Wausau Pilot & Review
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Two incumbents seeking another term on the Mosinee School Board will run unopposed, but two new candidates will vie for the third open seat.
Sara Thomer and Paul Nievinski are running for the open seat. Here, both candidates answer a range of questions about their candidacy and their motivations for serving the community, ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Paul Nievinski, 57
- Occupation: Retired teacher and football coach
- Prior political experience: Former Mosinee School Board member
Sara Thomer, 41
- Occupation: Social worker
- Prior political experience: Communications Director UWSP Student Government and UW Marathon County
What motivated you to run for office?
Nievinski: I want to be involved in helping to improve the school district.
Thomer: My children are my main motivation. They are currently in 4K and 1st grade and I want to see the Mosinee School District continue to move forward. We are a strong district in a tight knit community and I think it’s important to have parents on the board to be a positive voice for our students and our amazing teachers.
What are the three most pressing issues that the district faces today, and how would you address them?
Nievinski: The three most pressings issues to me are:
The culture, trust and transparency within the district.
The communication within the district and community.
The short and long-term planning of goals in the district.
To address these issues, I envision collaborating with school board members, administrators, teachers, support staff, students, parents, and community members to constantly improve our school district including these three issues. We need to have short- and long-term plans with actions steps on how to improve student learning, the building and grounds and the culture of the school district. We must do all of this and still be fiscally responsible to the tax payers.
Thomer:
- The relationship between the school board and the teachers has been strained the past couple years. I want to try and help rebuild that relationship. I often hear that they wish school board members would visit the schools more often and I have the capability to do that.
- We are in need of a referendum to continue to operate under our current budget. We are looking at an $800,000 deficit for next year and will need the community’s support to overcome that. If elected I plan to work hard on being transparent on explaining why a referendum is so important to keep our schools running.
- We will need to update our reading curriculum in the next couple years. This can be challenging for teachers and students as we make that transition. If elected I will do my best to help provide support to our teachers through this transition.
How will you as a board member work with the new superintendent to ensure student success?
Nievinski: I will collaborate with the new superintendent to solve problems and move the school district in a positive direction. That includes developing positive relationships with all involved. Together we can make great improvements in the culture of our school district.
Thomer: I attended the meet and greet with Mr. Doverspike and look forward to getting to know him more. I think he is going to be a great addition to our district and hope to have the opportunity to sit down with him and get to know him more and talk about the future of our district.
Members of school boards are often far apart from one another on issues that come before them. How would you work to find common ground with someone whose views you disagree with?
Nievinski: I will work to create trust, transparency and understanding of others ideas. I believe communication and understanding of other viewpoints is very important in finding common ground to agree upon. I have no hidden agenda. I want to work together with all to improve our school district.
Thomer: Luckily, most of the other current board members and I have very similar views and goals for our district. I will do my best to explain my feelings if there is a disagreement and even then we may not see eye to eye. The main focus is to remember that we are here to work for the teachers and the children. Every decision we make affects them.
How can Mosinee attract more students and high quality teachers?
Nievinski: I believe if we improve the culture, trust and transparency within the school district that will help attract students and staff. We must create an environment where all feel respected and valued. We must provide a quality education that is diversified which has a purpose and meaning to students, parents and our community while being competitive with test scores and salaries.
Thomer: One way we could attract students is to bring back some programs we used to have such as the gifted and talented program. I have a child who qualifies for gifted and talented but choose to keep her in Mosinee because of the opportunities offered at the high school level. We could attract students outside of the district to open enroll if we were to bring this program back.
The benefit package we offer teachers needs to be compared to surrounding districts and reviewed. We are currently sitting at the bottom for what we offer teachers in terms of benefits and good brainstorming session with our HR director could bring to light some news ways to attract teachers.
A number of school boards nationwide have banned certain books from being taught in schools. Do you agree with that decision? Why or why not?
Nievinski: I am not in favor of banning books or ideas. I believe we instead need to teach students to be critical thinkers and make their own decisions about issues. I believe we are a society that is based on democratic principles and ideas and must trust in that.
Thomer: If the content is deemed inappropriate then yes material should be banned. I think it is also important with an ever changing world that we adapt to those changes as well and remember to give grace and keep an open mind.
What do you love most about your school district?
Nievinski: I love these things about the Mosinee school district. The staff is very committed to educating our students to the best of their ability. The students are very committed to learning and take pride in our school district. The school district has been financially sound. The community takes pride in our school district.
Thomer: The Mosinee School District is doing so many things well. One, I am so proud of all the opportunities our high school students have to obtain college credit. Students really have the tools they need to help determine what they’d like to do in life and start that career path while in high school still from taking Dual Credit/AP/Advanced standing courses to apprenticeship/work opportunities, we have a lot of great opportunities for the students. Second, after experiencing a bomb scare at the beginning of February, I am confident that our schools are safe and have proper processes in place to keep our children safe. That whole situation was handled very well. Third, we have an amazing group of teachers. I love our teachers and want to show them how important they are to my family and our community.
What else would you like voters to know about you?
Nievinski: I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Broad Field Social Studies and History with teacher certification from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. I also have a Master’s degree in education from St. Scholastica college in Duluth Minnesota. I am a former Mosinee school board member. I was a teacher in the Mosinee school district for over thirty years. I also was a football coach in the Mosinee school district for twenty-nine years.
Thomer: I’m very passionate about our schools and the education our children are receiving. They are our future and it’s so important to fight for them. We are seeing times where less and less people are willing to step in and fight and I’m hoping to give our children that fighting chance to become well rounded adults.
