Marian Viney

Age: 55

Occupation: Public Relations/Communications

Years lived in district: 26 years in the School District of Belleville

Incumbent? Yes. If elected this will be my third, three- or two-year term.

Have you been on the school board or held any other public office before? If so please describe: I have completed two, three-year terms on the Belleville School Board and served as clerk each year. I also serve on the CESA 2 Board of Control. And for the last two years, I was nominated to serve on the Wisconsin Association of School Boards Policy and Resolutions Committee and served as a delegate for the Delegate Assembly at the WASB Convention.

Why are you running for school board? I want to continue using my unique talents while collaborating with the other board members and focus on quality education for our school district's students and families. Working with the district's administrators, staff and other school board members, we developed three district goals that include: 1. Creating a comprehensive, coordinated communication system. 2. Maximizing student learning opportunities through community engagement. 3. 100 percent of School District of Belleville students will meet or exceed grade-level targets and demonstrate annual growth. I want to continue our work in meeting these goals and developing new goals for the district. The district has made GREAT strides in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction report card, with an overall score of 76.5 Exceeds Expectations and as a district, we significantly outscore the state average in all areas including student achievement, district growth, closing gaps, and on-track and postsecondary readiness. The residents of Belleville are reaping the rewards of a very successful referendum that passed by 68 percent and the additions to the Elementary and High School and updates to the Middle School are providing great learning spaces for Belleville students. School board members recently approved a Capital Maintenance project at a cost of $1 million that will make needed repairs throughout the district. The district's financial statement is secure. It will be interesting to see how school funding is affected with the changes in the state's leadership.

What issues do you find most important to the school board? How would you handle these issues? Our lowest score the district report card is in closing gaps in English language arts achievement gaps and mathematics achievement gaps but we are still scoring higher than the state average. As a school board, we need to continue our work with district administrators and staff to continue to close these gaps.

Communication throughout the district and the Belleville community. As a district we have made considerable progress in the communication with the public but we need to do more. As a school board, we addressed creating a comprehensive coordinated communication system as one of the district's goals. As we keep adding to our tools in the communication toolbox and working with district staff, we will achieve this goal. By increasing the communication within the district, we can create stronger connections between the school district and the stakeholders and encourage life-long learning. It takes a village.

School board members have been reviewing the district's policies. This is the year that we complete our review!

Any additional comments? Our family is invested, involved and has volunteered extensively in the Belleville community. As a member of the school board, I'm interested in continuing our work to set the vision and goals for the School District of Belleville. It is an honor to represent the School District of Belleville stakeholders.