaborowski said.

“I think there’s a misperception in the marketplace that we have to compromise our education to complete this project,” Shaw said. “We have to keep moving forward as a district in a fiscally responsible fashion, and we did that with this proposal.”

Shaw noted that the borrowing and building included in the project were phased, and that borrowed funds could be diverted to more pressing needs that might arise.

Budget biggest challenge

mentioned budgeting when asked about the most pressing concern facing the district.

“We are not in favor of cutting any of the extra curriculars, any of the sports or arts that we have had in the past,” Zaborowski said.

The need for efficient and effective use of resources was paramount, according to Jones.

Shaw could be used to offset budget constraints while managing class sizes and offerings, comparing declining enrollment to lost contracts at a private business.

“We have to look at everything available to us,” Shaw said.

Challengers expressed concern that adding to the district’s open enrollment would only increase costs in the long run.

“Are we going to add more voucher students only up to the point we don’t need more staff?” Brunette said.

Contract negotiations and collective bargaining

The candidates mostly agreed that early negotiations for new staff contracts were not necessary, expecting the state budget and any pending legal challenges to be sorted out before the next cycle.

“We as a district have already signed our contracts through June 30 of this year,” Anderson said.

Harycki said the was one reason to negotiate staff contracts earlier, citing overdue state and federal budgets in recent years.

“I don’t think we can afford to wait,” Harycki said.

The candidates were asked their opinion on the removal of collective bargaining rights for public employee unions.

“It really doesn’t matter what my opinion is. It is what the law is,” Anderson said. “We have to live within the law and within the budget dollars that are presented to us.”

Brunette said he had experience working within a union, as well as competing for contracts with prevailing wage mandates, and could see both sides of the issue.

“I have a hard time with it. I’m really torn,” Brunette said.

Harycki said he too could see both sides, and that more negotiation might have yielded a better compromise.

Jones said his opinion on the collective bargaining issue was also irrelevant.

“I don’t think the endgame on this is very clear,” Jones said.

Shaw said he reviews finances of municipalities in Wisconsin and neighboring states in his capacity as a financial analyst, and that many municipalities were facing much more harrowing shortfalls.

The spring election is April 5.