Elmbrook Candidates Debate 4K, School Closing

Elmbrook School Board candidates expressed much agreement on issues at a election forum Thursday, but there was one topic with a clear divergence of views: four-year-old kindergarten.

Incumbents Meg Wartman and Jean Lambert opposed adding 4K; challengers Lynne Thomas and Paul Byrne favored adding 4K.

Voters on April 3 will elect two members to serve three-year terms with an annual salary of $3,600.

Residents can watch the election forum replayed on the district's cable channels (Time Warner 13 and 96) daily at 7 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Wartman, Lambert and the board majority decided last month to until next fall at the earliest, meaning a half-day kindergarten program will not be offered for the 2012-13 school year.

Byrne said he "strongly" supports adding 4K to better identify children early who need interventions, stay competitive with other districts who offer it and enjoy social and academic benefits.

Wartman and Lambert said existing local four-year-old kindergarten or preschool providers are meeting the need without local taxpayer support. They also agreed data has not shown Elmbrook is losing enrollment due to its lack of 4K.

Thomas said the quality of some local 4K options was uneven and that she had no doubt Elmbrook would provide an "excellent" 4K program teaching issues such as creativity, persistence and ability to work with others.

Partisan recall politics

The highly-charged partisan politics surrounding the effort to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker arose during the forum as Thomas objected to conservative criticism about her signature on a recall petition. It's the same criticism popping up in other area elections such as Menomonee Falls and Kettle Moraine school board races.

Without specifically mentioning the recall or her signature, Thomas said she was "deeply disappointed" that people were "questioning my motives and demanding that I explain my beliefs to the community."

"This is a nonpartisan election," Thomas said. "The imposition of partisan politics into this forum is both inappropriate and offensive to me and to all the other people in this community who care more about improving the education of our children than in what is happening at the state level. That is what this election is about."

Wartman, whom Thomas is challenging for an at-large board seat, did not respond.

Collective bargaining changes

All four candidates agreed the governor's collective bargaining changes for most public employees, known as Acts 10 and 32, was needed to help school districts control labor costs.

They also shared similar views supporting a slowing of open enrollment, improving the new high school block schedule program and partnering with Brookfield Central High athletic boosters to make facility improvements.

All of the candidates expressed optimism about Elmbrook's future, with Byrne saying he had visited all six elementary schools and was impressed by their quality. Wartman and Lambert said they felt with budget woes aided by state legislative changes, the district can better control class sizes and focus on educational rather than fiscal issues.

Byrne and Thomas cautioned that the district needs to be careful in how many new Act 10 "tools" it uses to the detriment of teachers because employees may get poached to competitive districts.

School closings

Thomas said she understands many Elm Grove residents remain fearful that Tonawanda Elementary School could yet be closed like Hillside Elementary.

Last fall at least two School Board members favored closing two elementary schools to address declining enrollment and budget gaps, but that two-school view did not garner majority support, and the board voted 6-1 in October to close one: Hillside.

Lambert and Wartman said there were no plans on the table to close Tonawanda. Byrne, the only Elm Grove resident among the four candidates, said he also wanted to see Tonawanda remain open, as well as other "neighborhood schools."