Meet Whitnall School Board Candidate Steven Butz

GREENFIELD, WI -- Voters in the Whitnall School District will head to the polls on Tuesday, Feb. 19 to decide how best to narrow down a field of candidates for two school board seats.

Whitnall School Board member Steven Butz was elected to the position last year, and says he hopes to see through the work of the referendum that was passed last year. "The work I would like to continue on the board involves bringing our district up to be more competitive with our neighboring districts. We have excellent elementary schools and our middle school made achievement improvements in 1 year that are usually seen in 3 to 5 years," Butz told Patch.

There are two school board seats on the ballot, and five candidates who filed candidacy paperwork. On Feb. 19, voters will decide which four of these five candidates will advance to the general election on April 2.

Steven Butz

City of Residence:

Greenfield

Occupation:

I am a pediatric anesthesiologist and am medical director of their outpatient surgery center in Greenfield.

Why I am running:

My primary reason for running is to continue the work I just started a year ago when I got elected by the school board to take over for retiring Luann Byrd. I am a strong proponent of public education and would really like to see through the work of the referendum that was passed last year.

Top Issues:

The work I would like to continue on the board involves bringing our district up to be more competitive with our neighboring districts. We have excellent elementary schools and our middle school made achievement improvements in 1 year that are usually seen in 3 to 5 years!

I would like to continue those academic cultures into the high school and create students that are poised for success regardless of their tracks in life. Change is very difficult for anyone to go through, but it was really necessary to get the Whitnall District back on a competitive path.

Don't get me wrong that we have a bad school; we have a great record of preparing students for college and beyond. We can do much better though. And the changes that reward teachers for continuing to improve as educators, recognize students for their achievements, engage our community, and keep our district as one that people want to live in are happening now but often hard to live through and we definitely have growing pains.

The referendum work is progressing ahead of schedule and giving a needed expansion to Hales Corners Elementary.

Unfortunately, the rest of the work is not the splashy type that ends up in a new building. They really relate to needed structural updates and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and continue the work in efficiency that will continue to pay dividends in the future.

It does free up some of our other funds to do projects we couldn't have afforded like repairing the pool at the high school that is used by other community groups, too. We have been very conservative with our borrowing and even though we passed over $16 million, local taxes went up marginally and in fact dropped for the residents of the district that live in Franklin. This type of financial stewardship is something I want to continue as much as possible.

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