Rochester unions seek positive change in picking strong school board slate
By Brenda Ortega
MEA Voice Editor
For MEA member Linda Key and many others in Rochester, local school board meetings have become “frustrating and exhausting” since 2022 when two candidates endorsed by the far-right political group Moms for Liberty were elected to the board.
Now the seat occupied by one of those two trustees – Andrew Weaver, who won a partial term two years ago – is up for election on Nov. 5 along with four other spots on the board.
Despite her fatigue, or because of it, Key is working to elect candidates that are positive, supportive of public schools, and willing to engage in learning and dialogue. She leads one of three local unions – the office personnel unit – that jointly screened and recommended candidates.
“I feel very strongly that there are trustees on the current school board who do not represent the best interests of the district,” Key said. “My philosophy is that if I want to put forth solid candidates for the community’s consideration, I have to be willing to roll up my sleeves and be part of the process.”
Rochester’s local unions are among many engaging in school board races in 2024, given big stakes for students and educators. Historically, nearly 75% of MEA-recommended school board candidates win—thanks to advocacy by local teachers and support staff.
Members from the three educator unions interviewed candidates and recommended five – one newcomer and four incumbents seeking re-election. The five recommended candidates are now running as a slate: Barb Annes, Michelle Bueltel, Julie Alspach, Jayson Blake, and Richard Kaczanowski.
“We have five seats open and five great candidates. The one candidate who would be new to the board (Kaczanowski) was a parent and now is a grandparent of kids in the district; he wants to work collaboratively; he wants to learn; he wants inclusivity – everything for the betterment of the district.”
Kaczanowski is a U.S. Army veteran whose career in public service included work on child welfare and public health. “And the first thing he said that got my attention is how tired he is of hearing about how bad our district is. Constantly tearing it down doesn’t solve any problems.”
Last year Key suffered harm when Weaver – newly seated in January – spread misleading information about a November 2022 school field trip on social media and FOX News, which caused a deluge of vile and threatening phone calls to Hart Middle School where Key is the principal’s secretary.
The school district was forced to hire additional security for the building, and employees suffered health effects from the ongoing trauma.
Key and three others filed complaints against Weaver and testified at a school board hearing a year ago in June, which led to his censure by the board. It was difficult to speak out, but Key knew the public needed to see what was happening and the toll it takes on school employees, she said.
“I’m a wife, a mother, a sister. My own children went to the school I work at. They graduated from Rochester Community Schools, which I’m proud of. This district helped to make them into the men that they are.
“It was shocking to me that anyone would call a school and speak such absolute filth and make us feel unsafe. What I don’t want is for people to just throw up their hands and say, ‘Well, this is what it is, and this is the way things are going now; this is the future.’ No. We can do something about it.”
The goal was not to seek candidates who agree with educators on every issue but to find those who can listen to multiple viewpoints and draw on reliably sourced information to make reasoned decisions in the best interests of students, staff, families and the community, Key said.
The two board members elected in 2022 have routinely opposed the district and other board members and used procedures and complaints to drag out meetings for hours, said Liz Schroeck, president of the union representing teachers and other certificated staff in Rochester.
“They have ground things to a halt where nothing is ever good enough,” said Schroeck, a longtime third-grade teacher in the district who is now an interventionist for K-8 students who need extra help.
Last school year an organized campaign brought union members from every building to visit school board meetings on a rotating basis to witness the negativity for themselves. Even at a dead-of-summer board meeting in July, 60 members showed up to maintain their presence.
“If you don’t see their tactics in action, it’s hard to know how disruptive it is, so that really raised awareness among our members,” Schroeck said. “Even sitting in the audience for one meeting is enough for people to say, ‘This can’t continue. Do you have yard signs? Will you have flyers? Let’s do this.’
“They’re definitely motivated, so we also talk about how to donate to MEA-PAC and the importance of that.”
MEA dues dollars can’t be donated to political candidates. Only voluntary contributions to MEA-PAC can be used for that purpose, and a portion of those dollars flow back to local units to spend on local races.
Two years ago the Rochester employee unions recommended candidates for three open seats on the school board after not getting involved in elections previously. But the effort was hampered by waiting to start after the late-July filing deadline for school board races, Schroeck said.
By the time recommendations were made and communicated to members, school was starting. This year the three union groups agreed to screen early and publicize widely that they would be starting the process in May for interested candidates to file in time.
That decision was carefully thought through and carried out, according to Deb Lotan, the MEA Executive Director who serves the unit. “The early recommendation was strategic to get serious candidates to file, especially those that value educators’ voices.”
The earlier timeline has provided more adequate time to gear up and get going, said Tracie Guilmet-Hickner, a 17-year paraeducator in the autism program and president of the paraeducators union who also participated in the candidates screening and recommendation process in 2022.
“By bringing together a group of paras, teachers and secretaries, we were able to ask really good questions that let us see the candidates’ views on public schools and understand how their values would align with school employees,” she said.
With an undergraduate degree from Grand Valley State University in psychology and special education, Guilmet-Hickner has always been drawn to the classroom and loves the one-on-one work she does to get to know kids and help them with individual needs.
Paraeducators play an important role, she said, and being part of a joint screening and recommendation process makes them feel valued and respected.
“The next step is sharing out volunteer opportunities from the campaigns of candidates we’re recommending so our paras can choose how to get involved, have their voices heard, and help make their workplace better.”
Voters want to hear from school employees about which school board candidates are best suited to the role, added Linda Key, the secretary from Hart Middle School.
“We don’t have to accept that this is where we are now—it really doesn’t have to be this way. If we can get the word out that we have great candidates to support, then we can do this. We can make positive change happen.”
