Academic Excellence
Wrightstown Values
Students ♦ Parents ♦ Teachers ♦ Community
Let's Protect Our Children Together
Empowering Parents
in their Children’s Education
The Wrightstown Community School District (WCSD) is regarded as one of the best in the state. Our students are exceptional. Our parents are passionately engaged. Our teachers are highly respected. Our community is generous with both their resources and their time. It’s our responsibility to empower and collaborate with each of these pillars to deliver the top-notch education Wrightstown students deserve.
Students
Wrightstown students excel in everything they do – academically, athletically, and artistically. It is our responsibility to ensure students have the support they need to be successful in the academic environment, and the skills they need to translate that education into their adult lives.
What’s going well?
Wrightstown should be proud of the work that is being done within the school district. Standardized testing demonstrates that our students are a cut above the rest academically. Our students are consistently recognized for achievements with extra-curricular activities. Students are offered a variety of career planning tools to prepare them for their professional lives in adulthood.
How can we improve?
Today’s students face a number of unique challenges that can affect academic achievement, particularly related to school safety. Students deserve to attend classes in safe spaces. Board members should support policies that create safe environments, such as ensuring our School Resource Officer (SRO) is appropriately utilized and creating oversight committees (such as the Human Growth and Development Committee) to review the content our children consume while in class.
Parents
Parental engagement is one of the best predictors of academic success. Parents bear primary responsibility for the well-being of their children, and it is important that we empower them to take an active role in the education their children receive.
What’s going well?
Wrightstown schools provide a steady stream of communication to parents. Information is shared in a variety of ways – hard-copy paperwork returned in our student’s backpacks, multiple daily emails, occasional phone calls, and options for in-person meetings.
Our district leverages an impressive number of technologies to help parents communicate with educators (ex: Skyward, ParentSquare, Google Classroom, Artsonia, SeeSaw). Thanks to actions taken by the current board majority, Board meetings are available via live stream, and community members can use up to 5 minutes to share feedback during meetings.
How can we improve?
With the abundance of information available to parents, it is often easy for parents to overlook content that is potentially objectionable – especially if the material is described in ambiguous, technical, or softened terms. To ensure that parents rights are respected, communications regarding sensitive curriculum should be highlighted and marked as important. For particularly delicate topics, parents and students should be offered alternative curriculum with clear instructions for opting out. I would also entertain and explore options requiring consent forms for such content.
Teachers
Great teachers are the backbone of our education system. When a teacher excels, our students excel. For that reason, it’s important that Wrightstown Schools offer competitive compensation packages and a constructive environment for top teaching staff to thrive.
Community
Our students are enthusiastically supported by a very generous Wrightstown community. When the community invests in our children, it’s vital for the school to reciprocate that goodwill and manage those finances responsibly. Maintaining the trust of the community requires that voters can trust the information being communicated by our administration and Board.
2020 Referendum Debt Defeasance Overview
In 2020, the school board proposed a sizeable referendum related to additions and enhancements to the schools. Voters were told that the debt would be repaid over a 20-year period. Wrightstown voters overwhelmingly voted to pass the referendum. Immediately after the referendum passed, the school Board changed the debt repayment schedule to repay over a 10-year period. This resulted in steep property tax increases. Many members of the community (including myself) implored the Board to honor the 20-year repayment schedule, but the Board majority ignored those requests. In the Spring 2024 election, voters installed candidates that were more friendly to honoring the repayment schedule that was initially communicated. As a result, the Board was able to resume payment on the original schedule. Due to this change, many Wrightstown citizens saw their 2024 property tax bill drop.
Would you double tax debt related to the 2020 Referendum?
No. I would uphold the terms communicated to voters. I have been a vocal opponent to the double taxation related to the 2020 Referendum. The current board majority is no longer voting to defease the debt (and our taxes have gone down), but there are several reasons to believe these concerns will resurface if the Board majority shifts again. For that reason, this remains a relevant topic.
Differentiation
Board members (and candidates) can find common ground with a majority of matters related to our students. Thankfully, we all share a desire to achieve academic greatness, prioritize school safety, and celebrate our students’ success. Rest assured that no matter who you vote for, the kids will always come first – we just may not all share the same lens for how to go about that. To help differentiate, here are a few questions you can ask school Board candidates regarding the 2025 Spring Election:
- Curriculum: How involved should parents and the community be in the oversight of academic curriculum? For incumbent candidates: In what ways have you encouraged the adoption of the Human Growth & Development committee?
- Title IX: For incumbent candidates: What is your voting record regarding implementing Title IX regulations in Wrightstown schools? For non-incumbent candidates: Do you think the Wrightstown School Board handled the 2024 Title IX rules appropriately? What would you have done differently?
- Budget: For incumbent candidates: What is your voting record regarding the 2020 Referendum Debt Defeasance? For non-incumbent candidates: How would you vote if the topic resurfaced in the future?
About Amber
Our family has been proud to call Wrightstown “home” for the past six years. Like many transplants, the reputation of the Wrightstown School District ranked high on our list of priorities when making this decision. Having a recent graduate and two elementary-aged students in the district, I am passionate about ensuring our children receive the best education our community can offer. Without the support of our community, it would be impossible to achieve this mission.
Education
- UW-Green Bay
- Bachelors – Psychology
- Bachelors – Human Development
- Minor – Humanistic Studies (Religious Studies emphasis)
Occupation
- Director, Employment Staffing
Vote This April 1st
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