Gazette Staff

STEVENS POINT — Gee Pope is one of many candidates seeking election to school board. He will be one of seven in the Feb. 19 primaries, which will take the top six to move forward to the general election in April.

A Stevens Point resident since 1984, Pope has a BS in Biology/Chemistry and an MA in Education Administration. He is a retired teacher in the Stevens Point district, which spans a total of 30 years teaching experience. He was a wrestling coach for 20 years, and currently serves as a teaching supervisor at UW-Stevens Point.

“The education of our children is the single most important thing we can do to insure the continuation of our standard of life, said Pope. “To that end, the people that work in our schools, that come into contact with our children every day, become very important members of our society.As a member of the school board I would look forward to working with the other members to insure the continuation of effective education in our school district.”

Pope submitted three areas of improvement he would like to see in the district:

“While being a member of the school board encompasses a wide range of duties, there are three areas in which I would encourage the board to address.”

1. We currently rank last among comparable central Wisconsin school districts in per pupil cost. I would encourage the board to investigate ways to change that so that we can have a more stable monetary plan for the future. By passing the latest referendum to allow us to borrow the money to fix our physical infrastructure we have only passed the problems along to the next generation to pay for. What happens the next time?

2. Our employees need a significant raise in pay. Since 2010 they have effectively lost ground to inflation. We need to address that.

3. I also want to advocate for the efficient use of our facilities. Currently we have unused space at Jackson elementary that needs to be addressed.

While these are issues that I would like to encourage the board to look at, I would look forward to working with all the board members on all facets of the school district. Being a retired teacher, I am well acquainted with the educational process. I think that my experience in education could add to the diversity of backgrounds that already exist on the school board.