Two Independence school board seats up for grabs

Four residents will compete for two seats on the Independence School Board when the spring election opens next Tuesday.

Current board president Joe Bragger and clerk Leah Matchey are seeking re-election to the board. They face Jenny Solberg and Mike Franks in the April 5 race.

Bragger, a 55-year-old farmer and Independence schools alumnus, joined the school board about 10 years ago and said he has “worked to build bridges between our school and the community,” adding that the “potential to create more opportunities is greater than ever.”

If re-elected, Bragger said he would want to keep the community connected to the district as well as balance a responsibility to educate students the best the district can while also keeping spending in check and preparing them for the real world.

“We have an obligation to find a balance between preparing our students to go out into the world and shielding them from danger and all of the transgressions of the broader world,” he told the Times. “Be respectful, be responsible, be safe. Who can go wrong with that foundation?”

Matchey currently works as a radiology scheduler with Mayo Clinic and has had four children in the district. She was first elected in 2007.

She said she hopes to help solve a lack of space and swell in enrollment while helping to keep instruction strong while being financially responsible. Matchey wants the district to focus on COVID learning gaps and staff retention.

“In order to retain our current teaching staff and attract new teachers, we need to be creative in the budget as well as maintain a positive culture in our district,” Matchey said. “COVID closures, quarantines and virtual learning have definitely impacted student learning.  We need to determine ways to ‘catch up’ with the loss of this instruction time for our children.”

Solberg, a 42-year-old renal dialysis nurse, said she is running to help better prepare students in the district. She pointed to the district’s C+ average for its school report card, saying the district should be doing better considering its teacher to student ratio. She wants the district to focus more on academics than extra-curricular activities. Independence scored a 79.4 on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction report card, the highest mark in the county and defined as “exceeds expectations” by the DPI.

If elected, Solberg said her focuses would include more competitive pay for staff to help struggling students, utilizing co-op resources more efficiently, focusing more on academic success and looking at long term options to expand the school.

“If we want our children to be successful and competitive, we need to focus on making improvements now to strengthen our childrens’ basic educational foundation,” Solberg said.

The final candidate on the ballot is Mike Franks, 64, who has lived within the district boundaries for nearly 20 years and had two daughters raised in the district. He decided to run for school board to give back, he said, focusing on attaining the best education possible without raising taxes. 

Franks said he would oppose education that segregates students and is most worried by district spending. He said he would avoid funding “government operated and publicly funded infant day care.”

“We cannot afford to continue to raise taxes to pay for new, good ideas without first thoroughly reviewing where money is going now, and the cost and benefits of new proposals,” he said. “We need to find ways to say ‘No’ to new expenditures or our taxes will continue to increase faster than our incomes.”