Manitowoc letter-writers share views on school board race ahead of April 2 election

Editor's note: Letters regarding the April 2 election were due by noon March 27 and are no longer being accepted for publication.

Here are the latest letters to the editor of the Herald Times Reporter. See our letters policy below for details about how to share your views.

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New school board leadership is needed

Our educational system has a long and enviable history of being isolated from political forces. Educators and parents from both sides of the political aisle have historically strived to maintain this separation.

This changed at the Manitowoc school board candidate forum recently. The current school board president, Stacey Soeldner, said our teachers care more about politics than about their students and their achievements.

It was a stunning accusation, and one that is not supported by fact.

The recent staff survey showed our teachers are aghast with recent policy changes that are not aligned with fundamental educational principles. But this does not mean the teachers are promoting a political agenda, they are simply asking for political pressures to be once again banished from our schools.

Soeldner has an advanced degree in psychology but does not have educational training. As such, she has allowed her leadership of the school board to be driven by her personal beliefs and ideology. This has led to a series of unnecessary missteps, the most significant of which was a rushed implementation of the Success for All reading program without sufficient review. We are now learning that Success for All is not on the list of early literacy curricula recommended by the Wisconsin Department of Instruction under Act 20. Whoops.

This error, compounded by continuing secrecy and overspending, emphasizes the need for a change in school board leadership. Stacey Soeldner is accountable for what has occurred during her presidency. It is absurd to blame the teachers, as she has done.

In the upcoming election on April 2, Soeldner must be replaced with an experienced, non-political, professional educator. New leadership is needed to stop our teacher exodus and to rebuild the Manitowoc educational system to one that will serve our children well.

Steve Lankton

Manitowoc

Candidates in their own words: Manitowoc school board candidates talk reading achievements, trust in board ahead of April 2 election

Regain local control of school board by voting for Keith Shaw, Kerry Trask

I attended Manitowoc Public Schools during the passage and implementation of Title IX. Since then, those previously marginalized have graced our existence and aspirations in countless ways.

Yet, despite the incalculable benefits of living in a diverse society, I recently witnessed the MPSD Board strip policy language, making their schools MORE perilous for trans students. The only comment made by the 4-3 majority was that “less is more,” inferring they were attempting to streamline policies.

This might be plausible had the now-seated super-PAC of “two Matts and a Tony” not promised “big changes” on a national conservative media post-election victory tour, while political extremists across the country were simultaneously pushing hundreds of anti-trans policies/laws. In this tsunami’s wake, anti-trans violence now accounts for 1 in 5 hate crimes (ACLU and Human Rights.org) and national headlines reveal that extremist school boards would rather their teachers wield guns than opinions, advance narrowed curriculums devoid of essential historical/scientific truths and ostracize the non-normative.

As evidenced above, national extremism has found a home in MPSD school board decisions. Recent board actions will create fear in classrooms and imply consent to target trans students with violent rhetoric/action. This is not good policy; the board president knows this, yet still voted to remove the language, effectively promoting a national extremist ideology.

Please, regain local control of your MPSD Board by electing Keith Shaw and Kerry Trask on April 2.

Patty Beyer Kappelman

Manitowoc (Lincoln High School class of 1977)

Miraculous? Really?

In the March 25 Herald Times Reporter, the Manitowoc Public Schools superintendent attempted to justify the new, highly controversial reading program. In his submitted release, he says that: “We didn’t take the time to build understanding and support.”

A statement like that sounds disturbingly autocratic.

He further states: “Even faculty and staff still have questions regarding our direction. Survey data suggest a disillusioned and disheartened faculty and staff.”

Since he chose not to attempt to convince teachers of the merits of this program to gain their support before its adoption, how could he be surprised by those data results?

(Neither the Early Literacy Council nor the Department of Public Instruction chose to recommend this curriculum.)

Furthermore, Superintendent James Feil says that what this district has done is a “miraculous” feat.

Miraculous? Really?

Finally, he states that, “It is time to take back our local schools …” If by that he means taking back the local schools from the leadership of Board President Stacey Soeldner and Superintendent James Feil, we heartily agree.

Jim and Carolyn Rabata

Manitowoc

We can count on Stacey Soeldner

I’m a mother of five, four of whom are in school — my youngest daughter will be starting next year.

All of my kids have great grades — they are A-B students. My oldest is a Junior Ship (football and baseball), runs track and weightlifts, so he is very involved in school and extracurricular activities. It was unfortunate when he was being talked down on by a teacher. We struggled to get a meeting to figure out why, what and/or an apology. It was two and a half weeks of phone calls to the principal, Human Resources, and superintendent’s voicemail — until I decided to join a board meeting, which is where I met Stacey Soeldner, Matt Spaulding and Tony Vlastelica and told them my problem.

At the meeting, Stacey grabbed the superintendent and had him talk to me and hear what I had been telling the school, HR and his voicemail. He made a call to the school, and he got me the meeting we asked for.

That was all thanks to Stacey Soeldner. She listened and cared and helped me the best she could. I can count on her, and I know all you can! She cares genuinely about our kids and their futures.

Charlee Vallejo

Manitowoc

Vote for only one — Dr. Stacey Soeldner for school board

The school board is supposed to consist of a variety of community members to represent our community, not just retired educators and administrators (conflict of interest to our district). The focus is supposed to be on the children, not only educators and administrators.

Kerry Trask — 82 years old – ALLY member, former educator – biased and conflict of interest – voted to send kids home and mask them.

Keith Shaw — 73 years old – ALLY member, former employee – biased and conflict of interest – receives pension and retirement from MPSD employment – daughter is an administrator, which is a conflict of interest.

Basil Buchko Jr. — 53 years old – ALLY member, back on track policies will lead our district into a trainwreck – YouTube “NR22 – Buchko – Mental Health Track: Freedom From Sexual Sin.”

Stacey Soeldner — 48 years old – reading scores up 15% and climbing – the only one focused on the students and not personal and ideological agendas.

Keep the shipwreck out of our harbor, vote wisely April 2.

Vote for only one — Dr. Stacey Soeldner!

Ella Meyer

Manitowoc

Re-elect Soeldner to school board and district ‘will continue to go forward’

Consider this. Keith Shaw and Kerry Trask win the election. Manitowoc Board of Education would be seven white men, average age of 65-plus; four past educators; four present during the period of academic decline; one (Shaw) hired the previous superintendent who led the district to this decline; three are members of the special-interest group (ALLY); and, one (Trask) who supported student masking and closed our schools during the pandemic. And finally, there would be no females on the board.

So much for those who espouse diversity!

What do you get with this group whose only experience is in public academia? Poor leadership decisions, passing students not at grade level; ignoring facility and infrastructure needs; failing to control student behavior; neglecting the needs of our staff and promoting a progressive ideology.

What happens if my vision occurs? Shaw and Trask have explicitly said they will return to the same old ways that brought academic disaster; they support the recommendations of the Department of Public Instruction on curriculum and rules. This is the same DPI that oversaw the last decade of public education resulting in Manitowoc students achieving one of the lowest academic records.

The current board, under the leadership of Dr. Stacey Soeldner, has worked to correct the damage of the last decade. As seen in the current data on reading levels, reading levels are on the rise. This will continue if the board “stays the course.”

Re-elect Dr. Soeldner, and education in Manitowoc will continue to go forward and not go back.

Scott Schiesl

Manitowoc

Give Stacey Soeldner a chance to continue to help students learn and be successful

In a letter to the editor dated Dec. 28, 2023, the writer was concerned that since Stacey Soeldner became school board president in April 2022, the school district failed in so many areas and she is not a good choice for school board.

Well, I disagree.

Success in Manitowoc schools is very important to me. When we came to Manitowoc in 1964, I remember how teachers from various states wanted a job here.

Having been part of the Manitowoc schools, I experienced troubles starting in the schools in the early 1990s. There have been many horror stories about discipline and poor learning in recent years, and recently COVID added disturbing issues.

I was proud when Jim Feil was hired as the new superintendent as it appeared he had a proven successful program for children to learn. His core group of leaders seem very enthusiastic about the success of the program thus far. It’s still in the early stages, and yes, there may be problems that need to be solved. They are including teachers, students and parents. I also believe Manitowoc has had many hard-working, dedicated teachers over the years. Not everyone is an excellent teacher.

Just as we are reminded during this Lenten season, many rejected and did not believe in Jesus and His teachings and wanted to get rid of Him. I believe the same is true for Jim and Stacey and others who are trying to accomplish a positive learning program. Jim came to Manitowoc in July 2022 to help students learn and be successful. Give Jim, Stacey and those involved a chance to do that.

Rosemary Kautzer

Manitowoc

Our letters policy

Letters to the editor are published in the order in which they are received and letter-writers are limited to having one letter published per month. Letters can be emailed to htrnews@htrnews.com and Editor Brandon Reid at breid@gannett.com. Letters must meet specific guidelines, including being no more than 250 words and be from local authors or on topics of local interest. All submissions must include the name of the person who wrote the letter, their city of residence and a contact phone number. Letters are edited as needed for style, grammar, length, fairness, accuracy and libel.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc letter-writers share views on school board race