STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) — Some community members are telling Stevens Point School Board members why some of them need to go.
An effort to recall some members of the Stevens Point Area Schools Board of Education got underway January 9th with the formal filing for the recall of board members Lisa Totten and Kim Shirek. The Save Our Schools Committee led by Barb Portzen of Plover is collecting signatures now.
At Monday night’s school board meeting, district resident Erin Andrews told the board why she supports the Save Our Schools recall effort. “The basis for a school board recall is the failure to fulfil the official duties of the office. Our school board website contains several documents that serve as guidelines for the school board, including a code of conduct for school board members. The behaviour of certain school board members at board meetings is in direct violation of the school board code of conduct.”
Andrews says there is a difference between occasionally falling short and consistently falling short of expectations. “Now, no one is perfect, and I’m sure that every school board member has fallen short of some of these issues at times, but certain members fail to uphold this code on a regular basis.”
Andrews says the actions of board members Shirek and Totten also give students a bad example. “In failing to uphold the code of conduct for the school board, these board members are not fulfilling the most important duty of their office, which is to support student achievement and lead our district, and set a good example for the students in our district.”
Parent Jen Schultz pointed out the votes by Totten and Shirek to turn down grant funding from Sentry Insurance Foundation to purchase computers for students. “Giving every student free access to computers to enhance their education is an opportunity our district simply cannot pass up. However in this situation, it seems personal agendas trumped the support of student achievement.”
Parent Greg Diekroeger notes the cost of a recall election is high, but justified in this case. “The estimated cost of a recall election is $37,000 dollars, a small investment when you are talking about the education of future employees and leaders of our community. As Miss Schultz just outlined, because of the behavior and voting record of certain board members, Save our Schools believes the cost of keeping these two people on board is going to be greater than the cost of the recall election.”
The Save Our Schools Committee has 60 days from January 9th to collect 6,549 signatures from voting aged residents of the school district.
The recall election isn’t the only challenge faced by Kim Shirek and Lisa Totten. They are facing possible discipline by the remaining board at a special Wednesday open meeting.
