Trempealeau township sees lone contest for G-E-T board
Incumbent Todd Roessler faces resident Ray Slattery in the lone contested race for Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School Board when the 2024 spring election opens next Tuesday.
Roessler carries 10 years of experience on the board and has three children attending G-E-T schools. He was a previous member of a school parent teacher organization (PTO) and worked as a teacher.
Slattery works as an instructor at Western Technical College in La Crosse, where he also serves as vice president for the Western Technical College Foundation board of directors. He is also a member of the Trempealeau County Republican Party executive team.
Slattery did not return multiple requests for comment last week.
Roessler said he believes the board’s job is to find a “happy balance” between providing the best education possible while keeping taxes manageable for residents.
“I don’t go in with an axe to grind or a personal agenda. My goal is to listen to everybody, take the facts and remind myself what our role is as a school board member,” Roessler said. “We hire and fire the superintendent and we oversee policy.”
Roessler believes the school board has been successful in retaining a quality administrative team, teachers and other staff during his time on the board. He also pointed to the new performing arts center as a benefit to all students in the district.
The Town of Trempealeau representative said the board should strive to keep improving.
“We can always communicate better as a school board and with the public also. We need to continue to retain staff, make sure that our staff feels valued. We also need to continue to encourage administrators and staff to always look for that new best thing we can use in education while listening to the taxpayers,” Roessler said.
“We’re using their money, and ultimately we need to do that in a responsible way.”
Incumbents Kara Nelson (Galesville) and Mark Kopp (at large) will also be on the ballot for G-E-T school board but are running unopposed.
