KENOSHA, Wis. — As Kenosha voters anticipate Tuesday’s mayoral outcome – electing only Kenosha’s third mayor in over 30 years – teachers, parents, and students have a close eye on another race.
Eight candidates are vying for four open seats on the Kenosha Unified School Board.
“I really feel it’s important to vote (Tuesday),” Kenosha Unified teacher Kerry Sporer said. “We need our school board to represent our students in the community.”
Incumbents Todd Price and Mary Modder are joined on the ballot by Bob Tierney, Jon Kim, Angela Kretschmer, Sabrina Landry, Brian Thomas, and Robin Cullen.
The top three vote-getters get three-year terms. The candidate receiving the fourth-highest votes receives a two-year term.
The vote comes during challenging times for the state’s third-largest school district, faced with declining enrollment and a projected $15 million deficit.
Kenosha Unified voted late last year to close multiple schools, repurpose buildings, create new boundaries, and cut staff as part of its “rightsizing” plan.
“This year especially we’re going to be going through a major change in KUSD,” Sporer said. “And there are a lot of people affected on a lot of levels. And I’m just nervous. I’m cautious how that’s going to affect a lot of people in the future.”
Kenosha’s Jenna Zeihen is a Kenosha Unified graduate. In 2022, she met with over 3,000 students during her time as Miss Kenosha.
“Those are the next generation of doctors and business owners and dreamers, entrepreneurs,” Zeihen said. “I think that we really need to have people in the room where it happens that care about our youth.”
Pleasant Prairie resident Kathy Waligora will soon have a child in Kenosha Unified.
“While my daughter is not yet in school, I certainly want to make sure that the schools now are well-resourced and responsive to communities so they can only improve before we get there.”
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.