(L-R Elizabeth Hayes, Mark Jurglla, Peggy Breister)
Three candidates are running uncontested for three open seats on the Fond du lac school board. Incumbents Elizabeth Hayes and Mark Jurgella and newcomer Peggy Breister will be on the April 5th ballot. Hayes was first elected to the board in 1986. “I want to continue to serve on the school board because I enjoy doing it and also have become more involved with the Wisconsin Association of School Boards,” Hayes said. Jurgella is running for his third three year term. “We have been through some of the toughest times for personnel, budgeting and other matters we face, so I’d like to see us take a more positive direction,” Jurgella said. Breister is the former editor and was a longtime education reporter at the Fond du Lac Reporter newspaper. Breister says she is running because she feels she can make a difference. “I also think these are very tough times for public education and I wanted to help the Fond du Lac School District strategically plan and navigate through these times.” On a proposal to install artificial turf at Fruth Field, all three say they have concerns with the idea and the fact that the district spent $12,000 to hire a consultant and met for months on the issue without knowledge of the full board. Jurgella says he is upset the district spent money to study the issue without full board knowledge. “…and also that a committee was formed and was active on this without any of us (board members) being able to be on the committee,” Jurgella said. “I would have at least like to have been informed there would be exploration of this.” Breister says she believes the board should have had a say in the matter from the start. “When it came up at the first workshop about the money that had been spent I didn’t get the impression that the board had signed off on this, that this was a decision the district administration had made. That concerns me, I think the public needs to know about these kinds of things,” Breister said. Hayes said she didn’t know the district had spent any money on a study until it was brought up on this week’s Between the Lines program. “This is the first I heard about it,” Hayes said. “It bothers me, it surprises me.” Hayes and Jurgella both said they were unaware board president Julie Nett was on the committee until the issue came before the board about a month ago. The candidates also say they are concerned that over the last several years the district has been losing experienced teachers . Breister says teachers have told her they are concerned about the lack of collaboration. Hayes says she wants to know why teachers are leaving. She says the district is taking surveys of teachers and students when they leave. Jurgella the district needs to work harder to keep good, experienced teachers. The candidates were guests this week on AM 1170 WFDL’s Between the Lines program.
