Familiar faces compete for Trempealeau, at-large seats on G-E-T school board
There will be two contested races for Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau school board when the 2023 spring election opens next Tuesday, and the board could welcome as many as three new members.
All of the candidates in the contested races have been on the ballot before.
Current board president Larry Moore will compete with Sara Olson to represent the village of Trempealeau for the second straight year, while a pair of former board members in Pat Malone and Dr. Nancy Rogers will face off for the open at-large seat left by Paul Halderson.
Incumbent Harold Olson is running unopposed in the village of Ettrick, and newcomer Cindy George is the lone candidate in the town of Ettrick this spring. George will replace longtime board member Gene Hogden.
Village of Trempealeau
sees familiar race
Moore has served on the board for seven years and is running against Olson for the second straight year.
The retired teacher said he aims to support students’ futures if reelected.
“We need to make sure that student learning that suffered as a result of COVID is being repaired so kids can move forward,” Moore said, adding that mental health and social media effects are other areas of emphasis.
Moore, who also spent three years on the Trempealeau village board, thinks his experience would be helpful on the school board.
“I believe I have the experience, educational experience, the knowledge and the passion to move our district forward,” he said.
Olson declined interview for this story.
At-large seat to be
filled with experience
Both candidates running for the open at-large seat this spring have served on the G-E-T school board before.
Malone last sat on the board in 2022 and works as an area extension director for the UW-Madison Division of Extension. She has both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in agricultural economics.
Malone also feels mental health should be a top priority.
“I still think it’s the mental health of the students and the staff,” Malone said. “I’m particularly worried about the students. It impacts their resilience, it impacts their ability to buckle down and do the work. It’s really important.”
As a parent of two G-E-T graduates, Malone said she experienced the full programming of the district from special education to sports, music, AP classes and research. She thinks that experience would help, as would her time on the board.
“I have that sort of breadth of experience and I have a lot of both direct experience and teaching experience with organizations, whether they’re school boards, nonprofit organizations, or local government bodies. That’s what I’ve done most of my professional career.”
Rogers is a retired fourth grade teacher and university instructor with a Bachelor’s in education, a Master’s in educational administration and a Doctorate in educational leadership.
Rogers previously served on the board for 11 years before her resignation in 2018 over superintendent pay in the district. Rogers feels the district is in good shape, and she wants to help build on that.
“I just think it’s maintaining. I feel G-E-T is in a very good position right now. … and you’re hearing a lot of things about different states and places and education and parents getting upset over everything,” Rogers said. “I just want to see that G-E-T remains the excellent, quality school district that it is.”
Rogers said she feels she would be a good school board member because she wants to help students in the district find their purpose.
“Because I’m there because I want a quality education for all the children,” Rogers said. “I worked for 20 years at Winona State and I worked with young people becoming teachers. I preached to them my philosophy that every child has a passion or a gift.”
