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VOTERS GUIDE; ELECTION 2006; MUSKEGO-NORWAY SCHOOL BOARD; Finances,; Curriculum Should; Be Re-Examined, Candidates Say

Posted on: Monday, 3 April 2006, 03:03 CDT

By REID J. EPSTEIN

Muskego Nearly a year after Muskego High School spent $57,000 on eight 42-inch plasma-screen televisions, only one of three Muskego- Norway School Board members with expiring terms is seeking re- election.

Mark Waltz, the lone incumbent, said he's seeking re-election to show that someone is responsible for the television purchase. School Board President Ray Schrank and Clerk Daniel Kinnick are not seeking re-election.

"I could have just retired from the board, but I needed to step up and run again so there would be a full and fair hearing from all of that," Waltz said. "We screwed up. We take responsibility for the mistake. We tried to fix it as best we could. It's resolved, and I hope we can move on."

The television purchase, Waltz said, amounted to "a couple of pennies" out of the $36.6 million project. He said the district's administrators are good people who run the district well.

"The vast majority of decisions that get made by our administration are good ones," Waltz said. "We're human, and we made a mistake and owned up to it."

The district plans to re-examine its science and social studies curriculum in upcoming years, Waltz said. He said the schools are doing the best they can under state funding laws.

Waltz and three others are seeking seats on the School Board. The top three finishers will win three-year terms that pay $3,600 annually. The challengers seeking board posts are Kent Demien, a systems consultant; Muskego Ald. Eric Schroeder, a Franklin police sergeant; and Lisa Warwick, a federal prosecutor.

TV flap sparks race

Demien said the plasma television purchase illustrated a detachment between the School Board and the community. He promised to always consider the educational benefit of anything the district would spend money on.

For him, it's important to have citizens who will do a good job and a board that will reflect their desires, Demien said. "I think that our board has come a bit detached recently."

His professional expertise can help the district cope with a pending loss of state aid, as the community's tax base grows, he said.

Demien called himself "a numbers guy" and said he would be the best person to examine the district's financial matters and commended the board's handling of "educational issues."

"My only criticism is in how they've handled financial matters," Demien said. "They've just not paid attention enough to taxpayers' interest. Educationally, we are in the right direction."

Like Demien, Schroeder would concentrate his efforts on the district's financial matters, he said. He pledged to "dig a little bit deeper into the financial end" of the district's affairs.

"I'd like to see where some of the non-salary and benefit money is being spent," Schroeder said. "Is it being spent irresponsibly for items that are not improving education? I have this inkling that this may be occurring."

Schroeder commended the board's handling of district curriculum. He thinks the district can compete with any in the Milwaukee area, he said.

"I want my children to come out of the Muskego district and be able to go to whatever college they want to go to based on having a good educational background from the Muskego district," he said. "I think the School District can provide that."

Curriculum examination

Warwick, who was an English teacher in Ripon before becoming a lawyer, said she would concentrate on improving the district's curriculum. She also pledged to use her law background to help on particularly thorny legal issues.

The president of the Muskego Elementary School PTO, Warwick would serve as an advocate to improve science curriculum, she said. She also said she would help the board take steps to avoid embarrassing incidents, such as the plasma television scandal.

"We need to start taking a step back from a decision that's either in the works or about to be made and start thinking ahead to the worst case scenario, so you can explain a decision after the fact," Warwick said. "That could have headed off a lot of what happened with the plasma-screen TV issue."

Kent Demien

Age: 29

Address; time in the district: W136-S6490 Sherwood Court; two years

Occupation: systems consultant, Northwestern Mutual Life

Elective office; other government experience: none

Education: Franklin High School, 1995;

Carroll College, bachelor's degree, 1998

Family: married, one stepson

Eric Schroeder

Age: 40 Address; time in district: S104-W20822 Cindy Drive; eight years

Occupation: sergeant, Franklin Police Department

Elective office; other government experience: Muskego Common

Council, 2002-present

Education: Franklin High School, 1983; University of Wisconsin-

Milwaukee, bachelor's degree, 1987

Family: married, three children

Mark Waltz (inc.)

Age: 43

Address; time in district: W195-S8638 Plum Creek Blvd.; 37 years

Occupation: software engineer

Elective office; other government experience: Muskego School

Board, 2000-present

Education: Muskego High School, 1980; University of Wisconsin-

Milwaukee, bachelor's degree, 1985, UWM, master's degree, 1987

Family: married, two children

Lisa Warwick

Age: 44

Address; time in district: S67-W17435 Rossmar Drive; 6 1/2 years

Occupation: assistant U.S. attorney, eastern district of Wisconsin

Elective office; other government experience: none

Education: Oak Creek High School, 1979; University of Wisconsin

-Madison, bachelor's degree, 1983; Boston University,

law degree; 1989

Family: married, two children

Copyright 2006, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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