School board incumbents get walloped
Debate around reopening made for bitter election
Tricia Zunker said she knows school board presidents sometimes have a target on their backs. It’s part of the job, she said.
But as Zunker led the Wausau School District board over the past year, she said, “People were so cruel, you’d think I personally brought the pandemic here.”
Angry citizens scrawled messages about her on sidewalks around town. A board president in a neighboring district wrote on Facebook that she was “a waste of physical space on the planet.”
Tuesday’s election brought the coup de grace: Of seven candidates seeking four seats on the board, Zunker finished sixth. Three winners, all newcomers, ran as a bloc against what they called Wausau’s “virtual and hybrid learning nightmare.”
After a year in which parents’ frustrations put schools in the spotlight more than ever, board elections were unusually contentious and partisan. Across the state, many voters opted for change.
Incumbents lost in suburban districts such as Oak Creek-Franklin, and more urban districts such as Green Bay. Those who unseated incumbents criticized reopening plans, transparency and board members’ political leanings.
Not every district elected candidates pushing for more in-person learning, though. Christina Brey, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Education Association Council representing educators around the state, said the issue swung both ways.
In more urban areas, like Milwaukee and Green Bay, voters favored candidates who were in favor of more cautious reopenings and enjoyed the support of local teachers unions. In other districts, support from teachers was the kiss of death.
Regardless of the prevailing stance in each community, Brey said, the debates brought increased interest to elections.
“We’re hoping that the heightened interest in how we educate kids and how we engage families — we hope that doesn’t stop after the pandemic,” Brey said. “We hope everyone who has had a strong opinion either way continues to
stay involved.”
Reopening debates led to heated, partisan board races
After 18 years on the Oak Creek Franklin School Board, Cheryl Cerniglia said her defeat had everything to do with the debate over in-person learning.
Fellow incumbent Leah Schreiber Johnson lost, too, while three newcomers won seats after advocating for a return to in-person learning — even though the district had sent kids back to school in January.
Cerniglia said that seemed to be all they talked about — “Kids need to be back in school.”
In the Sheboygan Area School District, three parents ran on the shared goal of always giving families the option of having in-person learning five days a week. One was elected, ousting an incumbent.
Months after a group attempted to recall three Oconomowoc Area board members who voted to start the school year in a hybrid model, the only one of the three up for reelection was unseated by a newcomer.
Two Waukesha School Board incumbents lost, too, after criticism that they’d resisted a return to fully inperson learning. Patrick McCaffrey, an incumbent who kept his seat, told the Journal Sentinel the reopening debate seemed to play a “big role.”
“Usually, the school district elections are not as concentrated on one decision,” he said. “I think this year (the issue) made some voters pay more attention.”
The reopening debate was also central to the state superintendent election. The winning candidate, Jill Underly, took a more cautious stance on in-person learning, while her opponent, Deborah Kerr, toured the state calling for immediate reopening everywhere.
Zunker, in Wausau, said she was disappointed to see how much partisan money from “big money donors” was funneled into her race.
She said she spent about $400 of her own money on campaign literature, while a trio of Republican-backed opponents — Jon Creisher, Cody Nikola and Karen Vandenberg — raised over $30,000 for their winning campaign, centered on keeping schools open, addressing increased failure rates and “restoring confidence” in the district and school board.
Not only did the trio gain the support of the reopening Facebook group, but also local right-wing activists and groups. Collectively, they raised over $30,000 through March, $1,500 of which came directly from the Marathon County Republican Party.
“We might be one of the biggest school districts in the state, but you don’t see that here,” Zunker said. “That’s simply unheard of in a local school board race.”
In Waukesha, ousted incumbent Kurt O’Bryan blamed the influence of the Republican Party, for a “coordinated attack” against him and fellow incumbent Diane Voit.
Cerniglia also blamed her opponents for trying to make the election partisan by accusing her and Schreiber-Johnson of being “bought by the teachers union.”
On the other end of the spectrum were the school board races in more urban areas, where virtual learning has prevailed through 2021.
In Milwaukee, where no incumbents ran for reelection, all of the competing candidates called for caution in returning to classrooms.
One of the candidates who won, Jilly Gokalgandhi, said current board members were too quick to approve the Milwaukee Public Schools’ reopening plan with a number of unanswered questions about safety measures.
“Underfunding has left MPS dealing with old ventilation systems, lack of space for distancing, and shortages in key staffing areas,” Gokalghandi said.
And in Green Bay, school board member Rhonda Sitnikau lost despite supporting in-person learning over the school year.
Sitnikau blamed the influence of the local teachers union and attacks from the Brown County Democratic Party.
“I voted and questioned things in a way that maybe certain partisan camps didn’t appreciate because it didn’t serve their agenda,” she said.
She said she’s disheartened to see the partisan direction local races have taken of late.
“It’s not a good day when we start to draw partisan lines around local government, because the job is to work for everyone,” she said. “Everyone’s child, regardless of their parent’s ideology, is worth consideration and representation.”
Contact reporter Samantha West at swest@gannett.com. Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Contact Alec Johnson at alec.johnson@jrn.com.