Issues facing district require experience

Public Forum:

The Shorewood School District is faced with many challenges as we work to find the appropriate balance between providing the excellent education that the district is known for, and the increasing costs to provide the programs.

These challenges include:

• the imposition of constraints in the state funding policies;

• the creation of innovative ways to raise additional funds for the district programs;

• the management of our rising health care costs;

• the funding of our Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) liability; and

• the coordination with the village on the park projects.

The costs to provide all of the programs for our children continue to grow at a much faster rate than that of our revenue. We must find solutions to the financial issues facing the district so that future generations of Shorewood children can experience the same level of educational excellence our children did.

As a member of the Shorewood School Board since 2003, I have operated under a personal, overriding, goal that no decision that we make should harm any child. This is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. There is a significant learning curve to become an effective member of the School Board.

My education and prior experience as a teacher in Milwaukee, along with my financial/employee benefit work background allow me to review and analyze the critical issues facing the district. Because I am married to a public school teacher, in a different district, I am fully aware of the day-to-day school issues from that important perspective as well.

Inter-agency cooperation, both within the village of Shorewood and across the Northshore will be critical in creating the solutions to the challenges we face. We need to listen, analyze, and make the decisions that will affect the future direction of the district.

John Carlton

Shorewood