WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – Candidates for the Wausau School Board are getting out and talking to people in the community as the spring election approaches.
Three of the five candidates—Fred Tealey, Dr. Gillian Battino, and incumbent Lance Trollop—attended the district’s meet-and-greet on Wednesday evening. Board member Lee Webster is not running for reelection, but Jennifer Paoli and incumbent Cory Sillars are.
Fred Tealey explained why he was running and what redistricting means for the community, saying, “What will the kids do? One of the main reasons I decided to run is that school is about the kids, and we need to listen to them and do what is best for them.”
Tealey elaborated further on the redistricting plan, saying, “It’s too much, too soon, and the board isn’t listening to the people, and I hear most people don’t want this and want other solutions, and there are other solutions.”
In addition, candidate Dr. Gillian Battino discussed these concerns and her viewpoints on redistricting, saying, “We need to make sure the restructuring happens in a way that is respectful of the community and listens to the community so we can build trust and can gain ground with our community in the world of trust because we’ve had problems with that.”
Battino also stated that more opportunities are needed before a final decision on redistricting can be made, saying, “I think we’re going too fast and we just need to slow down and listen to people.”
With regard to his reelection campaign, School Board Vice President Lance Trollop stated, “I believe I continue to provide value to the school board and I think the experience that I have would be valuable to people on the school board. If I’m reelected, there would be only three board members with more than one term of experience out of nine, and we’ll have two or three board members with less than a year of experience, which is good because it is good to have a mix of new and experienced members.”
“Well, I think that number one there is a lot of misinformation that’s currently blowing through the community and that tells me we need to do more to get information out,” Trollop said when asked about the redistricting plan. “A lot of people think that a decision was made and that was it,” Trollop continued, “but really what happened was a decision to move forward, and now we have two and a half years of planning and further input that will be needed.”
The election will take place on Tuesday, April 4th.
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