By Kris Leonhardt

Editor

MARSHFIELD — There are two open seats on the Marshfield School Board, and four candidates have filed to run for those spots. With just four candidates, no primary was held, and all four will be on the April 4 ballot.

Current board members Dorothy Chaney and Mark Konrardy will seek to retain their places on the board as newcomers Keith Pugh and Ruwan Dissanayake work to gain a seat.

Dorothy Chaney

Chaney moved to Marshfield from Minneapolis in 2006, when she took a position with Marshfield Clinic as manager for the Northwoods Coalition. She currently serves on the Curriculum and Instruction Committee, acts as chair of the Policy Committee, serves as board clerk, and is finishing her first three-year term on the board.

Chaney

On the proposed improvements to the athletic facilities:

“One of the things in my professional career, I travel to a lot of different school districts working with youth in communities, and it is really glaringly obvious that Marshfield is at a deficit when it comes to our athletic facility for a number of reasons. We cannot host a lot of sporting events, we just do not have appropriate facilities, and you know there is a real aspect for community use that we are missing out on by not having adequate facilities, so I am a strong, strong advocate to having a new athletic facility.

“A few months ago, Nathan Delaney, the athletic director, gave me a tour of the high school and of all the athletic facilities there, and we had an opportunity to really have a deep dive into what the needs of the district are to best serve the students, and it is not just the athletes that would be served, but every student would be served by having better facilities, not to mention the community.

“So I really believe that the time has come for us to develop a new athletic facility. There is no question. The financing becomes the big piece, and clearly this has to be, no question, a community-district partnership. We have to find sponsors or partners in the community that will benefit from it that can also help take some of the burden of the financial aspects of the facility.”

What do you feel you can personally contribute to the school board?

“It is really interesting because serving on the board for three years, you see what everyone brings, and every board member brings something different.

“I guess my areas of expertise are really in positive youth development and understanding. Because of my work in community development and substance abuse prevention, I’ve seen the impact of the education. Education is the great equalizer, so what I bring to it is a breadth and depth of knowledge related to how education can really serve as a protective factor to lead to the development of healthy youth.”

What do you see for the future of the school board and/or district?

“I really believe that some of the biggest threats to our school district are external to our community, things at the state and federal level like inherent flaws in state funding and potentially the impact of a new federal administration that has a real emphasis on school choice, which really threatens the stability of the public school system, so I think that as a school board member, as well as a citizen, we have to advocate the state and federal level to make sure that our voices are heard.

“Internally, I think we need to continue to work on morale of the teachers, and that’s been my biggest challenge: navigating human resource issues. It started with Act 10, and in the last few years, teachers are more transient between districts now, and it is difficult for a district the size of ours to be competitive with some of the other bigger districts.

“I think that we need to work to engage our teachers more, involve them in decision-making more, find ways to illustrate that we value what they do each and every day. I think we have quite a ways to go in doing that.”

Ruwan Dissanayake

Dissanayake comes from a family of educators. His mother and both of his grandmothers were teachers. He completed medical school in First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg, Russia, and has been employed as a physician with Marshfield Clinic since 2007.

While Dissanayake has no experience with city or school government, he has been a member of the Marshfield Clinic board of directors for the past three years.

Dissanayake

On the proposed improvements to the athletic facilities:

“I think of the proposed indoor and outdoor athletic facility improvements as an exciting prospect. Such a facility would make our athletic programs more competitive and add value to our community.

“School athletics give students invaluable life skills and make them well-rounded individuals as well as promoting school pride.

“Still, when considering funding, indispensable programs and services that affect the most students should always be the priority.”

What do you feel you can personally contribute to the school board?

“I believe my ability to quickly grasp new ideas and concepts and adaptability to new environments and making things work are my strengths. Having studied in Sinhala K-12 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, I received my medical training in Russian after a year of language emersion.

“I feel that life lessons learned living in three continents and exposure to different life situations is transferable to any work environment. Leading and managing in difficult situations, these skills help me stay calm and navigate different opinions to find common ground.”

What do you see for the future of the school board and/or district?

“As a parent with two children in Marshfield public schools, I have firsthand knowledge of the excellence of the Marshfield School District and the staff who makes that so. To take our successes of the past into the future, it is imperative that we retain and recruit dedicated and talented teachers. In recent years, our high school ranking has fallen, and I believe this is something we should consider and address.

“The various programs to challenge high performing students in Marshfield School District are highly commendable, but we must just as much invest in helping students who are struggling. Remedial learning for at-risk students should also be a priority in my opinion.

“As a community, we must do our best to make sure that our children have a safe space in school as well as in their homes. I believe schools have a stewardship role in this regard. It is unfortunate that hunger is an issue for some of our students as shown by a recent survey. We must work with our community partners to ensure that there is no food insecurity among students.

“In education, I believe, personalized learning is the way of the future. The iPad initiative is a step in the right direction, and we should do our best to optimally utilize the educational potential by effectively training teachers. Also, I feel we have a responsibility as a school district to encourage girls in STEM to close the STEM gender gap.”

Mark Konrardy

Konrardy is a lifelong resident of Marshfield and is completing his second term on the school board. He currently chairs the Facilities, Safety, and Transportation committee and serves on both the Finance and Policy Committees.

Konrardy

On the proposed improvements to the athletic facilities:

“Our athletic facilities have fallen apart. Our track that we have — we cannot even hold a WIAA meet on it. Something needs to be done going forward.

“As they (conducted) the feasibility study on this, a lot of things came to light — how the athletic facilities can be a part of our education that we need. We will be able to use them not just for the athletics but for the education of our students.

“We developed a plan because we had a little bit of time on buildings and grounds. We said, ‘Let’s look at our sports facilities.’ We developed a plan and worked with Rettler, and they donated their time at the beginning. We said, ‘Give us an idea on this, where can we go.’

“The whole scenario was, ‘We have some time. Let’s get this done, whether we build this today or it’s built 20 years from now.’ We’ve got a plan on the board that when something does come up we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You’ve got an idea to work off of. Whether it goes that same way or a different way, at least now future boards will have something to work with.”

What do you feel you can personally contribute to the school board?

“My background: Previously I was a master electrician. Now I am the director of operations at Badger State Fruit. I bring my background into the buildings and grounds end of things, especially into the maintenance of our buildings and what we can do there.

“Also, I bring myself into tech education, because that is a huge part of why I am what I am today.”

What do you see for the future of the school board and/or district?

“I want keep thriving and keep moving forward with what we are doing today, working with the community and businesses in Marshfield on both the tech education, agricultural, and our education all of the way through.

“There are not many changes that I would want to make. … Marshfield has done a good job of looking into the future and bringing in the classes that we need and working with our staff to get them the training.”

Keith Pugh

Pugh is an employee of the city of Marshfield and works in the Assessor’s Office. He was raised in the Marshfield area. Pugh has no prior experience with city or school government but serves on a board for youth wrestling.

Pugh

On the proposed improvements to the athletic facilities:

“You go to other (communities), and a lot of places do get privately funded, and their name is on it. Marshfield asking for that I don’t think is out of the question simply because every other high school, every other school has something right there where the kids do not have to travel for anything.

“I do not know if it is the best idea, but it is definitely really something you have to think about.

“Money is always an issue, and … school districts in general are being squeezed more by the state and federal regulations and laws — the changes — so the people in the area really have to be in favor of it. Even if it was privately funded, it still has to have the support of the electorate. There is a reason why we have elected officials. If they are not doing what the people want, that is an issue.”

What do you feel you can personally contribute to the school board?

“I am independent. If I do not think something is going to (work), I am not going to go with it. I believe that the things that we have to decide have to be what is best for the school system and those that are in the school system — so the students.

“You see that some of the folks that are on the board are very much interested in what is going on with the kids, how it is benefiting the kids, and I think that is what we really have to push for.

“It is not just about the teachers and administration. It is making sure that the students are getting a good experience and are prepared for college when they leave or when they get a job out there.

“It is very competitive in the markets, so preparing them the best you can and making sure that it is kid-focused is important.”

What do you see for the future of the school board and/or district?

“You have so many more things like alternative energy. … When we were in school, it was, ‘You have to go to a four-year college.’ Little did I know that I could have gone to tech school and got a great job in half the time and a whole lot less of the money.

“So schools pushing that a little bit more, getting into fields that are starting to hurt — the plumbers, the electricians, HVAC — I think that is something that you really have to start looking at. Not everyone can be a doctor. Not everyone can be the CEO of a company. Not everyone can be a reporter. They have to find their niche and head off in that direction.

“Encouraging more of that is definitely something that a public school can do and offer.

“We’ve lost principals and administration that couldn’t work with other administration, and you need to be able to retain those. … There is no thought put into it that, ‘What is happening that we are losing all of these people?’ so I would like to see that change.”