Schultz and Kormanik Challenge Wilson For School Board

• Residents can watch an Elmbrook School Board election forum on the school district's cable channels (Time Warner 13 and 96) at 7 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday. The candidates' answers to two forum questions are included in a Brookfield Patch video attached to this story.

Voters studying campaign information and an election forum might notice different focuses from the three candidates vying for the Elmbrook School Board seat held by Kathryn Wilson.

Wilson, who is running for re-election after voters selected her to serve the last year of Dave Marcello's term, says the district's top priority is improving Elmbrook's curriculum and restoring student achievement to a premiere level.

Challenger Sandra Schultz focuses on improving the Elmbrook experience with a top-notch curriculum and greater involvement by parents, senior citizens and alumni. 

And write-in candidate Nancy Kormanik, while concerned about curriculum, places a priority on being fiscally conservative on budgets to teacher contracts and property taxes.

Voters on Tuesday will decide who will serve a three-year term with a $3,600 annual salary.

All three candidates agreed the district will need to address projected annual deficits, as well as uncertainties surrounding the elimination of most collective bargaining and proposed cuts in property tax levy authority.

Administrators have projected an $11 million budget gap over the next five years. Solutions to close that gap have included adding four-year-old kindergarten and closing one or more elementary schools.

Schultz — and to a lesser extent, Wilson — favor adding 4K, and Kormanik opposes 4K.

Schultz said adding 4K will keep Elmbrook competitive with other districts that offer it and bring in revenue that can be used to improve programs in not just elementary but also middle and high schools.

Kormanik said residents should not pay increased property taxes to fund a voluntary half-day program that should be covered by private day cares and parents.

Wilson said she leaned toward believing 4K will be needed to stay competitive but said she would like to see data on the impact of 4K on homebuyers' decisions.

Kormanik and Wilson said Elmbrook likely will need to close an elementary school (Kormanik said perhaps more than one school). Schultz opposes closing a school. Hillside and Tonawanda have been identified for possible closures.

Wilson said the district's elementary schools are operating at 70% occupancy, and with projected continued declining enrollment it would be cost-effective and efficient to close one school and redistrict. 

Kormanik said she believes non-residents should not be used to fill empty classrooms and Elmbrook should size its facilities for district residents to ease the burden on taxpayers.

Schultz said rather than closing a school, the district's administrative offices could be moved into Burleigh Elementary and some Burleigh students moved to Dixon and Brookfield elementary schools. That would save Elmbrook from funding and heating a separate building for district administration.

The three candidates made different educational choices with their own children.

Wilson home-schooled her children for awhile before enrolling them in Elmbrook. She said she has children attending each level of Elmbrook — elementary, middle and high school, and they range in academic ability from special education to typical developing to gifted and talented, giving her a unique perspective on district issues.

Kormanik said she enrolled her three children in private schools due to concerns about public education not only at Elmbrook but nationally. They are grown and Kormanik is semi-retired, doing some office work at a law firm after leaving her part-time instructor position at Milwaukee Area Technical College.

Schultz said her children attended Elmbrook and her youngest will graduate this year, giving Schultz time to serve on the board. 

Schultz said she believes she would offer positive solutions and tap the good relationships she has built with parents and staff through her work on the Parent Network, Waukesha County Drug-Free Coalition and other volunteer efforts. 

"I just have had a passion for kids and our district for a very long time," Schultz said. "I'm a do-er. I don't just come up with an idea. I implement them and make them happen. I have the energy to do that."

Kormanik said she would be an advocate for parents and taxpayers in making sure graduating students are successful.

"Then in the long run we will have an extraordinarily well-educated group of people to lead the United States of America and that's what they want," Kormanik said. "They want their country to remain free and they want everyone to be a success." 

Wilson said she would continue to focus on strengthening curriculum, adding if voters "are concerned about what children learn and how they learn it, I'm the best choice."

"We have great leadership and great analysts and financial business acumen on the board, but we don't have anybody who can speak to the total experience of the children in the district like I can," Wilson said.

More information is available on candidates' web sites.

KATHRYN WILSON (INC.)

Web site: wilsonforelmbrook.com
Email: katy.wilson@wi.rr.com
Age: 47
Address, years in district: 1185 Simon Drive, Brookfield, 14 years
Education: bachelor of arts in English literature and language, minor in engineering, Michigan State University
Occupation: homemaker, Elmbrook School Board member
Elective experience: Elmbrook School Board, 2010 to present
Activities: chair of Gifted and Talented Parent Advisory Board; liaison, Special Education Advisory Board; member, Middle School Schedule and Distance Learning study teams and Class Rank committee; active member, Community United Methodist Church, Elm Grove
Family: married, four children

SANDRA SCHULTZ
Web site: schultzforschoolboard.com
Email: sandraschultz@live.com
Age: 47
Address, years in district: 4755 Shagbark Court, Brookfield, 24 years
Education: associate degree in public relations, Patricia Stevens College
Occupation: homemaker, volunteer
Elective experience: unsuccessful 2010 bid for Elmbrook School Board
Activities: director of events, Elmbrook Parent Network; co-chair, Waukesha County Drug Free Coalition drug collection task force, member, Elmbrook grading and reporting task force
Family:  married, four children

NANCY KORMANIK (write-in candidate)
Email: nancy.kormanik@gmail.com
Age: 63
Address, years in district: 15365 W. Burleigh Road, 21
Education: bachelors in food and nutrition, Mount Mary College; masters in administrative leadership, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Occupation: part-time office worker, Ramstack & Foy law firm; coordinator/ instructor of dietetic technician associate degree program, Milwaukee Area Technical College, 2004 to 2010 
Elective experience: none
Activities: volunteer, nonprofit organization Christ Child Services serving children in Milwaukee inner city
Family: married, three children