Belleville School Board Candidate Marian Viney

<strong>Age: </strong> 52
<strong>Occupation: </strong>Graphic Designer, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation; freelance writer, editor and photographer
<strong>Do you have children in Belleville School? </strong> Doug and I have three sons, Matthew is a junior at UW-Whitewater and is enjoying the opportunity of a lifetime studying abroad in Germany at the Goethe University in Frankfurt; Michael is a freshman at Belleville High School and enjoys reading, soccer, and hanging out with friends; Benjamin is a sixth grader at Belleville Intermediate School and enjoys football and basketball and is looking forward to middle school.
<strong>Have you been on the school board or held any other public office before? If so please describe: </strong> I'm serving a three-year term on the Belleville School Board and have served as clerk and on the Facilities Planning Committee, Negotiations Committee, and the Alternative Compensation Committee. I also serve on the board of control for CESA 2.
<strong>Why are you running for the Belleville School Board? </strong> This is a very exciting time for the Belleville School District and I want to continue to serve the school district and community. I have served, volunteered and advocated for the educational needs of our community's children as a member of the community, and for the last three years on the school board. If elected, it will allow me and the rest of the school board members to continue working and advocating for the education of all children in Belleville. Since the beginning of my first term, the district has made great strides in establishing systems that enhance purposeful professional development for the district's staff. Through several community forums, we created a clear vision and mission for the district that has helped us align budget priorities and personnel resources toward community-based goals-improving student learning. We have strived for better communication with the district's stakeholders, and made the district's activities more transparent. But there is more work to do.
<strong>If elected, do you have any specific goals for your term in office? </strong>Policy is a school board's mean for directing the district's future direction. Maintaining policies that reflect local oversight and ever-changing state and federal laws is an incredible task. Recently, the members of the school board voted to review all of the district's policies. The end result will be a policy manual that is in line with the law and court decisions and meets the needs of our district.
Serving on the Educational and Facilities Planning Committee, which is comprised of a cross-section of the community including parents, retirees, school staff and other board members, we are evaluating the districts facility needs and possibly offering solutions. Just as the generations before that valued education, we promise a quality education for our students and future generations.
For several years prior to serving on the school board, I encouraged the district to implement a community service program. During my first term, the board approved the Wildcat Service Cord Program that encourages students to develop their leadership and citizenship skills while benefiting the school and community. The program started last September and the students have completed almost 2,100 hours of community service. Amazing!
<strong>What do you believe is the biggest challenge for the school board? </strong> Working through the facilities planning process and finding balance with the school district's budget is one of the challenges our district faces. Teaching and learning practices have evolved in recent years and we have increased the rigor of what students learn. Advances in teaching, technology and curricula mean that classrooms need to be more flexible so that students achieve success and graduate as life-long learners.
Action within the recent Wisconsin Legislative Session will continue to make school funding challenging. The state Senate just passed a bill prohibiting school districts from raising taxes to cover losses from students who take publicly-funded vouchers to attend private school. This bill will allow public schools to recoup only their actual losses.
<strong>What other issues do you want to see addressed by the school board? If elected, how would you handle these issues? </strong>The members of the school board and the community are committed to providing all students with quality, personalized learning that prepares them to meet current and future challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. Our mission is to educate and inspire each student to think, to love learning, to pursue excellence and to succeed in work and life. Our goals include developing students who have the ability to think critically, apply knowledge at high levels, and use technology to access, evaluate, and communicate information. With this strong vision and mission, we need to develop a strategic plan that maps the district's future; we need to expand opportunities for student education, personal growth, and problem solving skills; and we need to build on our professional development to meet the needs of our administration and staff.
By working together and setting goals so that we can commit to student achievement and quality instruction, share strong beliefs and values, be accountable, collaborate with the staff and community, be data driven, and align and sustain resources.
<strong>Do you have any additional comments?</strong> It is indeed a very exciting time to be involved in the Belleville School District. We need to continue to engage the community and focus on our vision and mission. Long-term results require well thought-out systems in place, long-range thinking and commitment.